Monday, August 30, 2010

Beginnings of a Rosh Hashana Menu

Wherever I go lately, everyone's talking about her Yom Tov Rosh Hashana menu. It's getting annoying. I'm still working on putting out the Rosh Hashana issue of Voices Magazine, so I don't have time to think of anything.
But I am feeling bad that I'm not yet in the holiday spirit at all, so I pulled out last year's menu. Somewhere I have to add in food for another day (this year, we've got three days of praying and feasting in a row), and I've gotta make some adjustments, but at least, I can use the menu below as a basis of my Rosh Hashana.
I hope it helps you too. Make any changes you like, and perhaps write to me and I can use your suggestions.
Non-Traditional Traditions
As you'll notice, my family adds its own simanim (symbols of a new year) in addition to the traditional ones we eat at our Yom Tov meal at our best friends' home.
Some of the traditional simanim are honey for a sweet new year; rubia (fenugreek) so that our merits will yirbu (increase); silka (beets) so that our enemies will be siluk (removed), etc.
Our family has always had fun with simanim. That itself is a siman (symbol) of a fun new year. As a small child, my daughter, had a favorite doll named Honey Bee. She loved Honey Bee so much, I made matching clothing for the little doll and my living doll. When Honey Bee was finally loved to pieces, my daughter still could not "part" with her, so we used Honey Bee's head on the Rosh Hashana table as a siman. May we be like the head and not the tail.

FIRST NIGHT
Apple dipped in honey for a sweet New Year
Carrot sticks – gezer – that Hashem should change any evil decree against us
Pomegranate - rimon – that our lives should be filled with as many mitzvot as a promegranate
Chicken soup with kreplach - may our pockets always be filled
Roast Beef – so that any accusers who beef against us should be roasted
Rice with vegetables – including pilpel – so that we should be good in gemora
Zucchini - kishuim – so that children should also kiss your Ema (mother)
Apple crunch – so that our lives will be sweet and our enemies will be crunched
Creamsicles – so the coming year will always be soft and yummy

FIRST DAY
Chulent – so that the Jewish people will get along like all the mix of a chulent
Chicken – so that our enemies will be chicken
Dates - tamar – so that all singles should have dates
Broccoli souffle – that our mazel (luck) will flower like a broccoli
Cole Slaw – so their souls should be merry like Ol' King Cole
Chocolate Chip Bar Teddy Bear Head – so we can be the head and not the tail

SECOND NIGHT
Soup with kneidlach (matza balls) if it’s hot -so that life may always be light and fluffly
Turkey (called Hodu in Hebrew) – Hodu L’Hashem ki tov - Praise Hashem who is good.
Butternut squash – our enemies should be squashed
Mushroom Onion Crepes – that our descendents should mushroom
Cranberry-Apple crunch – ditto above
Rice with vegetables – ditto above
Peanut Butter Squares – so that we can devour Jimmy Carter’s memory (leftovers)

SECOND DAY
Gefilte Fish – so that the swimming pool’s filter will always work
Leftover Turkey – so that we'll do so many mitzvot, we will have leftovers
More leftovers

[I still have to come out with a menu for Shabbat day. Maybe you'll help me out. :) )
May Hashem bless us all with a healthy, happy new year.
May everyone be matzliach in everything he does,
and may he try to do everything well. Peace and good news for all Am Yisrael.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks Sharon,
    I had a good laugh!!!
    May you and yours and all of our Holy People have a wonderful new year full of besorot tovot yeshuot venechamot, and as my family says GeFeN (my dad's company) Gezunt, Parnassah and Nachat
    And thank you for all your blogs and videos, I love them!!

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  2. Since Chabad doesn't do all the simanim and I have guests that often do I have the fish head (smoked wish that I don't have to cook small etc), Rimon (sometimes in a lettuce salad with canned mandarin orange , apples and honey, round challah (often rolls so everyone has) and simanim soup..made of all the veggies that other people use (beets, leeks, dlalat, carrots etc) cooked together. Makes a nice rich soup and I leave the chunks of veggies

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  3. how about "kolrabi" - lishmoah bkol harabi - listen to the voice of the rabbi
    or sardine - lhasir et hadin - distance oneself from judgement

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  4. Oops, the comment above was from NOA.

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  5. Good luck as you may very well know (or not) that next year it's the same thing: Rosh Ha Shanah on Thursday and Friday and then Shabbat and then Yom Kippur on Shabbat. Yom Kippur -better known as Shabbat Shabbaton. But who's concerning themselves with this now?

    Shanah Tovah.

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  6. so why are you serving cholent the first day its a three day yom tov
    save that forshabbos
    seve for first day shnizel or somehin not so haeavy after along davening day

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  7. Love them Sharon! (Just didn't understand what a Chocolate Chip Bar Teddy Bear Head is)

    Here are some of our original simanim:

    Sprinkles (cake decorations) - so that Israel should have lots of sprinkles of rain
    Chrain - so that Israel should have lots of rain
    Olive - so that we'll all live to 120
    Biltong (South African style dried meat) - so that the Bet Mikdash should be built on Har HaBayit.
    Wine - so that our kids shouldn't whine
    Plum - so that we shouldn't get plump
    Baloney - so that we we should be full of goodness and not baloney
    Smarties (candy, adashim in Hebrew) - so that our children should grow to be real smarties
    Rice - so that our kids shouldn't get lice
    Honey - so that we should have lots of money

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