A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Happy Chanukah!

Happy Chanukah to all celebrating this wonderful holiday!

And thank you Bill for that beautiful Chanukah graphic here today!
It was very sweet of you to post that!

Lynne--and all our Jewish friends--I wish you a Happy Chanukah!!!! May you have a wonderful holiday!!

Happy Chanukah to Lynne and all of our friends celebrating today!!

Lynne, may I ask you a few questions about your celebration?

A very Happy Chanukah to you Lynne and all your family & everyone else out there that is celebrating!

So the menorah gets it's first candle lit tonight?

I was playing Family Feud the other day and it asked me what food might be eaten in a Jewish family during Chanukah.....I got Latkes and it was number one!!!! See some of the stuff really DOES stay in my brain (scary) because I remembered you talking about them in previous years.....I know that's silly, but I was like---wooohoooo, thanks Lynne!

I think I'd like Latkes, I love starches....

Happy Chanukah from me as well. May your candles burn bright and your latkes be the best you've ever had

Mmmmm.....latkes......you need to share!!! ;) Hope you have a great first night of Chanukah!!! Don't forget to tell us what you get!!! ;) ;)

Happy Chanukah to you Lynne and all your family & everyone

Lynne, that's a beautiful graphic.

happy chanukah lynne and to your familiy

Happy Chanukah Lynne!

What a bunch of cute graphics for Chanukah!

Thank you all for the very nice wishes!

Our first night of Chanukah this year was very simple. Just the 3 of us since my parents are in Florida, Amy lit the candles on the menorah while we said the prayers, and then Don and I got to work on the latkes. He asked if I was going to hand grate the potatoes - DUH!!! So about 1/2 hour later, and 5 pounds of small potatoes grated (that's all the store had left yesterday - no large ones! ), and of course some scraped knuckles (which are now pretty sore! ), and a very painful elbow... the potatoes were ready!

Then he tells me I have to grate the onions! Have you ever tried to grate onions on a hand grater?!?!?!? THEY FALL APART and do NOT grate! So... out came the food processor...

Another 1/2 hour later and we were ready to eat - YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!


Don and I are not exchanging any presents this year - all of our spare $ went into the pond this year! Amy will be getting a few small presents - a funky pair of gloves that she wanted, and a watch from The Metropolitan Museum of Art that she saw on the internet. Thankfully it was only $50, otherwise she would not be getting that! Don is picking it up today after a dr's appointment that is just down the block. Brian will be getting a little money deposited into his bank account. I'll see if anything else comes up as the week progresses...

So... this year is VERY low key.

Loz - so glad I could help you with the game!

Sheri - ask away!

You answered my questions. I was wondering if the gifts were to somehow be symbolic of the re-dedication process or if you could choose something that you need or want. And if the gifts can be given all at once or if they have to be spread out over the 8 days.

I think you need to post the recipe for the latkes....I've been hungry for them every since you first mentioned them. Mmmmmm!!!

Hey Lynne, do you think it would be wrong....or weird...if next year when we have our own house and stuff if I got a menorah and lit the candles for Chanukah? I don't know the prayers that go with the lighting of the candles, but since this is part of my history that I'm trying to learn, I kind of want to do that. What is your opinion of it???? (don't be shy....I'm tough ;) )

P.S.~ Lynne, there is a question for you in the "Home for the Holidays" section of Banter Hall. It's been there for a little while and I didn't know if you had seen it. Just an FYI (just because I'm just sooooo helpful )

Sheri - each family handles gifts in their own way. Some give token gifts each of the eight nights, some give a single more expensive gift, some don't exchange gifts because that's not what it's really all about... it's very very hard not to commercialize the holiday as Christmas has become - especially in areas where Christmas is advertised to death if you know what I mean. It's especially hard to deal with young children who don't understand why their friends get gifts for Christmas, while Chanukah is not really about gifts.

Jenn - you have mentioned that Judaism is part of your heritage, so it would be wonderful for you to explore all the holidays and participate in them. Since I never went to Hebrew school, the cultural aspects of the religion are what I am familiar with. I'm afraid I wouldn't be any help with the prayers, but I'm sure you could find them online - there are some excellent websites for that. If you can't find it, I'm sure I could ask my husband to help.

As for the latkes recipe - Dodge actually posted it when she was talking about making potato pancakes for dinner the other night. It's really very simple:

grate some white potatoes - we use Idaho potatoes, and usually a 5lb. bag - lots of leftovers!

grate 3 large onions for a 5 lb. bag of potatoes
salt and pepper to taste

mix all together and drop large spoonfuls of batter into heated oil - we use an electric frying pan, you could use any pan deep enough to fry in. Fry on each side until golden brown. (I prefer them to be crispy!) We like to drain them on a few layers of paper towels to get rid of some of the excess oil.

Don eats them with a sprinkle of salt and a dollop of sour cream.
I like them sprinkled with sugar and applesauce on the side.

Enjoy!

lynne, didn't dodge say she puts an egg and some flour in hers too?

OOOOOOOOOOOOPS - my bad, Jiffy!!! Thank you soooooooo much!!!


YES YES YES! He also adds an egg, but uses Matzoh meal instead of flour!
That's just the Jewish way of doing it - with the matzoh meal - but I'm sure flour would be fine too - it's just a thickening agent.