Already a Member? Log in

Sukkot Recipes and Crafts

Sukkot

Sukkot (huts) is a Jewish holiday that is celebrated on the 15th day Tishri and lasts 7 days.
Sukkot commemorates the temporary settlements of the Jewish people in the desert after the exodus from Egypt in 1313 BCE.
The Sukkah is a temporary dwelling where the family eats the meals with guests. The Sukkah has to be at least partly under the sky and its cover has to be under the open sky. The cover of the Sukkah has to be organic and is usually made from palm leaves. The children decorate the Sukkah with pictures and paper chains.
Another tradition is to show and include the Four Species of plants during the meal. These species are: the Lulav (date palm frond), Hadass (bough of a myrtle tree), Aravah (willow branch) and the Etrog (a citron, a lemon-like citrus fruit).
Simchat Torah (the joy of the Torah) - Tishrei 22 - follows immediately after Sukkot, and is an especially festive day in which the very last portion of the Torah is read in the synagogue. The children dance around the Torah with flags in their hands.

Sukkot Recipes

Glazed Carrot - Tzimmes

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
10 carrots
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 ounces (about 50 grams) unsalted butter or unsalted margarine
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoons of honey
1/2 cup of water
A pinch of salt
Preparation:
  1. Peel the carrots and cut them into small pieces.
  2. Cook the sugar, butter (or margarine), carrots, and water in low heat until the butter or margarine melts.
  3. Cook on low heat for 40 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
  4. Add the honey, lemon juice and salt and cook for another 15 minutes.

Onion Soup

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)
2 carrots
1/2 celery root
10 parsley stalks
6 medium onions
3 tablespoons of flour
4 ounces (about 100 gr.) grated mild semi hard cheese
Croutons
4 teaspoons of instant chicken soup
6 cups of water
3 tablespoon of oil
2 ounces (about 50 gr.) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
Preparation:
  1. Prepare soup from water, instant soup, and vegetables (except the onion). Cook for half an hour after boiling.
  2. Cut an onion to thin rings and fry in oil and butter for 10 minutes on low heat.
  3. Add salt and sugar and fry for 10 minutes more.
  4. Add flour and fry for 3 minutes while steering.
  5. Take the carrots, celery, and parsley out of the soup and discard. Add the fried onions to the soup and cook for another half an hour on medium heat. Steer from time to time. Add salt and pepper.
  6. Top with croutons and grated cheese for serving.

Rice-Stuffed Grape Leaves

Ingredients:
40 grape leaves
2 chopped onions
2 minced cloves garlic
1 cup rice
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons olive oil to fry
2 cups of tomato sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Preparation:
  1. Filling: soak the rice for 30 minutes in water and drain. Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Add the drained rice and fry with the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes and take off the stove. Mix in a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper.
  2. Clean the grape leaves and cut the stems.
  3. Put a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each leave and make a small roll. Fold the ends down.
  4. Place the leaved with the folds down next to each other. You can put them in layers.
  5. Pour the sauce: olive oil, lemon juice, tomato sauce and a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, and the parsley. The sauce should cover the leaves. Add hot water if needed.
  6. Cover the pot and boil. Cook on low heat for 40 minutes.

