Autumn brings the beginning of a new school year, cooler weather, apple picking, and foliage rich in beautiful hues of red, orange and yellow as the leaves begin to change color. It’s my favorite season and the one I missed most when growing up in Florida. The season also brings a new year for the Jewish people filled with traditional food, and hopes for a sweet new year. The past couple of weeks have been filled with holidays, family, friends and a lot of food! There was what seemed to be endless cooking going on in my kitchen, and a lot of eating around the table. I had a checklist of all that needed to be accomplished. Plan menu – check! Purchase groceries – check! Bake apple cake – check! Braid the challah – check! Make holiday boxes for college students – check!
I put together holiday boxes which were mailed to college kids in the middle of September. They included mini apple cakes, challah rolls, small honey bears, candy and apples. It’s a little taste of home for the holidays. I started making them last year for my son and niece and this year was a little late in advertising, but still managed to sell a few making an even dozen to be sent off as far away as Arizona, New York, Texas, Virginia, Indiana, and here in Ohio. For upcoming holidays I’m working on adding a link to the side of my website for ordering.
The holidays also bring my in-laws to town. It’s great having them join us every year. We really look forward to their visit and spending time with them. After the holiday is celebrated, we then carry out our traditional apple picking excursion, yes – I went apple picking again! This time we picked golden delicious and Jonathan apples. Both fantastic and extremely different from one another, yet both perfect for dipping into honey! Of course I can’t leave the farm without apple salsa, which gets opened immediately when we get home! As for my mother-in-law, her visit isn’t complete until she goes home with a wagon filled with butternut squash, which she will turn into a delicious and creamy golden soup!
During the holiday, it is customary to have raisin challah that is round, which symbolizes the circle of life and changing seasons. I thought I would try adding chopped apples instead of raisins this time, and it was the best challah I have ever made! It tasted like cake but, hey, it’s the holiday so what’s a little cake with your meal? Plus, it’s customary to have a sweet challah on the holiday. Okay, now that I justified it, we can move on!
Bread and apples are dipped into delicious golden honey, to insure a sweet year ahead. This year I found beautifully packaged honey at a local farmer’s market. The honey is from a local beekeeper named Brad from Brad’s Bees which graced our table in a beautiful vintage jar and the taste was amazing! I purchased their summer wildflower honey which is a premium light honey derived from various wildflowers here in Columbus. Wildflower honey will vary in taste from year to year. This must be an exceptionally good year as it was sweet and mild with a beautiful amber color. What a great way to start off the holiday!
Finally apple cake finished off our meal, which is a good thing since I must have 50 pounds of apples in my house! All-in-all, it was a wonderfully delicious holiday! The next few weeks will be filled with more holiday food adventures I look forward to sharing with you! L’Shana Tova… wishing you a good year!