As some of you know, I am in the midst of writing my first cookbook. The manuscript of the book, which will be about food swapping, is due in seven months. That sounds like a long time yet I have a lot to do in those seven months: research, writing, and, most important, creating and testing recipes. As a result, I have been posting here less than usual.

I wish I had enough time to post several new recipes a week here as well as create two to three new recipes a week for my book, but sadly, I also have to sleep. So, I hope that you will bear with me for the next few — okay, seven — months, as I post less frequently and write different kinds of posts. Expect more restaurant and cookbook reviews and fewer original recipes.

For the next few weeks, I will be talking about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year holiday which begins this year at sundown on September 24. I am in the midst of planning my menu for Rosh Hashanah dinner and I expect that many of my readers are as well. (At least the Jewish ones.)

There are many traditions associated with Rosh Hashanah foods. For example, Rosh Hashanah foods are often round to symbolize the seamless way in which one year ends and another begins, like a circle. Rosh Hashanah is also thought of as the “head” of the year and heads are also, of course, round.

Rosh Hashanah foods are also typically sweet to express our hope that the coming year will be a sweet one for us and our friends. For that reason, honey is a classic Rosh Hashanah food, as is fruit, both fresh and dried. To that end, I am thinking about serving this North African-style chicken that is stewed with dried fruits as my main course for Rosh Hashanah dinner. I created this recipe for Passover, but as I look at it again, I realize that it fits all the requirements for a festive Rosh Hashanah meal.

Preserved lemons are a classic North African ingredient. Lemons are cured in salt until they become soft and mellow. You use the whole preserved lemon, rind and all, and eating a bit of preserved lemon is much more palatable than eating a raw lemon, trust me! Preserved lemons are an easy DIY project and a jar of them will last a year in your fridge. But it takes a few weeks to cure the lemons, so if you don’t have a jar already made and you want to make this recipe for Passover, you will need to buy some. That’s easy enough to do at a specialty food store or well-stocked market. And once you have preserved lemons on hand, you will find all sorts of ways to use them.

In the next few weeks, I will be posting more Rosh Hashanah recipes, including ones for round challah and my kid-friendly carrot tzimmes.