Rosh Hashanah Food

I have never really been on the ball for any of the festivals, but was really excited this year for Rosh Hashanah. At the very least, I had a meal plan way ahead of time for some fun food. Then I looked at the calendar. It was a night we were supposed to be at my in laws, AND I had agreed to watch my friend's 4 year old daughter during dinner time. Oh, and I had a mom and kids bible study for 2 hours in the morning and swimming lessons after nap time. So, in laws were invited to our house and we did it all anyway. Whew, what a day.

I did my best to prep as much as I could the day before. I have The Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen cookbook, but had never used it. I found a recipe in it for the main dish, side and dessert: Orange Chicken, Carrot Tsimmes and Baked Apples. The best thing about this book is that it breaks each recipe into what the kids can do and what the adult needs to do.

To make the Carrot Zimmies for example, they had me boil the carrots and let them cool. Then, #1 was able to cut them up! How fun is that? And they were a great texture too, not as soggy as I expected. She also got to measure and put in orange juice, pineapple, sugar, water and prunes. This was like candy folks.

The Carrot Tsimmes
I got this table cloth while in New York and absolutely love it. I'm not much of a woven cornucopia or turkey decorated table kinda girl. And I found cloth napkins to match, 7 of them, at a garage sale for $2! That never happens to me!

My Favorite decided to get back into the swing of baking (yipee!) and made these amazing soft pretzels. They were the hit of the night, for sure. We also made baked apples, and both girls got to put in the butter, sugar, cinnamon and cover it with orange juice. The leftovers, mixed with oatmeal, made the best breakfast ever.

All in all, it was memorable and delicious, at least for me. Even if the chicken took WAY too long to get done!