Eggplant and Meat Casserole - Moussaka

Ingredients: (serving 6-8)
2 eggplants
1/3 cups of oil
A pinch of salt
Ingredients for meat sauce:
1 medium onion
1 lb (about 500 gr.) of ground meat
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of tomato sauce
1 minced garlic clover
1/2 teaspoon minced oregano
Pinch of ground pepper
Pinch of salt
Ingredients for white sauce:
2 tablespoons of unsalted margarine
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Preparation:
  1. Clean the eggplant and cut the tips.
  2. Cut length slices of 1 inch (about 2.5 cm) thick, sprinkle salt and let stand for 20 minutes.
  3. Wash with water, dry and fry a little in oil.
  4. In a separate pan, prepare the meat. Fry the onion and fry the meat for 10 minutes.
  5. Cook all the meat-sauce ingredients with the meat on low heat for half an hour. Mix from time to time.
  6. Prepare the white sauce. Melt the margarine in a medium pot and add the flour. Mix for 3 minutes and add the water while mixing. Bring to slow boil and cook until it thicken while mixing.
  7. Beat the eggs. Add a little of the white sauce to the eggs, mix and add the eggs to the white sauce and salt.
  8. Arrange the eggplants in a rectangle or square pan. One layer of eggplants, a layer of meat sauce, another layer of eggplants and a layer of meat sauce. The 5th layer is the eggplant. Pour the white sauce on the last layer of eggplant.
  9. Cook on medium heat for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:
1 pound (about 0.5 kilogram) of strawberries
2 eggs
1/4 and 1/2 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
Whipping cream
Pinch of powdered sugar
Preparation:
  1. In a double boiler pot, in the inside pot, mix 2 eggs and 1/4 cup of sugar and cook until the sugar melts and let it cool.
  2. In a blender mix the lemon, half a cup of sugar, and strawberries.
  3. In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream with a pinch of powdered sugar.
  4. Add the strawberries mixture to the sugar and lemon mixture. Mix in the whipping cream very gently in a folding manner.
  5. Put in goblets and refrigerate.
Beteavon! (Hebrew for bon appétit!)
Hag Sukkot Sameach! - Happy Sukkot!

Sukkot Kids Crafts

Snow Flake

Materials:
Coffee filters or other types of paper
Scissors
Dark color construction paper
Glue stick
Preparation:
  1. Fold a coffee filter a couple of times and cut little shapes in the folded areas.
  2. Unfold the coffee filter and see that it came out to look as a snowflake.
  3. Glue it onto the colored construction paper and hang in the Sukkah. Use very little glue since the Coffee Filter is very thin. A little gentle touch with the glue stick in enough.

Paper chain

Materials:
Strips of colored construction paper or strips of colored magazines (kid appropriate)
Stapler
Preparation:
  1. Staple the two ends of the strip together to get a ring.
  2. Take another strip of paper, put it through the first one, and staple together the two ends of that strip. Continue to make the chain as long as you want.

Paper & Straw Chain

Materials:
Colored Construction paper
Straws
Scissors
String
Preparation:
  1. Cut construction paper in different colored shapes such as hearts, Magen David, circle, triangles, etc. Cut a hole in the center.
  2. Cut straw into 2 inches (about 5 centimeter) wide pieces.
  3. String each shape with the string through the middle and between each shape string a piece of straw. That will keep the shapes apart so you can distinguish them.

Sukkot Lantern

Materials:
2 Large colorful rectangles construction paper
String
Scissors
Stapler
Pencil
Preparation:
  1. Staple the narrow sides of a colorful rectangular construction paper to make a cylinder.
  2. Fold the longer sides of another colored rectangular piece of construction paper together so you have 2 rectangles one on top of another.
  3. Mark, with a pencil, lines from the bottom of the folded paper to about 3/4 of the height. Start 2 inches (about 5 centimeters) apart but leave 2 inches (about 5 centimeters) from each side of the paper.
  4. Cut along the lines from the bottom of the folded paper. Unfold the paper with the cuts and staple it on the first cylinder. To make the cut fold stand out, keep 2 inches (about 5 centimeter) from the top of the cylinder and 2 inches (about 5 centimeter) from the bottom.
  5. Cut long strips of colorful construction paper and staple them at the bottom of the cylinder for tassels.
  6. Make 2 holes opposite each other at the top and string a string through them to hang.

Marble Painting

Materials:
Marbles
Washable liquid glitter or regular Tempera paints
White construction paper
A box with low rims the same size as the construction paper or a pan
Preparation:
  1. Put the construction paper in a box.
  2. Put a few drops of one color.
  3. Add a few marbles and roll them around in the paint.
  4. When the paint is dry, you can add another color but wash the marbles first.

Sukkot Wind Sock

Materials:
Colorful construction paper
Colorful crepe paper optional
String
Stapler
Scissors
Preparation:
  1. Prepare a large colorful construction paper in a shape of a rectangle.
  2. Staple the construction paper to make a long cylinder.
  3. Cut colorful strips of construction paper or crepe paper, 2 inches wide (about 5 centimeter) and staple them at the bottom of the Wind Sock an inch (2.5 centimeter) apart.
  4. Pock 2 holes on top of the Wind Sock on opposite sides.
  5. Tie the string to both sides of the Wind Sock to hang.