Apples for the New Year

Thursday marked Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a season in which you are supposed to reflect on your behavior over the past year and rejoice with family and friends over apples and honey.   It's a time of year in which I feel connected with my people and my past, remembering the Rosh Hashanahs of my childhood.  But what to do after synagogue in the morning?  It's a bit of quandary, particularly for those of us who don't have a large contingent of relatives close by.   You can't very well send the kids back to school but somehow sitting around the house doing nothing special seems..well...like nothing special.

This year I took a page from the book of friend whose new family tradition for Rosh Hashanah is to go apple picking.  There are a handful of orchards within an hour's drive of our home in DC and on a fine September afternoon, it really was just the ticket.  In addition to a bucket full of apples, perfect for dipping in honey and delicious for dessert in the form of apple crisp, we also scored the last of the season's tomatoes.  There were pumpkins and gourds aplenty including some varieties I'd never seen before although I'll wait a few weeks before buying my Halloween pumpkin or decorative gourds for our Thanksgiving table.  And until then, I wish you all a sweet new year.