Shana Tova U'Mituka

Everyone has their own way of knowing Rosh Hashanah is on the way. Looking at my printouts of menu upon menu is one way. Finalizing hours and hours of kids' programming to be used during services (about 8 hours to be exact - kids at Chabad House are never bored during services!!) is another way. Getting covered in Shofar dust and helping 40 kids and their grown ups make working Shofars is yet another way.

No matter how you get your "Rosh Hashanah is coming signal" - Rosh Hashanah is most certainly on the way!

Rosh Hashanah is one of those holidays that fills me with awe and excitement. Rosh Hashanah gives me time to reflect on the past year. To relive my accomplishments, to revisit the areas in my life that need some working on (as I tell my students, we all can do some mistake fixing) and of course to offer G-d many, many thanks for the bountiful blessings He has bestowed upon me in the past year. I look back and I realize that another year has passed and Baruch Hashem - thank G-d, my family is all healthy, we have a beautiful home to live in and plenty of delicious food to eat, I have an incredible husband and amazing family - and for this I am so grateful to Hashem. I use Rosh Hashanah as a time to speak with G-d and ask of Him to please be kind to my family, my friends, the Jewish nation and the world in general, and grant us all a year that is filled with nothing but pure sweetness.

As I continue to work on my Rosh Hashanah preparations, I wish you a Shana Tova u'Mituka - may the coming year bring you only joy and happiness and may any of your challenges in life be quickly and easily resolved.

In keeping with the sweet theme, I have included my recipe for my Honey Chiffon Cake. The original recipe is from the purple Spice and Spirit cookbook - here it is posted the way I make it. I like my honey cake to be light and fluffy and the only spice I add is cinnamon - however you can certainly add spices such as ginger, nutmeg or cloves should you desire.

Honey Chiffon Cake


3 tablespoons oil
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 3/4 cups flour
a good sprinkling of cinnamon
1 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons instant coffee


Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream oil and sugar. Add egg yolks and honey. In a separate bowl,  place baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix the coffee into the orange juice and add to batter. Add dry ingredients to bowl. Mix well. 


Beat egg whiles in a separate bowl and then gently fold them into the batter. Pour into an ungreased pan (9 x 13) and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.


Shana Tova!

An Anniversary Dinner

Maybe I am strange, but I have volumes of wonderful memories which are attached to my parents first set of china. Even so many years after they have stopped using it (eventually it was time to retire it and get a new set), I can still remember the beautiful Shabbat dinners in our home in Virginia Beach and practically taste the wonderful food which was always served up on them. It is a beautiful set of white china with a big black border with intricate designs and gold edging. While my own set of china is probably the polar opposite of their china - I still love the way it looks. A few years back I somehow ended up with these dishes in my possession. With my husband questioning me as to why I could possibly need my mother's old dishes, I responded that one day I would pull them out and serve dinner on them. Yesterday the occasion finally arrived!

Today my parents celebrate their 33rd anniversary and to celebrate we had them over for dinner last night. After deciding on a menu of carrot-sweet potato soup, baked salmon, roasted veggies and sweet potatoes, a garden salad and whipped cream and berries for dessert - I decided to add a special touch to our dinner. I got out my parents' china, dusted it off and set the table with them. A pretty pink tablecloth, cloth napkins tied with green ribbons and beautiful roses completed the look. I was pleased when my mother broke out with a big smile upon seeing her dishes sitting patiently on my table. 

My family enjoyed a lovely dinner together and as my parents celebrate 33 years together, I wish them many more happy years together!

And now for the recipe part...I am going to share my "recipe" for the roasted sweet potatoes we enjoyed last night.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Onion powder

Preheat oven to 400. Peel sweet potatoes and slice thinly. Place sweet potato slices on a pan (I use a jelly roll pan) and sprinkle with olive oil and the salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Mix. Place pan on the top rack in your oven. Roast for about 15 minutes and then turn the potatoes over. Continue to roast until potatoes are soft with slightly crispy edges. Enjoy!

