Jewish Holidays

Calendar of Jewish Holidays

A Diet Guide to Jewish Holidays

Shabbat | Rosh Hashanah  | Yom Kippur

Sukkot | Simchat Torah | Chanukah | Purim

Passover/Pesach  | Yom Ha'atzmaut | Shavuot

Other Holidays

Thanksgiving | Mother's Day | Father's Day

Labour Day | New Year's Eve

Jewish Holidays 2010 / 2011
holidays begin at sundown

Rosh Hashanah

8 September 2010

Yom Kippur

17 September 2010

Sukkot

22 September

Chanukah

1 December 2010

Purim

19 March 2011

Passover

18 April 2011

Yom Ha'atzmaut

9 May 2011

Shavuot

7 June 2011

     

Shabbat
The Sabbath is considered the most important of all holy days. Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday evening and ends after sundown on Saturday. Two Challah are blessed. Try these delicious recipes for your next Shabbat meal.

Norene's Prize-winning Challah or Whole Wheat Challah

Chopped Liver or Gefilte Fish

Chicken Soup or Split Pea & Barley Soup

Coke Brisket or Herb Roasted Chicken

Lokshin Kugel and/or  Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Apple Lover's Cake and/or Sugar Cookies

     

Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a time for reflection and new beginnings. Sweet foods such as honey, carrots, apples and dried fruits are served, expressing the wish for a happy, sweet year ahead. Try my Honey Apple Cake from The Food Processor Bible

It is always difficult to resist the special dishes associated with the holidays. When planning your menu, lighten it up by preparing more vegetable-based dishes. And when it comes to poultry, experts agree that it makes very little difference whether you remove the skin before or after cooking. Just remove it before it ends up on your fork - and in your mouth!

Roast brisket is a traditional holiday favorite, but a 3 1/2 ounce serving (the size of a deck of cards) can contain up to 16 grams of fat. Buy a lean, first-cut brisket; second-cut brisket is full of fat. Roast it a day in advance and refrigerate it overnight. Trim off the excess fat and discard the hardened fat from the gravy. Cold brisket can be sliced thinly, which helps control portion size. Refrigerate or freeze the brisket slices until needed. Reheat in the skimmed gravy.

Try my recipe for Coke Brisket from Healthy Helpings!

Nutrition Tip: Prunes are the fruit highest in antioxidants.

*****

For a healthy holiday dessert, try this fiber-packed Quick Fruit Compote!

Combine 3 cups of mixed dried fruits (e.g. prunes, apricots, raisins or dried cranberries) in a microwave-safe glass bowl.

Add water or cranberry juice to cover the top of the fruit by at least 1 inch.

Microwave covered on high power for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring once or twice.

When cool, refrigerate. The liquid will become sweeter the longer it stands.

Recipe Suggestions for Rosh Hashanah

More Recipes and Hints in these Articles

A is for Apple: A-peel-ing Apple Desserts

From My Healthy Kitchen to Yours  

Pan-Pals Share Favorite High Holiday Recipes over the Miles

Gathering Round the Holiday Table

Menu from the Mavens Offers New Twists for a Sweet New Year 

Apples and Honey bring sweet blessings to the New Year

Recipes from Gatherings: Creative Kosher Cooking from our Families to Yours

Three-Coloured Fish Loaf

Double Mushroom Chicken

Pecan Pumpkin Loaf

     

Yom Kippur

For Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, traditional foods like chicken soup, Kreplach (meat-filled dumplings) and boiled chicken are served the night before a day-long fast.

In order to avoid thirst during the fast, avoid spicy, salty foods. Eat moderate amounts of protein and include foods that are high in complex carbohydrates. Be sure to drink adequate liquids before and after fasting to prevent dehydration.

To break the fast, low-fat dairy foods, poached fish and salads are excellent choices for your festive buffet table.

Recipe Suggestions for Yom Kippur

Jodi's Bean Salad

Super Cole Slaw

Potato Salad

Pickled Salmon

Dishwashwasher Salmon

Red Lentil Pate (Can't Believe It's Not Chopped Liver)

Apple Lover's Cake

Special K Mandel Bread

Wendy's Easy Chicken Bake

     

Sukkot

Sukkot celebrates the final gathering of the harvest before the winter. Meals are served in the Sukkah, an outdoor structure with a leafy roof partly open to the sky. The Sukkah symbolizes the temporary shelters in which our ancestors lived during their 40 years in the desert.

The agricultural theme is celebrated by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. Stuffed vegetables (cabbage, eggplant, zucchini, peppers) are served for Sukkot. Kreplach and kugels, challah and strudels - these are a few of my favorite things!

