A sweet and good year to all who celebrate! The symmetry of 5775 is going be fun for those who study Kabbalah! Lynne, about the palindrome that your friend repeated - "eh-he-yeh asher eh-he-yeh" According to the Bible that is God's most sacred name as He spoke it to Moses. Its meaning: "I am that I am." Traditional Jews believe that it's forbidden to either pronounce or write it, and use other names instead. In English it's often written as "Jehovah".

Thanks to you all for the kind holiday wishes. I love learning and sharing holiday traditions and am glad to see others do as well. Jessy, I love the birthday cake! And I've had that Jerusalem kugel, it's great. I wish someone in my family besides me would eat a noodle kugel - they are strictly potato people. Ellen, I can't wait to see the remodel photos - I'm jealous, this place needs a major face lift, but it's going to have to wait a few years. Glenda, challah is easy. I use my bread machine for the dough then braid it. And a round one is even easier, no braiding. I add extra honey for the round (no raisins for us) and twist it into a round cake pan. Sometimes I'll form small balls and but them side by side in the round pan for a pull apart round challah. Those are great for dinner since they come off like rolls, but they don't slice well for toast the next day. Lowspark, I'm sorry your kids weren't around, but it sounds like you had a lovely dinner. I had to miss an all day food science lab for Rosh Hashanah this year, so I totally understand your kids not being able to leave school. I really didn't want to miss, but my prof was very understanding. I'll probably still have to make up the lab, which stinks, but nothing I can do about that... I'm hoping everyone has a healthy, happy and peaceful year, no matter what your religious beliefs. AM

The first thing that came to my mind was Grilled Ratatouille. You could sub out nearly an veggie you like. It's delicious served over pasta or rice. Grilled Ratatouille Source: Rachel Ray Magazine 3 large tomatoes, halved crosswise 2 bell peppers, quartered 2 zucchini, thickly sliced lengthwise 1 eggplant, thickly sliced lengthwise 1 onion, thickly sliced crosswise 1 head garlic, halved crosswise 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt and pepper 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar Preheat a grill to medium-high. On a large baking sheet, arrange the tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, onion and garlic in a single layer. Brush with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the vegetables to the grill and cook, turning once, until just tender and slightly charred, about 5 minutes for the tomatoes, 8 minutes for the peppers, zucchini and eggplant and 10 minutes for the onions and garlic. Return to the baking sheet and let stand until cool enough to handle. Chop the peppers, zucchini, eggplant and onions into �-inch pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Squeeze out the garlic cloves, finely chop and add to the bowl. Working over the bowl, slip off and discard the tomato skins and remove the cores, then crush the tomatoes with your hands and add to the bowl. Add the olives and vinegar, season with salt and pepper and toss. You could do the same with a Roasted Vegetable Tart-sub the veggies you have. Delish! Roasted Vegetable Tart 1 medium zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick 1 cup bite-size strips red and/or yellow sweet pepper 1 small red onion, cut into thin wedges 4 large button mushroom caps, sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 2 cups sliced) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 9-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts Nonstick cooking spray 1 15-ounce package folded, refrigerated unbaked piecrusts (2 crusts) 1 5-ounce container semi-soft cheese with garlic and herb 1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened 2 teaspoons milk 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large, shallow baking pan, combine zucchini slices, sweet pepper strips, onion wedges, and mushroom slices. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Toss to coat. Bake uncovered, in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until tender, stirring once halfway through baking time. 2. Meanwhile, cook artichoke hearts according to package directions; drain. Halve any large artichokes; stir into roasted vegetable mixture. Set aside. 3. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Unfold piecrusts according to package directions. Place each piecrust on a prepared baking sheet. 4. In a large bowl, beat semi-soft cheese with garlic and herb and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread half of the cheese mixture over the center of each piecrust, leaving a 2-inch border. Evenly divide the vegetable mixture between the piecrusts. Fold piecrust edges partially over the filling, pleating as necessary. Brush edges with milk; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 5. Bake in the 400 degrees oven about 20 minutes or until golden. Let stand on baking sheets on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges to serve. Serve warm. 6. Makes 2 tarts (16 appetizer servings) Linda

Ginzhomestead, Yes. I went to three different yards. I had seen Bross blue polished in a kitchen display. I ended up seeing three lots of Bross blue polished and two lots of Bross blue leathered before I tagged my slab. (And that was after I drove my fabricator crazy with quotes for Tan Brown, Steel gray, and quartz lol) For us, it really came down to soapstone or the Bross blue leathered. The Bross blue had a similar look at a significantly lower price point and with tougher wear. Given our household, we thought our pets, kids, etc would take us past soapstone patina and into soapstone destruction. DH and I stayed up late getting all the doors (except the lazy Susan, which is going to require reading the instructions) and drawer fronts on. Since the electrician and plumber address coming soon, I'll go get dressed and save photo updates until the _appliances are in_. I may actually have a functional kitchen before the day is done!!!