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Tonight was great.
I haven’t hosted a Rosh Hashanah dinner in while…or maybe ever. Since we’ve lived in Maryland, I’ve been fortunate enough to score invites to other people’s houses to celebrate and eat a delicious meal. This year we didn’t have anything lined up though, so I was planning on just cooking a simple meal for Andrew and myself, which I must admit, was a little bit of a letdown (not that Andrew isn’t great, but I always feel like holidays should have a little more oomph). However, on Tuesday after taking team pictures I offhandedly mentioned that it was Rosh Hashanah on Thursday and if anyone wanted to come over for dinner, they were more than welcome. Pow actually jumped at the invitation and before I knew it, we were having a dinner party.
To be honest, this made me super excited. Not only do Andrew and I really enjoy cooking for others and hosting people, but this is what the holidays are about for me. It’s getting together with friends and family and enjoying each other’s company while eating a killer meal. It’s getting to share and teach traditions and customs with old friends and new. Rosh Hashanah dinner should be a table full of guests, food, laughter, and fun. And it was.
We started dinner off with an amazing squash soup that Andrew made. The first time he made this was early on in our relationship and it totally scored him some points. It’s thick and creamy and the ginger gives it a bit of a bite. So good.
Then it was a free-for-all for dinner. We had brisket and kugel for some more traditional dishes. On the side there was roasted broccoli and Andrew made a beet and kale salad that was vibrant (both in color and flavor) and delicious. Pow brought a homemade challah which was really good and extremely impressive. We all filled our plates (mine without the food touching) and ate and ate and ate.
For dessert I made the smitten kitchen sunken apple cake. It looks really impressive but was actually pretty easy to make (as long as you don’t drop the bottom out of your springform pan). Also, it’s really delicious. The cake is moist and not too sweet, and the apples aren’t completely soft, but still held up. For serious, it’s a good cake.
So thanks everyone for coming over and helping me kick this New Year off right! You guys are the best.