Rosh Hashanah Stuffing

Never from scratch…the stuffing was never made from scratch.  As a matter of fact, even though I consider myself a fairly decent cook, to this day I have no clue how to make stuffing from scratch.  Every year the stuffing mix was purchased and prepared “according to package instructions”,   Naturally, we did need to fix it up.  After all, everything could always use a bit of sprucing up!

My cousin, Ellen, and I were in charge of chopping.  We would be given onions and celery and were told to chop away until our eyes could take no more.  With tears flowing and eyes burning we chopped until everything given us was cut into little pieces.  Our Grandmother used to tell us this was a great way to rid ourselves of any negative feelings, any frustrations, heading into the New Year.  (We thought it was a way for us to do the chopping…..) But anyway, we would chop and chop and then sauté the onions and celery with a little oil and butter.  Then the stuffing mix, which was already prepared by either our Grandmother or one of our Moms, would be added to the onions and celery.  At that point, Ellen and I would have to take peelers and peel long pieces of carrot into the mixture, adding a little chicken broth to keep everything moist. 

One year, we asked our Grandmother if it was really necessary to go to the trouble of chopping onions and celery and then adding the carrot.  We told her our Moms make stuffing all through the year as a side dish and when they do, they rarely add anything additional.  The stuffing was still very good.   (And that was when we weren’t crazy busy cooking four thousand other things!)  She looked at us with love, and with a few splashes of dried water clouding her glasses, and told us the story of the importance of the stuffing.  This was one story we had never heard before.

The stuffing, since it is not from scratch, shows that ordinary things can be, should always be, appreciated.  They may be enjoyed on an every day basis and they may certainly add to the goodness of the day.  BUT, she continued, on a holiday, you take the ordinary and transform it into the extraordinary.  You give everything your all and make the everyday, something special, something out of this world.  To the best of your ability, you focus on each aspect of the dinner, as you should always focus on each aspect of your life, and you do all you can to make each bit as wonderful as possible, even if it means shedding a few tears.