I'm feeling clever this year. 

On impulse, I picked up some pickled brisket from the butchers along with my chicken oyster portions for the chicken and plum bake I made for Rosh Hashanah. 

I followed this super simple recipe from Anne Shooter for salt beef and with only half a day of cooking - had two Rosh Hashanah meals and my break fast supper sorted. 

The chicken thighs were cooked to sticky sweetness in a plum marinade - a recipe from Honey & Co. A super tasty main course that made a delicious first night supper plus a couple of days of leftovers as we were such a small group.

That pickled beef went into a pot with carrots, celery, black pepper corns, juniper berries (as I didn't have the all spice berries Anne required) and a couple of shards of star anise. The actual labour involved is minimal - as easy as your Friday night chicken soup. You bring it up to a boil, skim and reduce to a simmer, then leave it to do its thing close to three hours. In that time it magically became meltingly tender salt beef that fed us for our second day lunch with plenty of leftovers. 

And here's the best bit - those leftovers went into my freezer and will make the perfect protein to break our fast on next week. I've also frozen half of the NY rye loaf that I also made to go with the salt beef. (Beyond exciting to produce proper rye bread!) So, on Sunday - before the fast comes in, all I have to do is take it out of the freezer, pop the meat in the fridge and leave the bread out to defrost overnight. And I'll make a bit of salad - probably coleslaw. Or I may even just add pickled cucumbers and mustard. Nothing fancy. No one needs a huge meal after a day of fasting. 

Because I'm a Jewish mother, I'll serve it with one of the two honey cakes that are also in my freezer. Both were made from kits sent to me before the new year festivities. One, from the Israeli Government Tourist Office, arrived in a box all ready to go. All I had to add was an egg and some water. It was made with real honey (not golden syrup) and no spices. The result? A really honey-ish cake.

The second came from Kisharon - a cute, honey cake themed kit with a jar of honey and containers to bake it in. It was also a bit different from my normal recipe, using cocoa instead of tea or coffee. It looked more traditional and also tasted great - even though I left it slightly too long and it's the teensiest bit dark. Again - all I need to do is defrost. Genius. 

And I made a double batch of my Rosh Hashanah challah, but baked the second batch in rolls, which are quicker to defrost than a whole loaf, and which will look lovely on my table. 

With so much stress this year, it's good to know that at least one meal is pretty well sorted well in advance.