Happy Hanukkah
On each night of Hanukkah (which is also known as the festival of lights), we light the menorah, left to right, using the Shamash or center candle to light the others. A prayer is said in Hebrew, with a slightly different one to commemorate the first night. Then the children receive a small gift. This continues for eight nights.
I have to say, when I was a kid, I thought this was a much better deal than the single day of Christmas I got! We also give the kids chocolate coins (known as Hanukkah gelt; by the way, Israel’s national bank created special coins to be used as gelt in 1958). Invariably, these treats are eaten immediately! Many people play with a dreidel but this practice never stuck with us for some reason, even though I break one out every year. I have always believed it is important to provide a perspective on both religions to our kids and took it upon myself when they were younger to learn more about Hanukkah (my in-laws were very proud!). In previous years, I have put together informative readings for each night. We would go through the history of the holiday, the symbols and how people celebrate, with a little discussion before gifts were distributed. This year, with the kids getting older, we decided to give only one larger gift versus eight. I also instituted a Hanukkah quiz to keep them fresh on the meaning of the holiday.
Whoever gets a question right, wins some cash to put toward holiday gifts for the rest of the family. So far, this has been well-received. After my daughter missed the first two questions to her younger brother, she vowed to study up on Hanukkah and has been doing so a little each night after her homework (no idea where she gets her competitive nature!). Because of the miracle of the oil burning for eight days, people typically eat foods that are cooked in oil on Hanukkah (cheese is eaten as well). Based on my experience, the absolute favorite dish is potato latkes. It certainly is at our house. These potato pancakes are crispy and delicious with the flavor of onion. Frankly, I don’t know how people made these before without food processor to make the shredding of the potatoes easier, but I suspect there were many scraped knuckles! Below is my recipe for you to try, whether you celebrate Hanukkah or not. I hope you enjoy my take on this holiday and would love to hear some of your traditions. Christmas usually gets all the attention in the U.S., so it is nice to see in recent days all the videos online with popular songs rewritten to talk about Hanukkah.
Potato Latkes Ingredients:
- 2-1/2 pounds of Idaho or Russet potatoes
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup matzo meal
- 1 t salt
- ¼ t pepper
- Oil for frying
Scrub potatoes. Combine onions and eggs in food processor. Pour into a bowl for mixing. Shred potatoes and place in strainer to drain for a few minutes (not too long or the color will change). Add to bowl. Mix in meal, salt and pepper. In a large skillet, pour in 1/4 inch of oil. When oil is very hot, use ¼ cup measure to form cakes. Place in pan and flatten with spatula to form pancakes. Cook until golden brown on one side, then turn and fry until second side is done (about five minutes per side). Remove and place on several thicknesses of paper towel to absorb excess oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Serve with applesauce or sour cream.
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