I’ve noticed so many trends popping up as I research dinnerware and flatware for our wedding registry – colors, textures, levels of formality oh my! One of my favorite trends is a mix-and-match of traditional shapes in a tight, modern palette. Now, I might not choose this particular look for the registry, our style tends to be a little more modern and minimalist, but it is so lovely to dream up eclectic, elegant tablescapes for imaginary parties!
Desserts are the stars of the High Holy Day Table. No really! Veggies are great, and fish is delicate and delicious, and meat is festive and decadent, but we wish each other “a sweet new year” for a reason! It’s sweet! And festive! And everyone has their favorite, nostalgic, formative memory-making dessert.
Mine is honey cake, and one day, when I am feeling well-organized and generous, I will post my favorite, spicy, tender, delectable recipe along with the deepest, most emotional commentary imaginable on the subject. I will ramble and make declarations, I will reminisce and bring tears to my own eyes. But in the meantime, I thought you all might enjoy a more practical and less misty-eyed round up of High Holy Day cakes, sweets, and challahs.
As always, I enjoy including our favorite symbolic foods – apples, honey, pomegranates, dates, figs, pumpkin, etc. I also have done my utmost to include recipes that might be a little out of the ordinary, after all, the New Year is a time for celebration and new things!
Even if you are a cheese lover like me, sometimes you need a non-dairy meal. Whether it’s a dietary preference, allergy, or kosher reason, you need some go-to festive dishes that don’t rely on meat for substance, nor milk or cheese for richness. Check out these beautiful dishes from soup to salads, sides to main dishes.
Tradition has such a strong voice in our festive meals and celebrations – what we do and don’t eat, how we eat it, how we prepare it. When I started being more observant and proactive in keeping kosher, I discovered that I resented meat meals. I love cheese and dairy (especially desserts) so ardently that it seemed unfair to give up my cheesecake in the name of mediocre, previously frozen meat. Nowadays there are are fantastic new companies offering organic, sustainable, delicious, all around amazing kosher meat but back then, in the distant past, that wasn’t the case.
And so, I began exploring the other side of the kosher spectrum – the cheesy, creamy, eggy, fishy, veggie side! All of a sudden there were beautiful, affordable, luxurious options! Living as I did in the Pacific Northwest, the fish counters stretched before me, replete with bright salmon, rich halibut, tender cod, and flavorful trout. Quality vegetables at the supermarket and farmers markets emitted their beautiful glow and the cheese counter beckoned. My vegetarian friends had an easier time eating at my table and my pocketbook was less strained. And so, most of my festive meals became, and remain, dairy/parve.