The Latkas Are In The Pan

I repeat,  the Latkas are in the pan.

 

 

Aaron has a large dreidel, I repeat, Aaron has a large dreidel.

 

This,  of course, means Hanukkah has arrived!

Happy Hanukkah to all!

Happy Hanukkah 2022!

Happy Hanukkah 2022!

The celebration of Hanukkah has officially begun.  The Hanukkiah has been lit, latkes have been made and eaten, and presents presented.

 Not a bad start to the Hanukkah festivities and this holiday season.

May the light of freedom shine brightly for all in the upcoming year.

Happy Chanukah!

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah (or Hanukkah the transliteration is not fixed either way), celebrating the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks.  

Yet another example of the standard in Jewish holidays:

 1. They tried to kill us; 2. The Lord delivered us; 3. We won; and 4. Let's eat.

So we lit the Hanukkiah, said the prayers, and made latkas, which were tasty and awesome as always.

May you have a very Happy Chanukah!

Happy Hanukkah!

Last night began the 2020 celebration of Hanukkah.

We lit the Hanukkiah (the menorah for Hanukkah with 8 lamps rather than the menorah's seven). Instead of candles, for the first time we tried using the real oil lamp we had purchased on our trip to Israel last year.

Actual lamp oil plus adding wicks to each of the oil jugs led to rather tall and impressive flames.

We did the blessings and then had some latkas.

 Very tasty.

Then presents were exchanged.  It was an excellent first night of Hanukah.

Happy Hanukkah 2020 to all my readers!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah!

We made Latkas yesterday for the first night of Hanukkah. Tonight, Sufganiyot are about to be prepared and eaten tonight and we're having a nice family time together.

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah 2018 kicked off nicely last night.

Commemorating the recapturing of Jerusalem, the re-dedication of the Temple, and the overthrow and removal of the Graeco-Syrian invaders from Israel, it's a very happy holiday.

We had a party at our house with a bunch of family friends.

This, of course, meant preparing by making lots of latkas.

Following the recipe we indeed did make lots and lots of latkas, almost 100 in fact.

Many a potato was peeled yesterday. They were a big hit and one of the guest families brought homemade apple sauce which was excellent and went really well with the latkas. The latkas were consumed in job lots by the guests and everyone liked them. Lots of other food and libations were also served and everyone had a great time.

We lit the candles for the first night and then the gifts for the kids began.

We did it as a Chinese fire drill technique - the kids randomly drew a number and #1 went first and unwrapped a gift. #2 could take #1's gift or open another one.

Interestingly, the kids were hesitant to take each other's gifts and kept going back to the pile. Lots of fun in any case.

After the families had left, our kids got their first night gifts from us and enjoyed them as well.

So a very Happy Hanukkah to all my readers.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

Yesterday we cleaned the house and then went to the movies - I to see Rogue One and Tash and the kids to watch Sing. Rogue One was pretty darn good and I'll not post any spoilers, and watching it in 3D in a practically empty theater was just about a perfect way to see it.

Then, for the first night of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve we went to a friends house for a dinner party.

One of the guests made these two cakes from scratch:

Rather impressive and very festive.

So we lit the Menorah, had drinks a festive meal and good times with all who were there.

Once home, we gave presents for the first night of Hanukkah to the kids and then the kids went off to bed.

So a very Merry Christmas to all of my Christian friends and readers, and a very Happy Hanukkah to all of my Jewish ones.

Medal of Honor Delayed For 96 Years May Be Awarded During Hannukah

Recognition of a great act of heroism long delayed may happen shortly.

From Fox News: A century after heroism, Jewish soldier may soon get posthumous Medal of Honor

Nearly a century ago, Sgt. William Shemin raced across a World War I battlefield three times to pull wounded comrades to safety. With all the senior leaders of the platoon wounded or killed, the 19-year-old survived a bullet to the head and led his unit to safety.

The heroism should have earned Shemin the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest service medal. But it didn't, perhaps because discrimination was rampant in the military — and he was Jewish.

Thanks to the efforts of his now 85-year-old daughter, Shemin is on the cusp of finally being honored with a medal, 41 years after his death.

The Senate on Friday passed the $585 billion defense bill. A small provision allows President Barack Obama to bestow the Medal of Honor to Shemin. The last hurdle is Obama's signature on the defense bill.

Should the bill be signed, it would certainly be fitting for the ceremony to take place during the celebration of Hanukkah, a holiday that commemorates an ancient Jewish military victory and the valor of the Jewish warrior.

Jett, In The Living Room, With The Paper Products.

