I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been in and out of quarantine for so long, or if if it’s the longing for easier times, but I’ve been thinking about my childhood family traditions lately. Tomorrow is Rosh Hashonah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, and I’ve been flooded with memories of the food and people I would see year after year. that That was the one day I saw ALL of my cousins, aunts, and uncles from my Dad’s side of the family.
A tradition begun by my Bubie’s (Yiddish from Grandma) sister, Tante Basha, carried on by my Bubie and then my mother, an open house was held on the first day of the holiday right after synagogue.
It was basically a time for everyone to relax and celebrate a new beginning, catch up with each other, and, most importantly, eat and drink!
I vividly remember the small apartment my Grandma lived in and how many people could actually fit in the place at one time.
She would spend weeks preparing her sweet treats that we all expected on that day.
Crispy ginger cookies and light, lemony poppy seed cookies, (usually gone by the first hour) were replaced with her taigalech (a honey coated confection that could break your teeth in one bite), and the best (as far as I’m concerned), her “World Renowned” cinnamon coffee cake.
There was always a huge urn of coffee that most coffee drinkers today would turn their noses up to, but somehow, everyone guzzled it down.
Along with that, the “schnapps”, or whiskey, and overly sweet wine were there for the adults.
We all ate to excess because we knew it would be whole year until we saw the treats again. I was always jealous of the fact that my cousin Marji could consume entire trays of brownies and taigelach and still not gain an ounce.
Dressed in itchy wool clothes we had worn to synagogue (no matter what the temperature, the holidays always meant Fall, so wool it was), we ate our way through the afternoon.
There was always competition between the aunts and uncles, and I learned more about the real family situations from the stories my male cousins told about “life”. (Dale & Barry, you know what I’m talking about).
I never mastered any of the recipes, but my brother recently sent me his family’s version of the coffee cake.
I have yet to attempt it, but did actually make a small apple cake this year.
The holidays are a little different now with cousins in different parts of the country and virtual family gatherings and services, but I still can almost taste those yummy treats my Bubie used to make!
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