Never Binge-watch and Bake at the same time:

Before we delve into the details of the breakdown of the days of Sukkot, it’s worth mentioning that I have been baking since I was six. It all started with helping my Saba (‘grandfather’ in Hebrew) make Ka’ak biscuits in my grandparents’ kitchen in Forest Hills, NY, and it has continued unabated ever since. I have had my fair share of mishaps, but nothing dramatic. That is until this past week. In a moment of shameless hubris, I started making babka, a recipe I feel I know well and have made countless times. I was confident enough to binge-watch Chocolate School while baking, and for the first time ever, I mean ever, I substituted salt for sugar in my bake. In a recipe that calls for just 1 teaspoon of salt, I added half a kilo! After tossing out 6 perfectly inedible babkas, I completely forgot who won the episode (I will be watching it again), but I have now definitely remembered that the worst enemy of baking is distraction. Lesson learned, and now we move on! There may be more babkas in my future, but sadly, binge-watching while baking is a thing of the past.

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Sukkot; a breakdown: the days, not me (at least this time!)

For a more serious understanding of the days of Sukkot, read the more serious blog post I have written here.

I have been told by countless people that I have no idea what the back of the car does. I can’t parallel park, drive in reverse, or reverse into a parking spot. The only way for me to park is to find a spot so big that two double-decker buses can fit in sideways. So, it’s unsurprising that I have no idea what is happening at the tail end of Sukkot either. So, hands up if you are confused by what the heck is happening at the end of Sukkot.

Me! ME! MEEEE!

Yes: I know I’ve been celebrating this holiday all my life, and I’m not that young.

Yes: I know I am married to a rabbi.

Yes: I know I live above a synagogue.

And yet, every year, I look at multiple calendars and scratch my head in wonder. What? I mean, what is going on here? And as a person who really likes food, especially Jewish food, the amount we consume is actually shocking. I have tried to create a cheat sheet of sorts to help me out.

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Each of the Sukkot Holidays and Holydays named: here we go: (Secular dates only: accurate for 2023)

• Chag Rishon/First Festival Days: September 29 (evening) to October 1: The first two festival days of Sukkot – serve one-pot meals (like this insanely delicious T’beet – Iraqi Jewish Chicken Rice in a pot) in the Sukkah unless it rains, in which case, have a long debate with everyone at the table about how bad exactly the rain is and how diluted the soup needs to be before we head indoors and feel guilty about not sitting in a wet Sukkah, all the while feeling even more guilty that your prayer for rain worked, and you are mercifully eating indoors. 
• Chol Hamoed: October 2 – 6 Not chag, but still kind of chag (festival), eating in the Sukkah is required, but really only if you are eating a proper set meal, so you start having whole meals “nosh-style”, and thus don’t eat in the Sukkah at all for the rest of Sukkot…. (don’t judge!).
• Hoshana Rabbah: October 6 – Though it is still Chol Hamoed, somehow it is a festival. For those who attend synagogue, prepare yourself for a three-hour service (I am NOT exaggerating). If you were depending on people in your household helping out in any way, shape, or form to prepare for the upcoming chag, but they decided to attend services, count them out. Services last the said 3 hours, which includes last-minute absolving of sins and the curious custom of beating willow branches on the floor (it’s better not to ask). All the while, you are home, racking up a whole new set of sins blaming those “eager helpers” because the people who were meant to help are praying and then they are so exhausted by prayer they need to drink a l’chaim (Jewish shots, disguised with blessings, but still shots of whisky and vodka and grape juice; those not inebriated are on a sugar high by the time the l’chaims are done).
• Shemini Atzeret: October 6 (evening) to October 7 – (The 8th Day of Solemn Assembly AKA; not really Sukkot anymore). This is a full-on Holiday. By this point, you are firmly outside of the Sukkah. The only thing left to do is make kiddush in the Sukkah that evening, and hurrah, you can eat indoors. At the exact moment you have come to embrace temporary living in the sukkah with walls made of sheets and folding tables, it’s actually over. Which, I suppose, is a good thing because by now only half your decorations are still hanging, and the corner of the Sukkah has come undone, and you can’t be bothered to fix it.
• In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are all rolled into one, which comes with its own joys and challenges. But I’m not in Israel, and my challenges are real, so let’s keep figuring out my schedule.
• Simchat Torah: October 7 (evening) – October 8. I am an observant Jewish woman with a mind of her own, thus Simchat Torah is a challenging holiday to discuss. But God, in His mercy, has blessed me with two left feet and the inability to carry a tune. So while some women do dance with a Sefer Torah and others don’t, some wish they could, while others don’t, yet, this isn’t the forum for this particular debate. I am so clumsy, uncoordinated, and tone-deaf that the idea of dancing or singing has never occurred to me. I know others aren’t quite as blessed as I am, so for those, I wish you a very happy Simchat Torah, and I hope that you are celebrating in the way that makes you happy.
• And food: What about the food, you are asking? Because this blog is all about Judaism and food, and so far, I haven’t mentioned the food. Here is the truth: invite people or don’t. In my experience, they show up anyhow. Anytime you set for the start of the meal, I can already tell you it’s wrong. Services on the last days of Sukkot/not-Sukkot run as if on an alternative universe timeline. Set a menu, and cook by all means, but don’t expect people to eat what you think they will eat. Those not inebriated will be bouncing off the walls on sugar highs. Be prepared to serve a lot of challah to soak up the booze and whatever the antidote is for too much sugar (I suppose that is a nap, I wish I could add ‘naps’ from now on to menus; it would be both charming and welcome, at least for the cook).
• After nightfall, October 8th: Fin (as in The End). When it’s all over, breathe. Make the people who were rude enough to be praying for endless hours clean up. Put up your feet and binge-watch School of Chocolate on Netflix (though that may just be me).

