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Advent calendars, ornaments, gingerbread houses, ugly Santa sweaters — if you’re looking for a Christmas present, your options are virtually endless. But, that’s not exactly the case when you’re shopping for your Jewish friends and family. Nope, finding gifts that are made just for the Jewish holidays is about as easy as buying bacon from a kosher butcher. Happily, this year, Our Place — the brand behind the editor-favorite Always Pan and Perfect Pot — has come to the table with a new Traditionware collection that makes the absolute perfect present for your loved ones who host guests for Chanukah, Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat, and other Jewish occasions. Now that I had a chance to use the Shabbat Set, I have so much to share about it.
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I took the Shabbat Set for a test drive for Rosh Hashanah last month. I hadn’t baked challah since the height of quarantine (when I baked way too many), so getting the chance to try out Our Place’s new Shabbat Set seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back into the wonderful world of home-baked carbs. I found a step-by-step recipe, tied my apron, and got to work kneading, rolling, and braiding.
The Shabbat Set includes four items: the multipurpose Oven Pan, a reusable Oven Mat, a MINNA Challah Cover-Up, and natural beeswax Let There Be Light Candles. The pan and mat (which are also available sans candles and cover) are a pleasure to bake with. In the past, I’ve had to sprinkle a good amount of extra flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface where I’m rolling it, but not with the Our Place set. The silicone mat is so effective that I barely had to use any extra flour, and I absolutely love that it’s marked in square inches so that I can ensure all of my strands are the same length and width. I’d never baked with a mat with visual measurements before, and having uniform strands made a major difference when it came time to braid.
The pan itself is perfect for keeping everything contained, and I love the large handles that make it a cinch to transfer it from counter to oven to table, even when I’m wearing bulky oven mitts. Like Our Place’s other high-quality, uber-popular cookware, it’s crafted with a nonstick ceramic coating that’s easy to maintain, simple to clean, and free from PFOAs, PTFEs, lead, cadmium, and other potentially toxic materials. With the handles, the 5-quart-capacity pan measures 20.9 inches by 11.8 inches by 1.8 inches, which is compact enough to fit into most standard-sized ovens (but not extra-narrow, apartment-sized ovens). Its tall sides allow for cooking even a saucy pot roast in the oven, and you can use it as a stovetop skillet, too (did someone say challah French toast?). To top it off, the aquatic teal color is, in a word, elegant.
The cover and candles take this set from everyday cookware to a special-occasion worthy. At Rosh Hashanah, I lit the candles before everyone sat down, setting the mood for a night of togetherness and celebration. The intricate, two-tone blue challah cover, designed by MINNA, kept my loaves under wraps until it was time to (literally) break bread. It looked so beautiful draped over the dish, especially since my prior go-to challah servingware was a regular-old cutting board. All in all, the four elements of the Shabbat Set made my holiday table look and feel chic, stylish, welcoming, and unique.
I love to entertain guests at home, and the Shabbat Set is the newest go-to cookery in my arsenal for Jewish holidays and any other celebration. If you have someone on your list this year who wouldn’t exactly appreciate a Santa-shaped stocking stuffer, I highly recommend this gorgeous gift from Our Place. Trust me, it’ll be a part of your loved one’s happy celebrations for many years to come.