Cranberry-Apple Juice - Rosemary Chicken

It may come as a surprise to you, but I am not a huge fan of bone-in chicken. I usually stick to skinless, boneless chicken breast, but every now and then "regular" chicken finds its way to my table. Yesterday was a "regular" chicken for Shabbos kind of Friday. The good news is that I remembered that I had created a chicken recipe a number of years back that was so good that even I loved it - which is pretty unusual. It was a crazy day in my kitchen yesterday as I accidentally poured the lemon juice for the chummus into the rising Challah dough (Challah turned out just fine!), sort of burned my honey-mustard potatoes (for some reason everyone loved them!), and simply couldn't follow instructions while baking a sponge cake (this too turned out delicious!) and so I was thrilled when my chicken came out without a hitch. The chicken was super tasty - and I am assuming that everyone else agreed with me as there was only one small piece left by the time dinner was over. So, if you ever need a no-fail chicken recipe, give this one a try - I think it was the only thing I made yesterday that had no issues from beginning to end.

Cranberry-Apple Juice - Rosemary Chicken

1 chicken, bones in, skin removed

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Dried chopped onion

Paprika

Soy sauce

Fresh rosemary

Cranberry-apple juice

Preheat oven to 385. Place chicken in a pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried chopped onion and paprika. Pour some soy sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with sprigs of fresh rosemary. Pour some cranberry-apple juice into the pan. Cover pan and bake for at least an hour and a half (we like this chicken when it is very well done). When chicken is nearly done, open the pan and spoon the juices over the chicken. Uncover the pan and continue to bake until the chicken is well done (or until it is however done you want it to be - baking it uncovered at the end will give the chicken its pretty coloring). Enjoy!

What's For Lunch?

Running our Chabad House programming from home certainly has its perks! I love that I can take a little break and create myself a dazzling lunch when I feel like it! Today I decided to take out my Cuisinart Griddler and create a grilled chicken panini. I LOVE my Griddler - it works as a griddle, an open indoor grill and as a panini press. Creating a panini is really very simple - you simply need some bread and lots of yummy things to put inside your sandwich. To assemble today's panini I put scallion dip (recipe coming another day!) on one slice of bread and ketchup on the other and then I added thinly sliced grilled chicken breast (dinner leftovers from Monday), a bread and butter pickle spear, a few slices of avocado and a few sliced grape tomatoes - and then closed my sandwich. The big, beautiful sandwich was then placed into the Griddler which was preheated to high. After a few minutes, my sandwich was all pressed and ready to eat - and I have to say, it was delicious!!  If you have a panini press, make sure you use it and try a wide variety of sandwiches in it!

Birthday Pancakes!

We LOVE to celebrate birthdays in our family! Today is a big day in our family - as it is Shalom's 6th birthday! I can barely believe that my little boy is now on to his "second hand of fingers" and is already in first grade! Seems that when you aren't looking, time starts to fly. To celebrate Shalom's birthday we had grandparents, uncles and some family friends over for a BBQ dinner last night. After dinner I decided that the celebration would continue in the morning. (Jewish birthdays are cool as you get to celebrate at night, and then the next day too!)

I woke up super early once again this week in order to create a breakfast pancake party! My kids were thrilled to come down the stairs and find pancakes in the making! Shalom was extra excited to find that I had made him a number 6 pancake in honor of his special day:)

In honor of Shalom's Jewish birthday I am posting my pancake recipe (it is pareve as you might imagine). We love pancakes and sometimes even eat them for dinner (gasp!). Here's to hoping you enjoy these pancakes as much as we do!

Pancakes


2 cups flour
4 tsps. baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
2 1/2 tbsps oil
A sprinkle of vanilla extract


Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl (I use a fork). It is ok if the batter is a little lumpy. (I use my Cuisinart Griddler with the griddle plates to make my pancakes - this way I don't need to use oil to fry them.) Using a small ladle, drop pancake batter onto the griddle (set to about 325). When you see bubbles forming it means that it is time to flip your pancakes. Pancakes should be a light, golden brown when they are done.
Serve with your favorite syrup and enjoy!


PS: I have taken leftover pancakes and put them in the freezer - they taste yummy frozen or could be warmed up in the microwave!