Recipe Suggestions for Sukkot

Sweet & Sour Holishkes

Norene's Prize-winning Challah

Pecan Pumpkin Loaf

Whole wheat Challah

Eileen Mintz's Favorite Apple Cake

More Recipes and Hints in these Articles

A Healthy Harvest of Celebrations

Gathering Round the Holiday Table

Pan-Pals Share Favorite High Holiday Recipes over the Miles

     

Simchat Torah
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are the culmination of the High Holy Days. On Shemini Atzeret, the 8th day of Sukkot, it is customary to eat in the Sukkah. On Simchat Torah, we resume eating our meals indoors. Cabbage rolls are often served for Simchat Torah, because their cylindrical shape symbolizes the shape of the scrolls of the Torah.

Recipe Suggestions for Simchat Torah

Sweet & Sour Holishkes

Cabbage Rolls with Flanken

More Recipes and Hints in these Articles

A Healthy Harvest of Celebrations

Pan-Pals Share Favorite High Holiday Recipes over the Miles

     

Chanukah

When the days are short and the long, cold nights descend early, the Festival of Chanukah arrives. The flickering lights of the Chanukah menorah (chanukiah) will join the lights of the Shabbos candles. Once again we recall the miracle that took place over 2,000 years ago, when a small band of Maccabees were victorious over their enemies, and a little jar of oil, enough to burn for only one day, miraculously burned for eight.

In honour of the miracle which occurred with oil, it is traditional to eat foods fried in oil. Potato latkas and sufganiot (Israeli-style doughnuts) are popular. Dairy dishes are also customary. 

Norene Appeared on CTV Canada AM, helping host Jeff make latkes. To see the video and the recipe go to: www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/1102429173894_97838219?hub=Recipe

Everyone Loves Latkes

Chanukah Delights

Season's Eatings!

Lighten up for Chanukah

Tinkering with Tradition (review of Norene's Healthy Kitchen from the Montreal Gazette)

No-Fry Latkas

Smashed Potato Latkes

Mini veggie latkes with Smoked Salmon and Tzatziki

Marcy's Boston Cream Pie Doughnuts (Sufganiyot)

Cream Cheese-Apricot Tart

Levana's Potato Latkes

Olive-Lemon Chicken

Tuna Fish Patties

Sweet Potato and Zucchini Latkes

Braised Mini Meatballs

Cinnamon-Chocolate Mandelbroit

Here are some delicious Passover dishes for you and your guests to enjoy!

First a tasty appetizer - Roasted Eggplant Spread, Helene's Way

Then some great desserts!

Diane's Peach Potato Puffs

Frances Stopler's Passover Bulkies

Marianne Kaufmann's Praline Cake

Norene's Lemon Meringue Clouds

Sharon Schack's Bon Vivant

     

Purim
The symbolic foods of Purim are connected with Haman and Queen Esther. To avoid breaking Kosher dietary laws, Queen Esther lived in the palace on a vegetarian diet. Poppy seeds are symbolic of Queen Esther's three day fast. When she broke her fast at night, she ate only seeds while she prayed to G-d to repeal Haman's decree.

Read more about Purim, Creative Gift Baskets for Purim and Purim Then and Now.

Visit Giora Shimoni's Kosher Food Blog at kosherfood.about.com

Hamentaschen

Poppy Seed Filling

Haman's Hats

Kreplach

Poppy Seed Candy (Mohnlach)

Sugar Cookies/Haman's Hats

Five-Fruit Filling for Hamentashen

'Just Right' Hamantaschen

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Cookie Dough Hamantaschen

Double Chocolate Filling

Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Balls

An Edible Cookie Bowl

Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Patties

Dipping Chocolate

Party Cake Cones

Meringue Baked Pecans

     

Passover
During Passover, it is forbidden to eat "chametz" (leavened products) containing wheat, barley, oats, rye or spelt. Ashkenazi (European) Jews do not eat "kitniyot" (beans, peas, lentils, corn, rice or soy products.) Many Sephardic Jews eat legumes and rice, but only after checking them grain by grain to be sure they contain no foreign materials. Some Jews will not eat "gebrocks," i.e., foods containing matzo and its derivatives (cake meal, matzo meal, farfel) that are combined with liquid. Fresh fruits, herbs and most vegetables are Kosher for Passover.

For some reminiscences of Matzo Balls at Passover, read Memories of Matzo Balls - Chicken Soup for the Bowl!