Jett is suddenly developing a fondness for chewing and eating any paper product that happens to get in his area of opportunity.

The latest victim seems to be the pistol card from the new Clue board-game, the classic murder mystery game that Leah generously bought for the family with her own money for Hanukkah.

The family has been playing it and it's fun to watch the kids develop their deductive skills and hear them excitedly cry out "It was Scarlett! In the Office! With the Dagger!".

No trace of the card has been found, and the room where the game was left unattended was thoroughly searched. 

Does that make him a gun dog now?

Hey, I'm Innocent! There's No Proof It Was Me!

For The Second Night of Hannukah, My True Love Gave To Me....

A case for my Tavor, yipee!

And not just any case.

It's a Bulldog Ultra-Compact Discrete Rifle Case, purchased from Brownells.

Designed to covertly carry a broken down AR15 without screaming "Hey, There's a rifle in here!", it fits the complete Tavor, with mounted Aimpoint PRO Sight nicely.

The soft padded divider also has 2 mag pouches on the side opposite the rifle.

It's a nice soft padded case, perfect for transport of the Tavor without frightening any of the neighbors when loading the car and it makes for an easy package for transporting the rifle.

Thanks Tash!

Happy Hanukkah and Happy Thanksgiving

Last night marked the beginning of Hanukkah, and today is one of the very rare occasions where the first day of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincide, currently being given the appellation “Thanksgivukah.”

How rare? Well, we won't see this convergence again until the year 79811 CE.

It's a nice convergence of two holidays that both celebrate religious freedom and thanks for deliverance.

So last night, we gathered with some friends and celebrated the first night of Hanukkah. We then said the prayers and all the kids from the families lit the menorahs/hannukiahs for the first night, including the one made from mini flower pots that Leah made and decorated all by herself at religious school just for the occasion.

In addition to the normal huge batch of potato latkas, Tash also made sweet potato latkas which were awesome. She also made a cranberry relish to go with the standard sour creme and apple sauce for condiments for the latkas.

The kids had a great time together as did the adults and it was

Tonight will be our traditional Thanksgiving feast and the second night of Hanukkah. To celebrate the convergence, challah stuffing is called for, and more of those awesome sweet potato latkas.

So a very Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and have a very Happy Hanukkah.

Happy Hannukah 2012!

Tonight begins Hanukkah, the festival of lights.

Celebrating the victory of the Jews, led by the Maccabees, over the Hellenic Syrians for the freedom of Israel, it lasts for eight nights.

The Celebration is marked by lighting the Hanukiah (Menorah) each night and adding a candle for each successive night until eight candles plus the shamash candle are burning brightly.

Latkes are made and consumed - potato pancacks made by frying them in oil to remember the miracle of the oil.

Happy Hanukkah!

While Hannukah Is Inconvenient As Scheduled, Obama Makes Sure to Celebrate Kwanzaa On Time

So Obama has to celebrate Hanukkah ahead of time. Two weeks ahead of time in fact. After all, he's busy with vacations and such.

However, he had no trouble celebrating the start of Kwanzaa on the day it is scheduled to start.

So, no timely celebration for the historic holiday of Hannkah, but right on time for a black nationalist holiday created in 1966 out of whole cloth by a Marxist convicted felon.

To be fair, Obama did manage to squeeze in celebrating Christmas on its actual eve and day, in between golf rounds in Hawaii. Oh, and he also got Eid on time.

It Takes A Tough Man To Make A Tender Latka...

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah, and I celebrated with the family.

Commemorating the victory of the Jews, led by the Maccabees (Maccabee is Hebrew for "Hammer") over the Syrians and liberation of the land of Israel from their domination, Hanukkah is a relatively minor holiday on the list of Jewish observances, now made greater due to its proximity to Christmas and the need to make Jewish kids feel less jealous of their neighbors getting all the presents.

Hanukkah also celebrates the miracle of the oil. After the liberation and re-dedication of the Temple after it had been desecrated by the Syrians, there was only sufficient oil available to light the presence lamp for one day. By a miracle it lasted the 8 day round trip to reach the nearest source of the oil.

Hannukah is celebrated by lighting the Menorah (or Hanukkiah if you prefer) and eating foods fried in oil in commemoration of this victory and miracle. There is also a lesser-known second miracle of Hanukkah, to be revealed below.

But first, the latkas!

A latka is a potato pancake - think hash brown but better.

To make the perfect batch of latkas do the following:

Maccabee-Worthy Latkas

Ingredients: 4 large baking potatoes, 1 large Onion, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of flour

Step 1. Peel potatoes, and cut into chunks. Peel the Onion (a large Vidalia is nice if the kids don't like a sharp tasting onion) and cut into 4 sections, one for each potato.

