Rosh Hashanah apple cake for a sweet new year

This coming year is 5772, at least on the Jewish calendar.  Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year holiday) starts next week, at sundown on Wednesday, September 28^th.   Unlike the secular new year, the Jewish holiday is spiritual and begins a period of thoughtful contemplation that leads up to a day of fasting on Yom Kippur. 

Of course, if it’s Jewish, there is going to be food – and plenty of it.  (Even the Yom Kippur fast is traditionally followed by a delicious meal.)  The Rosh Hashanah food traditions include apples and honey and other sweets – to make for a sweet new year.   My favorite Rosh Hashanah dessert is this apple cake.  

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10 rules for meal preparation success

Magic dinners? Abracadabra and we're done?How do you successfully prepare a meal? 

I’m not talking about a huge Thanksgiving meal for a crowd of 20 on the one hand or a meal that you slapped together at the last minute from the contents of your refrigerator or with take-out food on the other.  I mean almost all the meals in between.  What about successfully preparing a meal for one (cook for yourself - you deserve it), or a dinner for family or roommates in a group house, or for friends you invite over?

First of all, what constitutes meal preparation success?  

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Easy weekday chicken - a template, not just a recipe

Everyone who eats chicken should have a simple and quick chicken dish that they can whip up on a weekday.  Although I call it a recipe because I’ve given the detailed directions, it’s really a template because there are probably infinite ways you can vary the basic cooking techniques to come up with your own version.

This recipe works for me on so many levels (besides how simple and easy it is to make):  

• it incorporates vegetables, so it’s really a 1 dish meal that only needs a starch and salad; 
• it uses only 1 pan, which makes the person who cleans up your mess (maybe you) very happy;
• it has sauce, so it’s moist;
• it’s incredibly adaptable – you can make it as long as you have chicken, chicken broth, cooking oil, some vegetables and an herb or two; and 
• it’s great reheated the next day, so you can make it ahead of time, or enjoy the leftovers.

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