For more information, visit All A-Board the Magical Matzo and Tips for Passover. Read my review of Olive Trees and Honey, which provides an outstanding collection of 300 vegetarian dishes that have been woven together with cultural and historical details, or Passover Food Memories from a Food Maven which, in addition to recipes for Passover, provides an abundance of information of gefilte fish.. 

For some historical background and great recipes read my feature articles, Passover Preparations Made Simple and Chefs Select Passover Secrets.

Once the Seders have passed, here are some terrific recipes that my "Pan-Pals” Share for Passover Fare. My Pan-Pals also share their Favourite Vegetarian Passover Recipes.

Here are some ideas Kid-Friendly Passover Dishes that are too good to Pass-over!

Here is an index of many of the recipes on our web site that are suitable for Passover. Omit spices or products that are not available for Passover. Where necessary, substitute Passover side dishes.

Appetizers

Chopped Liver

Chicken Salad Spread

Three-Coloured Fish Loaf

Matzo Pizza 

Soups & Sauces

Low Fat Matzo Balls

Chicken Soup

Spinach Matzo Balls

Mom's Matzo Balls

Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls

Herbed Passover Noodles

Quick Soup Dumplings

Fish & Dairy

Easy Salsa Fish Fillets

Pizza Fish Fillets

Baked Frittata

Gefilte Fish

Gefilte Fish Patties in Tomato Sauce

New Wave Gefilte Fish

Spinach Moussaka

Meat & Poultry

Coke Brisket

Pesach-Stuffed Turkey Breast

Meat and Leek Patties

Limelight Roast Chicken

Braised Rib Roast w Melted Tomatoes

Nechamah Cohen's Roast Chicken Provencal with Whole

Garlic

Passover Wacky Franks

Pastas & Grains

Quinoa (N.B. "Wild About Rice" on the same page is NOT a Passover recipe!)

Fruited Quinoa Primavera

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Passover Lasagna

Passover Bread Alternatives

Passover Bulkies

Passover Rolls

Bagels

Passover Pizza

Passover Sandwiches

Potato Flour Muffins

Homemade Matzo

Passover Chicken Muffins

Quick Matzah Pizza

Vegetables & Side Dishes

Roasted Eggplant Spread

Matzah Schalat

Meat and Leek Patties 

Diane's Peach Potato Puffs

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Squished Squash

Confetti Vegetable Kugel

Mango-Date Haroset

Acorn Squash with Ginger-Orange Glaze

Glazed Apricot Carrots with Peppers

Vegetable Kugel

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Cauliflower Kugel

Easy Eggplant Side Dish

Microwave Eggplant Parmigian

Spaghetti Squash

Hasselback Potatoes

Sephardic Spinach Patties

Baked Eggplant Stack

Salads

Super Coleslaw (Omit the Splenda)

Israeli Salad

Roasted Beet Salad

Desserts

Coconut Almond Macaroons

Marble Cake

Praline Cake

Bon Vivant

Lemon Meringue Clouds

Sponge Cake

Passover Pie Crust 

Homemade Applesauce

Apple & Apricot Kugel

Dr. Ruth's Favorite Passover Nut Torte

Ruth Silverberg's Charoset Muffins

Lela Kornberg's Upside-Down Apricot Pudding

Marlyne Abrasion's Mock Oatmeal Cookies

Nechamah Cohen's Simple Almond Cookies

Mustachudos

Norene's Chocolate Matzah Bark

     

Yom H'atzmaut

When I asked several Israeli friends how they celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, they replied, "With a barbecue, of course!" 

Grilled Falafel

Tahini Sauce

The Thrill of Grilling

     

Shavuot

Shavuoth commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai and is also the Festival of the First Fruits. The synagogue and home are decorated with flowers, plants and fruits. Dairy foods such as cheesecake and blintzes (which represent the shape of the Torah) are traditionally served.

     

 

Mother's Day
Why not treat Mom to breakfast in bed, or maybe a family brunch with the whole family? Read Mother's Day Celebration Made Easy for some simple suggestions for brunch or lunch.

     

Father's Day
GREAT GRILLING FOR FATHER'S DAY!

For your Father's Day celebration, Gather Round the Grill and be sure to follow our safe grilling tips - better safe than sorry!

Dad (and all your guests) will love Beer Can Chicken and Great Grilled Vegetables. You don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy Rozie's Portobello Mushroom Burgers. Some easy, excellent salad suggestions are Israeli Salad, Super Coleslaw, Potato Salad and Jodi's Famous Bean Salad. For dessert, serve a platter of fresh fruit, assorted squares and Cran-Berry Apple Crisp. You'll have a celebration worth remembering!

 

 

     

 


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