Jewish Holiday Style: A Guide to Celebrating Jewish Rituals in Style - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Rita Milos Brownstein is a graphic designer and art director who has worked for House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, and many other publications. Brownstein lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.

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Chapter 1

Rosh Hashanah

The blast of the shofar is the signal -- the alarm -- that the Days of Awe, the ten-day period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, has begun. This is a time of serious introspection and soul-searching, because everything done during this time period can affect the outcome of the year to come. It is a time to heal hurts, offer apologies, mend misunderstandings, and right wrongs. It is also a time to increase acts of kindness and charity. If our efforts are undertaken with a sincere heart, then God will look on us favorably and inscribe us in the Book of Life for another year. This process, called teshuvah, which means "return," allows us to return to our best true selves and to embark on the New Year with a clean slate. * The Days of Awe begin with Rosh Hashanah, meaning literally the "head of the year," on the first of Tishrei. It is the crown jewel of the Jewish calendar, marking the beginning of the Jewish New Year and the birthday of the world. * Rosh Hashanah is a delicious time of families and friends coming together. Family meals. Crunchy apple slices dipped in honey, as wishes for a sweet New Year. Fat, fragrant round challahs, sometimes studded with sweet raisins, just begging to be pulled apart and passed around. Kosher markets struggle to fill the many orders for fresh briskets of beef, and granddaughters thumb through old recipes for tzimmes, the Ashkenazi sweet potato, prune, and carrot side dish. Pomegranates, the traditional first fruit, are served so that we may do as many good deeds as there are seeds within the fruit. * The Jewish world is bright and joyous; even the fruits and vegetables served are vividly hued -- oranges, carrots, the many varieties of apples. Whatever traditions you opt to embrace or decide to create, make sure your Rosh Hashanah is bright, light, and sweet.

New Year Cards

This is one of the holidays during which Jewish people send greeting cards to friends and family. Card companies have gotten much more creative in recent years with their Rosh Hashanah cards, selling them singly or by the pack, but why not try your hand at making your family's own? They're much more personal, and recipients will treasure them more, knowing the effort and creativity that went into each card.

New Year's cards may be sent before Rosh Hashanah up until the beginning of Sukkot, so you have a couple of weeks to get them into the mail. Ours are made from both blank cards from the stationery store and colored paper that can be cut to the desired size. Quality art supply stores also sell handmade papers, some with flower petals or fiber pieces pressed right in. They're a beautiful canvas for handmade cards.

Open House Buffet

Our Rosh Hashanah open house buffet is short on prep time, long on pleasure. The spirit of the Jewish New Year permeates your home. The talk is relaxed and unhurried. The food is abundant yet simple. And a menu like this allows you to enjoy this special time with the people you love, not careening back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room. Here, we've created ideas for an easily elegant buffet table, headlining food that needn't be eaten at a sit-down meal, foods prepared days ahead, using a vibrant tumble of vegetables from the summer's rich harvest.

We've loaded our table with garden treasures: a heady eggplant dip, a mélange of crudités, and traditional challah-turned-bruschetta. The cognac-laced chopped liver is a dense, surprisingly delicious treat, and tiny apple honey tartlets blend the season's celebrity fruit with the symbolic sweetness of honey. Consider jugs of cold local cider, and keep a crock of long cinnamon sticks nearby.

Some extra perks for you: Except for the tartlets, the foods on our buffet needn't be heated, totally eliminating panic time. This is intentional -- Rosh Hashanah services at different synagogues end at different times, which means that your guests don't arrive en masse. Each element of this light luncheon fails into the finger food category -- enough to satisfy, never to overfill, since many of your guests will be going on to traditional multicourse family dinners later in the day.

The setting is up to you, but we've chosen earthy autumn colors. As a centerpiece, you might want to use pomegranates -- a seasonal "first fruit" -- in an attractive glass bowl. These dry beautifully and look great in the house all year long. If your buffet is set up in a room with a fireplace, try this for the mantle -- scoop out a large oblong gourd or overgrown zucchini, tuck in some florists' foam, and insert bittersweet.

If you live near a body of fresh running water that contains fish, take a walk after the meal to experience tashlich. This is the ceremony of reciting prayers and throwing bread crumbs into the water as a symbolic casting away of our transgressions so we might make a fresh start for the New Year. This ceremony teaches us that, just as a fish's eyes are always open, so is God always watching over us and waiting for us to resolve that we will not repeat our sins. Then, like the water, our sins will also move on. Tashlich is a beautiful tradition, and one that children especially love. Adults find something very cleansing about the ceremony, which binds us to nature and reminds us that we are all part of the Creator's world.

MENU

Herbed Challah Bruschetta

Cognac Chopped Liver

Mediterranean Eggplant Spread

Harvest Tomato Compote

Roasted Beet Relish

Apple and Honey Tartlets

Nana's Basic Mandel Bread

Crudités with Dip

HERBED CHALLAH BRUSCHETTA

SERVES 8-10

1 large challah

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Cut challah into 1/2-inch slices and cut each slice diagonally into 4 pieces.

3. Mix oil, seasoning, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Place challah on a baking sheet and brush the pieces with the oil mixture. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until golden. Turn pieces over and brush remaining side. Bake for an additional 3-4 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cool. Repeat with remaining pieces.

SUGGESTIONS

* Any type of challah will work. We prefer a pullman style because you get even pieces.

* This can be made ahead of time and kept in an airtight container or Ziploc bag.

* Any type of dried seasoning will work, such as sage, thyme, rosemary, or chives.

COGNAC CHOPPED LIVER

MAKES 2 CUPS

1 pound chicken livers Kosher salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup minced shallots

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cognac

2 hard-boiled eggs

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped chives

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat broiler to high.

2. Chicken livers need to be kashered -- salt livers on all sides. Place on a broiler pan, on a screen-type rack so that blood can drip off.

3. Broil chicken livers for 4-5 minutes or until blood has exuded. Wash salt away.

4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large sauté pan. Sauté shallots for 6-8 minutes or until golden. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add chicken livers and 1/4 cup cognac. Let simmer for 12-15 minutes over medium-high heat, until liquid has evaporated and livers are cooked through.

5. Transfer mixture to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process liver mixture, eggs, and remaining oil until smooth. Remove mixture to a bowl and fold in parsley and chives. Splash with 1 tablespoon cognac. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

6. Serve with herbed challah bruschetta.

MEDITERRANEAN EGGPLANT SPREAD

SERVES 6-8

1 large eggplant

4 cloves roasted garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons pitted,...