A round honey cake with apple made by Rich's-Kapulski got raves at our dinner table, even from someone who claims not to like honey.
By EVA BEN-DAVIDPublished: SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 09:06honey cake 88(photo credit: )Advertisement
Honey cake is a traditional Rosh Hashana dish, with the honey symbolizing hope for a sweet new year. A round honey cake with apple made by Rich's-Kapulski got raves at our dinner table, even from someone who claims not to like honey. The cake comes wrapped in cellophane, and makes a good present if you're invited out. The price for this cake, available in selected supermarkets, is NIS 34.90.
The honey cake made by Lahmi, available at selected supermarkets, also got good reviews, and was judged not too sweet. Lahmi makes two varieties, one with a mild honey flavor, and one with added pieces of nuts. The price for one cake is NIS 15.
The Supersol chain has the Gidron honey cakes, and the one with raisins, apple and nuts was thought to be delicious. Gidron honey cakes are sold by the weight, at NIS 44.90 a kilo, or at NIS 20 for a round cake (NIS 15 for holders of a Supercard).
The English Cake bakeries sell honey cakes in different varieties. Among them are honey cake with lemon-orange peel (NIS 24), with nuts, or with espresso flavor, as well as honey cookies with coconut and ginger. A gift package of a honey cake with two packages of honey cookies sells for NIS 35-45, depending on the type of honey cake.
In every supermarket you can find the Osem Habayit honey cakes, including a "lite" version (NIS 14.40). Osem also has a honey-apple crumb cake (NIS 16.55), petit beurre honey-flavored biscuits (NIS 11.30), and Argaliot cookies with honey-apple flavored filling (NIS 9.35). Elite offers honey cake made with 66% whole wheat, good news for those who mind their health (NIS 12.80), and a brownie honey cake (NIS 14.75).
Wissotzky has new flavors in the Magic Garden infusion series that suit the season: apple-honey tea and pomegranate tea. Both new flavors are caffeine-free, so they can be enjoyed after a festive Rosh Hashana dinner. A package containing 25 tea bags is NIS 13.90. Pompadour Teekanne also has a honey-flavored infusion. This chamomile tea with honey-vanilla aroma is NIS 14 for 20 tea bags.
If you want to brighten up your bedroom with new bed linens for the new year, Vardinon has a great deal for you. Until the end of October, selected embroidered bed linen sets, consisting of a mattress sheet for double bed, a duvet cover and two pillow cases, sell for NIS 300, half the normal price. Among the design sets included in the sale are the Golden models, beautiful, fresh-looking cream colored sheets with gold-colored embroidered circles, and the Panama model, a bold combination of a pink mattress sheet and orange pillow cases and duvet covers with pink embroidered circles.
While honey is of course used extensively in food and cosmetics products, another symbol of Rosh Hashana gaining popularity as a product enhancement is the pomegranate. Schwartz Natural Cosmetics has a rich moisturizing body lotion that is enriched with pomegranate extract. The bottle is elegantly wrapped in a cloth bag and makes a nice present (NIS 39.90). Also available in the pomegranate line are hand cream (NIS 39.90), multi-use cream (NIS 32.90), or face cream (NIS 39.90).
SuperPharm's private label Life offers some cosmetics that smell like honey, apple, or pomegranate. A gift package containing a 125 ml. bottle of peeling soap with apple scent, a bottle of shower gel with honey scent, and a bottle of body milk with pomegranate fragrance is sold for NIS 15.
To decorate your festive table in style, you can find some elegant silver items at the HaTsorfim chain. The chain now has a 30% reduction on its silver honey dishes. They can still be a little pricey, but you will enjoy them for many years. The deal lasts until October 15. Also sold at this chain are miniature silver pomegranates, with each one NIS 185.
Nikol has the original idea of giving the ordinary paper napkin some added value: fragrance. For holiday meals you can surprise your family or guests at your table with mint-green napkins that smell like apple and cinnamon, or brightly colored napkins that smell like tropical fruits. Packages of 40 napkins are sold at NIS 9.90 in the stores during the month of September.
The holiday dinners are good occasions to drink a good bottle of wine, always a good gift to bring when invited. The Golan wineries have nice gift packages, available at the wine stores, for those who want to spend a little more. A bottle of Golan Cabernet Sauvignon for example, packed in a wooden box with extras (such as a corkscrew) is NIS 91. A big box with a bottle of Gamla merlot, a bottle of Gamla Sauvignon, chocolate coins, and a scented candle is NIS 250. When you buy two bottles from the Golan wineries in the supermarkets, you receive a corkscrew for free. You can also find packages with two bottles of Golan wine, a corkscrew, and three greeting cards for NIS 60.
The Ramim wineries offer a good deal where you buy one bottle and get one for free. The deal is valid until the end of September on the Shahar or Psifas (Cabernet-Merlot) wines of this winery. The price for one bottle is NIS 61. You can find Ramim wines in selected wine stores.
A non-alcoholic drink suitable for the occasion is the Spring pomegranate-apple-honey soft drink. This original drink is available for a limited period of time only, and is sold at NIS 6 for a 1.5 liter bottle.
If you have your own soda machine, you can serve the soda in a Soda Club bottle decorated with apples and pomegranates. A three-pack of these soda bottles, available until the end of October, is NIS 39.90.
If you still need a calendar for the new Jewish year, consider buying one from Alut, the Israeli Society for Autistic Children. The calendar contains drawings by autistic children and adults. All the profits from the sales will be used to help autistic children and their families. The price for a wall calendar is NIS 50, and companies that order more than one hundred calendars pay NIS 40 a piece. A small calendar to put on your desk is NIS 25. Alut also sells New Year greeting cards for NIS 5; to order, call 03-5718188.
A special way of wishing someone a sweet New Year is by giving a piece of Green&Blue soap wrapped in a box that opens up like a greeting card. The boxes are decorated with romantic illustrations and such inscriptions as "Happy New Year" or "Happy Holiday." The soaps, available in three different fragrances, are NIS 19 a piece, and can be found in the H&O, Golf&Co, Delta, Newpharm, and the Mashbir Letsarhan stores.
Candyland has all kinds of gift packages that will be appreciated by those with a sweet tooth. In the Japanese line, for example, you will find a box with a tea pot and tea cups, together with chocolates, for NIS 129.90, or in the sweet line, you will see a nostalgic looking tin with chocolates (NIS 39.90), or a heart-shaped box filled with sweets (NIS 49.90). Also available as packaging are travel bags, rattan baskets, or colorful buckets, so that when the sweets are finished, you will still have something left. You can find the gift packages in the Candyland stores, or order by calling 1-800-255-256, or look on the Internet at www.candyland.co.il.
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