Hi Michele! Hope this helps you...Happy Rosh Hashanah !

Rosh Hashanah
A Sweet Celebration

The sweeter the better - that's the best rule for cooks to observe when it comes to creating a feast for Rosh Hashanah, a time when sugar and spice combine to produce a spread as symbolic as it is sumptuous. And, with two festive meals a day, bitterness is banished before the digestive process is even under way.

Keeping sweet and avoiding tart tastes, it is believed, will usher in a year full of goodness and delight.

To this end, traditional dishes get a special twist and sweet-talk in the kitchen is all part of the preparation. On Rosh Hashanah, there might be something to be said for the old adage "an apple a day." It's customary to dip apples, representing joy and blessing, in honey and say: "May it be Your will Ha Sham that You renew for us a good and sweet year."

However, a little literary agility can be as propitious as a spoonful of sugar - foods with names that lend themselves towards positive signs are also used. For instance, the Hebrew word for carrot is "gezer," which also means decree. So munching a carrot is also a request that any evil decree will be withheld in the coming year.

The wordplay also crosses over into English - it is not unknown for people to take a stalk of celery and a handful of raisins and, prior to eating them, request help in getting a raise in salary! Eating a pomegranate signifies the wish that merits will increase, like the seeds of the fruit, while fish represent a prayer for fertility. The very meticulous will bring the head of an animal onto their table to request that they be "as the head and not the tail."

And, while raisins even find their way into staples such as Challah (bread), nuts are to be avoided. This is due of their tendency to lodge in the throat, thus precluding prayer and because they have the same numerical equivalent in Hebrew as sin.


Special New Year's Challah

(Serves 16)

Ingredients:

1 cup raisins
1 cup boiling water
1 3/8 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons instant, rapid-rise or quick-rise yeast
31/2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons corn flour

Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, if desiredMethod:

Place raisins in medium bowl and pour boiling water over. Let plump for two minutes. Drain, blot, dry and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together warm water, salt, sugar and honey and sprinkle with yeast. Beat in eggs, yolks and vegetable oil. Beat in three cups of flour. Knead for 8-10 minutes until dough is soft and elastic and leaves the side of the bowl. If dough is sticky, add small amounts of flour until it is soft. Sprinkle work surface with remaining flour. Let dough rest for 10 minutes on surface. Knead or press in raisins as evenly as possible, folding dough over raisins to tuck them in.

Cover the dough with a damp, clean towel. Let dough rest 20 minutes.

To form loaves: Work on baking sheet covered with foil or parchment and sprinkled with corn flour. For a traditional braid, divide dough into 3 15" long logs; for wreath, 3 18 " logs; for turban 2 18" logs 20% thicker at one end that at the other. For a braid, braid the 3 logs, pinch ends together and tuck under. For round wreath, braid and shape in a circle. Pinch ends together and tuck inside the round so they don't show. For turbans, starting at thicker end, coil bread into a round. At the end, pinch the tip and tuck under. In a small bowl, mix together egg and yolk for egg wash. Generously brush bread with the wash. Allow to rise 30-40 minutes. Brush again and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired

Baking: Fifteen minutes before baking, preheat oven to 375F. Back for 30-35 minutes until crust is nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped.Stuffed Zucchini (Courgettes)

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

12 small zucchini
1 onion, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 slice white bread
1/2 cup chicken broth
2/3 pound lamb, ground
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, minced
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper
nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sugarMethod:

Wash the zucchini and scrub well to remove any dirt.

Using an apple corer, core each zucchini, taking care not to pierce the skin (reserve the cores for side dish). Saute the onion in half the olive oil until wilted, then cool.

Soak the bread in the broth for 10 minutes, squeeze dry and combine with lamb, onion, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne and a little freshly grated nutmeg in a bowl; knead well with fingers until well combined. Stuff each zucchini with a little of the lamb filling.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a deep, wide pan (at least 12" deep). Add the zucchini, 1/2 cup of water, the sugar, salt and pepper; cover with an upside-down plate. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil, then simmer for 40 minutes. Remove the lid and the plate, and reduce the liquid in the pan. Serve hot.

This dish is excellent with a little lemon juice added at the end, but for Rosh Hashanah, sour flavours are typically avoided since it is a sweet holiday.

This site will give you alot of information on the customs and traditions....
http://virtual.co.il/education/education/ohr/special/roshhash/ask.htm