Step 2. Get out your trusty food processor and use the grater blade with the largest holes. (If you don't have one, use a grater, again using the large hole size).

Step 3. Grate one potato at a time, dropping in the quarter of the onion into the grater as you put the chunks in so the onion gets mixed in well. Continue until all the potato and onion is grated.

Step 4. Here comes the "manly" part: In a colander over a bowl, press the potato latka mixture down hard, pressing out the moisture into the bowl below. Use some paper towels to press down and get as much moisture out as you can. Then transfer the drier mix to a bowl.

Step 5. Beat three eggs until well mixed, then add the eggs and up to 1/2 a cup of all purpose flour to the mix and stir in until well mixed and you don't see any more flour.

Step 6. Heat a frying pan and add a generous quantity of oil to it, at least 1/4 inch.

Step 7. Use a soup spoon and take a scoop of the mix and place into the hot oil and tamp down to form a latka. Repeat until you have 3-4 latkas happily cooking in the pan.

Step 8. Cook until golden, brown and delicious, remove from the pan, place on a plate on some paper towel to drain and make more until the mix is done.

Step 9. Serve with Apple Sauce and Sour Cream. Enjoy.

As for the second miracle of Hannukah, it is this:

These latkas have been clogging our people's arteries for hundreds of years, yet we survive!

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah Recipe Time

Hanukkah as written above is a festival of lights, the holiday commemorating the miracle of the oil that burned in the lamp in the liberated Temple in Jerusalem for eight days when there was only enough oil for one day. It is a festival of religious freedom and an celebration of an ancient Jewish feat of arms in driving the Hellenic Syrians/Greeks out of the land of Israel and freeing the nation to be Jewish again and able to worship freely.

The second miracle of Hanukkah is that the Jewish people have been eating latkas and doughnuts fried in oil for hundreds of years, yet we survive!

Now you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy latkes and sufganiot (homemade doughnuts! - think a Jewish variety of beignets for those of you lucky enough to have gone to Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans). However not being on a low fat, low carb diet is pretty much a prerequisite for enjoyment. Consult a physician before preparing and consuming the recipes below.

So in honor of the holiday I give you Natasha'a recipe for the epitome of the Hannukah Latka, and for Sufganiot. Indeed her recipes are the perfect embodiment of everything a Latka and Sufganiot should be and they're both very easy to make, and fun to cook and then eat.

This is Natasha typing.

There really isn't a recipe for latkas, but I will try my best.
1. Peel potatoes until you get sick of peeling (I would say 6 potatoes for the family of 4)
2. Get your newly seven-year old to cut them up while begging her to keep her fingers out of the way.
3. Grate them using your indispensable food processor. Grate a large onion while you are at it [don't grate them too finely].
4. Get your four-year old to crack a couple of eggs. Make sure all the shells are out of the batter.
5. Add salt and black pepper. Start adding flour or matzah meal until the mixture comes together (I added about half a cup).
6. Make the batter into pancakes and fry in lots and lots of oil until golden brown and delicious [have your husband do this, he's not scared of using lots of oil]. Blot on paper towers and serve and sour cream and apple sauce (home-made from apples you picked yourself, of course).

Okay, now for the sufganiot/donuts.
1. Go to the store and get fresh self-rising flour. Do not substitute any other kind of flour, and do not use last years - it has lost its magic.
2. Combine the following:
-- 1 1/4 cup self-rising flour
-- 1/2 cup sugar
-- 3/4 cup sour cream
-- 1 egg
-- vanilla
3. Deep fry in lots of oil.
4. Drain on paper towels and serve with powered sugar. Some people like to inject these donuts with jam, but while I was looking for the injector, all the donuts disappeared.

Enjoy!

Happy Hannukah from our family to you and yours.

Obama seems to be confusing biblical stories of oil and seven years

On this the first day of Hanukkah, the festival of lights, the holiday of the (olive) oil, what does he do?

Obama bans drilling for oil in the eastern Gulf for 7 years

President Barack Obama will not be allowing new drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for at least seven years, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Wednesday.

He's mixing his festival metaphors, the Story of Joseph and the seven lean years in the bible wasn't about a ban on oil drilling, and Hanukkah is about a festival of lights, not a lack of lights due to no oil production.

But he's probably going to cause seven very lean years for oil workers and their families in the region, and lean years for the rest of us as energy prices rise due to the lack of domestic production and further reliance on foreign oil.

Happy Hanukkah.