Happy Noodle Year

When I first met my husband, he was not initiated in the ways of the Jewish princess. He had a lot to learn, but it was mostly about family and holidays and food. For me, Jewishness is more of an ethnicity, a heritage in the way that someone is Italian or Hungarian. Most of us come from a people about whom a funny movie could be made; My Big Fat Greek Wedding is just as easily about the Turkish or Irish or Jewish.

All talk of Zionism and anti-Semitism and war and even religion aside, I’m proud to be Jewish for the important reasons: family, education, history, strength, and food.

Friday is Rosh Hashanah. Dinner is usually brisket—which isn’t dry and stringy when your Jewish grandmother is a terrific cook—and and sweet things: apples in honey, mandel bread, and kugel. When I first met Marty, he called it COO-gle. Whatever you call it, it’s delicious. Hardly any variation tastes bad.

These instructions are taken from a card in my Grammy’s hand; in some places, I kept her instructions intact. When my grandmother died, my aunt inherited nearly all of her hand-written recipe cards; no one is sure why, since my sister and I were more sure to follow in her footsteps and make these goodies. But there’s no room for sour grapes on the Jewish new year, only sweet ones.

Noodle Kugel

Ingredients
1/2 lb. wide noodles
1 stick of butter, divided
1 C light golden raisins
3/4-1 C sugar
1 stick of butter
1 t vanilla
1 can apple pie filling
1 C sour cream
5 l eggs

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350° for metal pan, 325° for glass.
2. Boil noodles until soft; drain, and return to pot.
3. Add 3/4 stick of butter and all the ingredients except eggs.
4. “beat eggs in apple can + add to mixture”; mix well.
5. “grease long pan. Pour in.”
6. “cut up remaining butter in pieces and put on top.”
7. Bake for 45-60 minutes, “longer if necessary.”


My favorite thing about Judaism, though, is getting two starts to the new year. All the things I’ve screwed up in January are suddenly forgiven. And once school has started anew, and the air is full of delicious smells of burning leaves and morning dew, I’m better able to find my niche among the nooks and crannies of my life.

Happy New Year!