A Shiksa’s Rosh Hashanah

Posted on October 6th, 2016

This tried & true WASP has a darling Jewish husband, which for us, since neither of us feel compelled to have the other convert, pretty just means double the holidays and double the celebration.  We hosted our first Rosh Hashanah dinner on Sunday, inviting eight friends to our apartment to ring in 5777 and celebrate the Hebrew calendar new year– it was so much fun.

As with most of the dinners we host, I started planning a few weeks in advance, but the stakes were particularly high as I tackled new recipes traditionally served for Rosh Hashanah festivities. One of our dear friends in Seattle co-hosted with us and made a lot of the food using his family’s recipes and several of the guests brought side dishes, so I focused on three key areas: meat, potatoes, and cake. Oh, and wine. I mean really, do we even need anything else?

Answer: we did. We started the new year with very full hearts and bellies.

The biggest adventure for me was cooking beef brisket. I spent six hours of my Saturday babysitting the 8 pounds of meat in the oven while watching football and drooling over the amazing aroma wafting through the apartment. Don’t roast brisket on an empty stomach, y’all. I let it rest overnight before finishing on Sunday afternoon. Rosh Hashanah is all about a sweet new year, and truly, the cake was so outstanding that it deserves its own post. Come back tomorrow if you’re in the mood for some fall baking!

{Full menu, for those who are always in it for the food: apples & honey, matzah ball soup, beef brisket, roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, noodle kugel, tzimmes, challah (homemade!), salad, apple cake with honey glaze. In case you lost count, there were three carbs served in the main course alone, and I’m still full.}