From The Mouths of Babes

A few days ago I parked in the driveway after picking my kids up from school. As we pulled in we heard the sound of the Shofar, and one of my older kids asked "is that a neighbor's kid playing with their Shofar - or did Moshiach come?" To which my two year old starting clapping his hands and saying, "I want to go see Moshiach!!!" As you are aware, Moshiach had not yet arrived, and it was just the neighbors playing around. That said, this little story made me pause, as I thought about just how excited my baby was to see Moshiach. I was amazed that even at his young age he knew that it would be an incredibly exciting moment. It was a good reminder that our work is still not done and we need to continue to flood the world with Mitzvot! May it be the will of Hashem that we hear the sound of the Shofar announcing the arrival of Moshiach in the very, very near future! As we get ready to celebrate Yom Kippur and stand before Hashem as His gates are open before us, let us make sure to cry out together and ask for a time where we will know only peace and harmony and health and happiness!! 

I am in the midst of baking cinnamon buns for dessert, so I will share the recipe with you. (Thanks to my cousin Malkie for this awesome recipe!!)

Gmar Chatima Tova! May you be sealed for only good!

-Rashi

Cinnamon Buns

1 3/4 cups warm water

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

3 tablespoons yeast

1/2 tablespoon salt

2 eggs

5 1/4 cups flour

cinnamon and sugar mixture

Mix warm water, sugar, oil and yeast and let sit for 15 minutes. Add in the salt, eggs and flour. Mix well. Roll out dough and brush with oil. Then rub on cinnamon and sugar mixture. Then roll dough up from the edge...as you roll up one layer, brush with oil and rub with cinnamon and sugar. Continue roll up until the whole thing is rolled up into a log. Then use a sharp knife to cut into slices. Place on a greased baking sheet. Allow to rise for about 30 minutes. Bake on 400 for 12-15 minutes. Top with your favorite glaze. Enjoy!

Lasting Sweetness

Mom, can I have some ice cream? Mommy can I have more brownies? Can we go to Israel for winter break? Can I have a sleepover tonight? As a parent I field questions all day long. Some reasonable. Some not so reasonable. Fielding all of these questions - and responding to them - is just part of the territory of being a parent. Children are not shy, and they will happily ask and ask and then ask again. Children are persistent - and you know what, sometimes it pays off. If you are like me, then your kids have certainly been successful at acquiring more toys than needed, extra desserts and so on. Some people might call that spoiling your kids but my theory is that they are my children and I have the right to give in to their requests. While it is quiet in my house at the moment (the question askers are still sleeping!) soon my house will be abuzz as we race around and get ready for Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year. Tonight we will dip an apple in honey, tomorrow we will sing Avinu Malkeinu. We will call out to Hashem as our Father and  King and ask for a good and sweet year. My dear friends, let us each remember that Hashem is our Father, and cares deeply about each and every one of us! I am going to take my cue from my children and ask and then ask for some more. While we are contemplating our choices that may have not been the greatest and while we are promising to change our ways, let us also beg Hashem to open His treasure trove of blessings and shower them upon us. My children are not too shy to ask for what they want and in turn I am not too shy to ask of Hashem to bestow us with a wonderful year filled with health and happiness. When dipping the apple in the honey we can note that honey is a type of preservative. We are asking that Hashem give us happiness that is coated in honey so that we may have lasting sweetness. As we wave goodbye to the year 5775 and welcome in 5776 please join me in asking Hashem for health, wealth and happines - and time to enjoy it! Let us also ask Him, as His children, to put an end to all pain and suffering and send us the ultimate, lasting sweetness with the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days! Shana Tova!

In keeping with the theme of sweetness, here is a new chicken recipe I tried out recently - my kids loved it! (Thanks to my cousin Bluma for the inspiration for this one.) My apologies that  I don't have any measurements for this one. 

Apricot Brown Sugar Chicken 

Bone in chicken

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Dried chopped onion flakes

Paprika

Olive Oil

Apricot preserves

Brown sugar

Soy sauce

Set your oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken in a pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, chopped onion and paprika. Then drizzle olive oil on the chicken. In a bowl, mix the apricot preserves, brown sugar and soy sauce together well. Spread the sauce over the chicken and then turn chicken over to bake skin side down and covered. When chicken has almost reached your desired level of doneness, turn chicken back over and bake uncovered until it is nicely crisped and colored. Enjoy!!