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| Norm rolling blintzes to a game of tennis |
Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, one of the most famous Jewish athletes in American sports, made national headlines when he refused to pitch in the first game of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur. When Koufax’s replacement Don Drysdale was pulled from the game for poor performance, he told the Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager Walter Alston, "I bet you wish I was Jewish, too."
-https://www.history.com/
Yom Kippur came early this year, weeks before the first pitch of the World Series. You might question what day any Jewish holiday falls on each year. A religious person would answer, "The same day as always." Holidays are always celebrated on the same day of the Jewish calendar, but Hebrew months follow the sequence of the moon with an additional month thrown in on leap years, so while holidays will typically fall in the same month or so of the Western calendar, the dates can vary quite a bit.
We get a Jewish calendar delivered to our mailbox each year, kind of like getting a new Yellow Pages thrown on the curb. As a good Jew, I file the calendar away in the kitchen just in case I might need it, just as I might file away the phone book, but then we usually refer to the higher authority of Google on such matters.
Google says we are now celebrating the start of the year 5779, and today is in fact Yom Kippur. Beginning with Rosh Hashanah, the High Holy Days is a time for observant Jews to reflect on past mistakes and try to make amends with others. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of this period and is traditionally observed with a full day of fasting, intensive prayers, and a good blintze after sundown.
"Have an easy fast."
While we might say thank you to anyone who greets us this way, we may not fast at all this year. Sam is recovering from surgery and has to keep his strength up. I think he will be forgiven for making his health a priority. After all, how can he do good deeds the rest of the year if he does not follow doctor's orders? The rest of us try to fast but none of us ever get anywhere close to sundown. My mom used to cook all day, probably tasting things along the way, and then sit us down to a dairy meal at some point in the afternoon so we would not get a headache. I can't argue with my mom's Jewish laws any more than I could begin to debate the many interpretations of the Torah.
In our house, we celebrate the holiday by going to services when Sam is singing, taking a walk if the weather is nice, and "breaking the fast" with blintzes and lokshen, aka, egg noodles coated in butter, cottage cheese, and sour cream... as prepared by Shalom for Ronnie Klein. He must have thought every night was a holiday in the summertime. Such rich foods should really be savored on a special day.
Blintze making is an important tradition in our home and a culinary art. To make them, first cover your counter with kitchen towels. Mix some eggs and sugar into a huge loaf of farmer's cheese and start rolling those crepes. I also have adapted them with a gluten-free crepe recipe and as a vegan recipe using a potato filling. It is important to stay current with the times.
Filling:
3 lbs. Farmer's Cheese (You can buy a big log of this at the deli counter)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
Crepes:
1 1/4 cups of water
1 cup of all purpose flour
6 eggs
Pinch of salt
Cover a large counter space or your kitchen table with dish towels. Mix all the ingredients for the filling in one bowl and whisk together all the ingredients for the crepes in another bowl. In a non-stick 10" skillet heated with a tiny drop of oil, add a ladleful of crepe batter. Swirl it around in the pan to coat the bottom. Do not flip the crepe. As soon as it is set, pop it out on the counter and repeat with more batter. My daughter, Katie, eats any crepe that is not perfectly round or has extra drips hanging off the side. My husband will roll a spoonful of filling inside each round crepe. To make it really heart healthy, fry the blintzes in butter.
L'Shana Tova to my friends and family! May you all have a happy and healthy year.
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