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Menu for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah:

It’s been years since I planned any kind of menu for these meals, as I have no idea when people will turn up, and any guess I make as to what they are going to eat is wrong. There are also countless kiddushes and an insane amount of candy.

Instead, I end up filling my fridge with all types of herrings and spreads, cold cuts, kugels, schnitzels, and loads of vegetables for crudites and simple salads, and of course, loads of challah rolls. I leave the hot plate on and let people make their own plates. Thus, the meal is more of an impromptu affair.

I used to make stuffed cabbage, as that is the traditional fare for these holidays. But after spending hours boiling, filling, and then rolling cabbage leaves, and then cooking them, only to find people not really paying attention to what was being served, I gave up. I save the stuffed cabbage for other celebrations and serve a different encased food: the knishes. They are better for soaking up alcohol and perfect served alongside cold cuts.

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Knish – a bit of history with your nosh:

The original knish was created as a snack food in Eastern Europe — a thin pastry that encased a filling, making it easily transportable. In the Lower East Side of New York at the turn of the 20th century, peddlers would put homemade knishes in their carts and peddle their wares as a quick snack. In 1890, Yonah Schimmel, a Rabbi from Romania, started peddling his wife’s knishes in the streets of New York. In 1910, he opened a storefront, and after moving down the road a few years later, the knishery has been in the same location ever since. Though they make knishes filled with a huge variety of ingredients, potato remains the most popular filling. Yonah Schimmel’s recipe is a closely guarded secret; however, this adaptation based on the Saveur recipe is a close replica.

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Gadget of the week:

The reason I probably ran out of time this year to make stuffed cabbage is that I was too busy rearranging my spice drawer! My spice drawer has been a long and drawn-out project, involving many small steps to reach a final conclusion that I’m almost 100% satisfied with.

Initially, all my spices in their original containers filled a drawer next to my stove. Then, two years ago, I transferred them into pretty glass bottles that sat on the counter, which was totally ineffective. I couldn’t keep them neat and struggled to measure out what I needed as the openings of the pretty glass bottles were too narrow. So, I went back to using their original containers, but this time, I labeled the tops if they didn’t come with labels from the shop. Some labels were handwritten, others were printed. The bottles were of multiple sizes, the labels weren’t uniform, and the spices floated around the drawer. I couldn’t see anything, and I kept buying multiple bottles.

Then, I was watching a YouTuber I am obsessed with, Kallie Branciforte from But First Coffee on YouTube and her spice setup looked great. I adopted some of her tactics. The spices went back into uniform pretty Spice Bottles . I bought Narrow Measuring Spoons that are long and narrow to fit directly into the narrow glass bottles. The labels came with the bottles, and for spices that didn’t have labels, I wrote them myself in black sharpie. And then I went all out and bought Drawer Dividers  to keep every spice bottle in its place and in alphabetical order.

I know it seems a bit crazy, but it is perhaps one of the most satisfying things I have done this week. So satisfying that I keep opening up the spice drawer just to indulge in the row upon row of spices.