My Sukkot Menu Poll
Hello dear readers,
One of the best parts of staying at a kosher Sukkot hotel for a vacation is not having to worry about the food. The meals are delicious and plentiful, there’s always snacks available for the kids, and there’s no mess to clean up. Sounds great, doesn’t it? One small thing I will miss is planning the menu: I like the challenge of putting together a good menu, combining family favorites and something new, and then cooking up a storm to bring that vision to reality (though, as I’ve written many times, I don’t necessarily love the clean-up part of the meal, both cleaning up the pots and pans and, later, washing all the dishes).
This year, I won’t be planning a Sukkot menu. However, I’ve enlisted some of my closest cooking friends and confidantes to tell me about their usual menus (to be clear, for the first night of Sukkot), so I have the results of my questionnaires that I’m providing below. We surveyed 100 people (just kidding – more like 10 from a five-block radius), and here are the top answers!
1. QUESTION: When you’re preparing your Sukkot menu, what SOUP do you usually make?
RESPONSES: Chicken soup 5, Vegetable/minestrone 3, Lentil 1, French onion 1
MY COMMENTS: French onion does sound good, but it’s hard to go wrong with grandma’s chicken soup. (And my kids demand chicken soup for yom tov, so…)
2. QUESTION: How would you describe the ENTREES for your Sukkot menu?
RESPONSES: Chicken only 4, Chicken and beef 3, Fish/Dairy 2, Beef only 1
MY COMMENTS: I usually do chicken and fish (for the vegetarians in the family), which isn’t even one of the options I put in my own survey, whoops! Also, my mouth is watering at the thought of a good London broil right now.
3. QUESTION: Sukkot is the holiday of the harvest. Which of these harvest-y foods do you make?
RESPONSES: Stuffed peppers 5, sautéed vegetables 5
MY COMMENTS: A real split among the panel!
4. QUESTION: What dessert(s) do you make for the first night of Sukkot?
RESPONSES: Fresh fruit 10, Cake/pie 4, Cookies 2
MY COMMENTS: Everyone does fresh fruit (nice and healthy!), and some also picked a baked item too. I’d probably go with fresh fruit and chocolate chip cookies.
5. QUESTION: If you’re making a new dish for Sukkot, which of these would it be?
RESPONSES: Dessert 3, Salad 3, Side dish 2, Soup 1, Entrée 1
MY COMMENTS: I’d vote for a side dish, but it can be tricky. The panel is all over the place here. Who said they’d experiment with a new entrée for a yom tov meal?!
More soon,
Ariella
When you plan a kosher Sukkot vacation, you don’t have to worry about planning the menu. Get started on planning your stress-free, relaxing vacation with Leisure Time Tours by calling 718-528-0700.