1. Traditional Tayglach
2. Oogat Yom Huledet Soomsoom V’Dvash -Honeyed Sesame Birthday Cake
3. Pomegranate Sangria to toast the New Year
4. Sweet-and-Sour Stuffed Cabbage
5. Chewing on TESHUVA: Recipes of Repentance that change unhealthy recipes into healthier ones
6. Try Rosh Hashanah Lite!

One of the most effective props used to anchor Jewish ritual is food. Oily latkes, bitter herbs, sweet wine, and platters of round food signal the mood for those “in-the-know,” and stimulate questions and interesting discussions for those who wonder.

The following recipes are traditional for Rosh Hashanah. We present them here as a way to help stimulate your appetite for knowledge. They stand on their own, in that they produce a delicious product. But they may also be used as an opening to talk about ideas important to beginning a new year [Food For Thought].

Cooking together is a great family activity. Each recipe has a framing question or comment to help the “chefs” engage in meaningful chatter. Use them to create “teachable moments” throughout the year.

1. Traditional Tayglach
Adapted from The Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Leah Leonard (Gramercy)

Ingredients:
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound honey
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
¼ cup chopped nuts or coconut.

Beat 4 eggs with ¼ teaspoon salt in mixing bowl. Sift 2 ½ cups flour with 1 teaspoon
baking powder and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add flour slowly to eggs, and mix to form a ball of dough. Form hazelnut-size balls from dough. For syrup, combine 1 pound honey, 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon ginger in a 2 inch deep baking pan that will accommodate the dough balls. Heat oven to 350 degrees, and heat syrup for 3 minutes. Add tayglach balls to syrup; return to oven for 25 minutes or until syrup is reduced and tayglach are brown. Remove from oven; cool slightly, and drop tayglach one by one into a bowl with ¼ cup chopped nuts or coconut. When cool and dry tayglach can be stored in boxes like candy.

SHORTCUT: Combine 2 boxes of Goodman’s Soup Nuts with ¾ cup honey and ½
teaspoon ginger. Mix in chopped nuts or diced dried fruit. Pour and stack into round
aluminum pan; bake in moderate heat for 15 minutes.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT…Why do we have a tradition of eating sweet things, like apples and honey, at Rosh Hashanah? As the tayglach cool, look through “Apples and Pomegranates: A Family Seder for Rosh Hashanah” by Rahel Musleah for ideas on enriching your Rosh Hashanah meals.

2. Oogat Yom Huledet Soomsoom V’Dvash -Honeyed Sesame Birthday Cake
Adapted from "The Jewish Holiday Cookbook" by Gloria Kaufer Greene (Times Books)

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of sesame seeds
2 large eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
honey (see measurements below)
¾ cup all-purpose white flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder.
3 tablespoons margarine

Put 1 ½ cups of sesame seeds in a large ungreased skillet, toasting them over medium-high heat until light brown. Set aside.

Mix together 2 large eggs, 2/3 cup vegetable oil, and ¼ cup honey in a large bowl. Add ¾ cup all-purpose white flour and ¾ cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup sugar, and 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder. Mix well. Then mix in the sesame seeds.

Spread the batter evenly in a greased or non-stick 9x13 baking pan. Bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

For the honey glaze- boil 1/3 cup honey and 3 tablespoons margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat. Spoon the mixture over the baked cake; return the cake to the oven for about 2 minutes, or until the glaze is absorbed. Decorate with wishes for the world's 5771st birthday.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A Rosh Hashanah theme is the celebration of creation, (i.e. the birthday of the world). Before the holiday, write cards with birthday wishes and pictures of nature that most appeal to you. Try singing Yom huledet la olam, Hebrew words for “Happy Birthday to the world.” For older family members, think of ways to help repair the world (tikkun olam) where you have observed it to be "broken" (in nature, in society…).

3. Pomegranate Sangria to toast the New Year
Adapted from http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/pom-sangria-440176

Ingredients:
1 bottle fruity red table wine (we used Rene Barbier, Mediterranean Red)
2 cups pomegranate juice (we used Pom Wonderful)
1/2 cup pomegranate schnapps (we used DeKuyper)
1/2 cup brandy (we used Paul Masson, Grande Amber)
1/2 cup triple sec (we used DeKuyper)
1/2 cup lemonade (we used Simply Lemonade)
1 large orange, sectioned and cut in 1/2 (the original recipe calls for thinly sliced, which may release flavors better, but we didn’t want to leave the skin on)
1 green apple, cored, thinly sliced
1 cup red grapes, sliced in 1/2

Combine all ingredients, stir, cover, and refrigerate, letting sit at least 24 hours before serving. When we checked it after only 4 or 5 hours the fruit flavors had yet to really settle in.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The Pomegranate is one of the seven species of fruit that represents the land of Israel's blessings. It is considered the royal fruit, with a crown-looking bud at its end. Pomegranate crown jewels were found in Jerusalem's archeological dig near the royal palace of Israelite kings. On Rosh Hashannah, we think about our relationship to God as subjects loyal to a King, and a King who cares about the subjects in a nation. That 2-way relationship is called a berit, or covenant.

