The Mmmmm! Peach Mint And Other Ways To Celebrate The Season

On Thursday, in a burst of impeachment-inspired giddiness, Allison and I decided there should be a dish called the Mmmmm! Peach Mint. After consultation with you, the commenters, we have come to a decision: the Mmmmm! Peach Mint is a mocktail, peach nectar muddled with mint and topped with seltzer. You can turn it into a cocktail by adding a shot of booze of your choice. And here we have it: a drink that all Americans can enjoy.

Yesterday (and today, for some) is the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana. On this day, Jews pray a lot and then have big meals that conclude with apples and honey, for a sweet new year. My family long ago came to the conclusion that our ancestors must have been really deprived if they thought apples and honey were a treat. So over the years we've improvised with apples and caramel sauce, and sometimes we just dispensed with the apples altogether and ate something chocolate. (Tradition, schmadition. I believe that we inherited our tastebuds from our ancestors, and if they had had chocolate in the shtetl, they would have loved it as much as we do and said to hell with apples and honey.) This year, though, I saw that one of my favorite Chicago bakeries, Masa Madre, was selling caramel apple babka, and my heart cried yes! Masa Madre is a Jewish-Mexican bakery, and they usually do amazing things with dulce de leche, but for Rosh Hashana they used a tahini caramel, which had a pleasant nutty flavor. We had it for dinner and then again for breakfast before services, and thus 5780 got off to an excellent start.

What other foods have you been eating to celebrate the season?