Fast and Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays

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Description: Lighting the Sabbath candles, dipping slices of apple and challah in honey to signify hope for a sweet year ahead on Rosh Hashanah, breaking the fast at Yom Kippur -- these are the expressions of our faith that bring us together as Jews and bring us together around the table. 

But if you are a first-time hostess or are trying to juggle the time pressures of a family, the thought of planning a holiday dinner may be daunting. What will you serve, how will you get it all prepared, what will you need to properly celebrate the holiday, the rituals, the blessings? 

In Fast Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays, author Marlene Sorosky takes away all the guesswork and provides the fundamentals for celebrating every Jewish holiday: 

• An explanation of why we celebrate the holiday 
• A list of all the essential religious items and foods you will need and, where appropriate, the primary blessings to be recited 
• A complete menu with kosher recipes full of flavor that keep preparation time to a minimum 
• A Game Plan that clearly lays out all possibilities for advance preparation and gives you a what-to-do-now party countdown 

Marlene covers all the holidays, as well as Shabbat and the celebrations of life's passages -- brit milah, or baby naming, and bar or bat mitzvah. 

The recipes are a wonderful mix of the traditional, like haroset and how to roast an egg (for Passover), with new, lighter, easier twists on the traditional. Try Salmon Gefilte Fish -- baked, not poached, and just twenty minutes from food processor to oven. Or Kreplach made with timesaving and widely available wonton skins. There are Sweet Potato Latkes, along with five different kinds of challah, and a selection of Passover desserts you might be tempted to make all year long, including Mocha Fudge Torte, Coconut Chifton Cheesecake, and Brown Sugar Almond Crisps. 

In addition to recipes, Marlene's menus include ideas for memorable invitations and centerpieces (attach your invitation to a grager, or noisemaker, for a Purim masquerade gala; make a breadstick sukkah for table at Sukkot; projects for the children (make an Elijah cup for Passover, a challah cover for Shabbat, or plant seeds to celebrate Tu B'Shevat, the New Year of the Trees), and interesting facts about the holidays. Did you know that Sukkot was the model for the American Thanksgiving? 

Fast Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays is a must-have cookbook for the cook who has little time but lots of enthusiasm for keeping up with Jewish traditions. 

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Condition: Good condition. Tiny crease in top edge of jacket.¶nbsp;