We’ve just finished a marathon of cooking and eating.The sprint from Rosh Hashanah to Sukkot was full of possibly even more cooking than usual as Rosh Hashanah, and the first and last days of the Sukkot holiday each led into Shabbat, making for what has more popularly become known as a “three-day Yom Tov.”This means that households had to do quite a bit of advance thinking, menu planning and provision purchasing.I know that I enjoy being a creative cook, and while I am happy to pull out many tried-and-true favorites, the holiday is also a time I like to try some new recipes.I am sure that many of you did as well. So?? Which ones did your family enjoy the most? Please email us the favorites of your Yom Tov creations and I will feature some of the best in this column! Here are two that went over particularly well with my family and friends.

Inspired by a recipe I clipped from the March Bon Appétit 2003, that had been living in my recipe box…

Oven Barbecued Chicken Drummettes

(We called them Dr. Pepper Drummettes)

8 cups water

1 bag of Empire frozen Drummettes (or about 2 pounds of small chicken legsfrom your butcher)

¾ cup soy sauce

2 cups prepared barbecue sauce

1/3 cup root beer or Dr. Pepper

¼ cup minced peeled fresh ginger

¼ cup fresh parsley chopped

Sesame seeds (I used a mix of black and white)

Crushed red pepper flakes

Mix water and soy sauce and let drummettes marinate in this for at least an hour in the refrigerator. (In a pinch for time skip this step.)

Preheat oven to 350. In a saucepan let the bbq sauce, soda and ginger simmer for at least five minutes to thicken and merge flavors. (In a pinch, just mix without heating!)

Drain drummettes and roast on baking sheet or pan for 30 minutes. Pour 1/3 of sauce into small container and set aside. Brush remaining sauce all over drummettes and roast about 15 minutes more. When ready to serve put drummettes on a platter, brush with reserved sauce, sprinkle with parsley, sesame seeds and red pepper flake and serve

Sticky Pecan Pie Bars

From my favorite cookbook for its creativity The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn (Buy it on Amazon, you will not regret it!) Say what you will about recipes that rely on cake mix, but when you are making so much food, this recipe comes together fast and not a one of my guests guessed that the base was “based” on yellow cake mix!!

Crust

1 package yellow cake mix

1 stick margarine or butter, melted

1 large egg

Filling

¾ cup dark corn syrup

¼ cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 and ½ cups chopped pecans or pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350. Set aside an ungreased 9” x 13” pan. Mix cake mix, melted butter and egg in a bowl. The batter will becomea thick dough. Using your fingertips press the crust mixture evenly over the bottom and ½ inch up the sides of the pan.Smooth it out. Bake crust for 20 minutes till just beginning to brown. Remove from oven. While crust baking use same bowl as the crust mix was in, mix corn syrup, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Fold in pecans. Pour over baked crust and spread over the surface. Bake another 22-25 minutes or until filling just starts to set. Remove and let cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Chavie Hagler and Rayzel Yaish are two Bergen county based full-time working mothers who have a passion for delicious food! In the spirit of friends and family who enjoy hanging around and chatting over our kitchen sinks, we hope you will enjoy our tasty thoughts and will share your questions and kosher food ideas with us at kosherkitchensink_jewishlinkbc.com