What kind of people deserve that loyalty? How would you know they are deserving? How do you choose your friends? In what ways do you show your loyalty/caring?
Fill your cup (a non-alcohol version for the minors!) and propose a toast to your friends for the New Year. Propose a toast to your family- what do you wish for them?

4. Sweet-and-Sour Stuffed Cabbage
Adapted from http://www.jewishrecipes.org/recipes/vegetable-dishes/stuffed-cabbage-and-cabbage-rolls/index.

Stuffed cabbage is an East European and Middle Eastern delicacy. The leaves are softened by parboiling or placing the whole head of cabbage in the freezer, and then filled with chopped meat and/or rice.

Ingredients:
1 medium cabbage
Sauce
2 Tbsp. margarine or olive oil
2 onions, sliced
3 cups canned tomatoes, with juice
1 ½ tsps. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Beef bones (optional)
Filling:
1 pound ground beef or crumbled tofu, nut meats, or seitan
4 Tbsp. Uncooked rice
4 Tbsp. Grated onion
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp. cold water
Seasoning:
3 Tbsp. honey
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup seedless raisins
Prepare cabbage by either boiling or freezing method. Remove and check leaves for bugs.

Sauce: Heat margarine in a 6-quart pot and sauté onions. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and bones. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Filling: In a bowl combine meat, rice, onion, egg and water. Place 1 large tablespoon of mixture onto each leaf and roll according to illustrations.

Place cabbage rolls in sauce. Cover and cook for 1 ½ hours over low heat. Sauce should cover at least half the rolls. If more sauce is necessary, add 1 cup tomato juice.

After 1 ½ hours, add honey, lemon juice, and raisins and cook 15 minutes more.

Note: Stuffed cabbage freezes well. When reheating defrosted stuffed cabbage, 6 potatoes cut in quarters may be added. Cook until potatoes are tender.

Use: 6-quart pot

Yields: 14 to 16 cabbage rolls

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The recipe calls for ingredients that mixes sweet and sour tastes. In what way may this be a reality check, and prepare us for the year ahead?

Our sages say, "One has to say a blessing for the bad as well as the good." How may this create a positive attitude? Do you agree?

5. Chewing on TESHUVA: Recipes of Repentance that change unhealthy recipes into healthier ones

Everyone has made New Year resolutions, and the most popular one to break is going on a healthy diet. We are asked to practice teshuva, the act of returning to ways in which we have missed the mark during the year, and correct our behavior and return to be better images of God. We can start by addressing our eating ethic.

Regina Paul of www.associatedcontent.com suggests three steps to return to healthier eating.

1. REPLACE unhealthy ingredients with healthier versions. Substitute white grains and rice with whole wheat and brown rice; replace whole milk with skim; use fresh veggies instead of over salted cans; changes from sugar to honey or fruit juice.

2. REDUCE the amount of salt, sugar, and fat in the recipe--it won't affect the taste much if you use substitutes. Reduce the amount of meat by using a half meat (like turkey) and half tofu combination. Also, reduce the portion sizes.

3. RETOOL the cooking methods; broiling and slow cooking are healthy alternatives to frying and stovetop pan cooking. Also make sure to break up the cooking to pour off and skim fat. You may also make family decisions to have one or more veggie nights each week, buy grass fed and free-range meat, and look for the labels (like the hekhsher tzedek and fair trade designation) that show ethical behavior by growers, manufacturers, and distributors.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: There is a universal saying "You are what you eat." What do you think it means? What if the phrase was "You are HOW you eat?" Can this also relate to the recitation of blessings of thanksgiving and appreciation? To whom could they be addressed?

Generate a family eating ethic that will guide shopping, cooking, and eating over the coming year. It may include laws of kashrut, health issues, sustainability properties, and ethical considerations. Research each of these categories to find how you can align your food habits. Write a family cookbook; solicit recipes from as many relatives from as many generations as you can. Make copies and send around to the family.

Try Rosh Hashanah Lite! With Rosh Hashanah falling earlier than usual, a chef offers holiday dishes built around late-summer produce. Click here to video-shop along with a chef for holiday ingredients.