A Jewish Holiday Meme via ImaBima
(who got it from Home-Shuler)
One menorah, or several? Hillel or Shammai? (just kidding about that part)
One per person, except for me (it does get awfully crowded on our menorah table). My husband and boys light oil; my daughter uses a variety of pretty candles. Sometimes one child follows Shammai by mistake.
Do you buy your children gifts for every night of Chanukah?
We try not to do gifts at all (gifts on Chanukah came about because of a non-Jewish holiday around the same time of year), but my daughter insists. And she wins. So she is the only one who gets gifts (though my sons got one gift per year when they were younger).
Do you and your spouse/partner or any other adults in your life exchange gifts?
No.
Special family chanukah traditions?
We make latkes and sufganiyot. We like to have over another family one night and do a mini-party. We sing all the words to MaOz Tsur, and sometimes my husband gets the kids dancing in a circle after candle-lighting.
Latkes or sufganiyot? If latkes, sour cream or applesauce?
All of the above. I’ve taken to putting olive oil on a salad and calling that traditional; does the oil have to be heated at a high temperature so it produces free radicals in order to be in the Chanukah spirit?
Favorite chanukah book?
My daughter’s favorite is When Mindy Saved Hanukkah, by Eric Kimmel, about the small Klein family who live behind a shul. They have problems with a cat named Antiochus.
My favorite is Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat by Naomi Howland. Latke making gets a bit of out control…
Do you actually play dreidl? If so, what do you use for counters?
I like just spinning the dreidel without playing the game. I can spin them upside-down. My husband has the patience to play the actual game with pennies.
What relationship, if any, do you have with Christmas and all things Christmas-y?
On December 26, I think about sales. Sometimes I go online on December 25 looking for sales.
“If you’re reading, you’re tagged!” – I guess if you are reading and not Jewish, it might be hard to play along… but you can enjoy learning about our holiday. Chanukah starts on December 11th this year (phew…plenty of time. Though all I really need to do to prepare is buy a big bag of potatoes. And clear off our mail table, which we use for the chanukiot. Much easier than Passover).
We also line with foil. Will it stop a fire? Anyone’s guess.
The whole house? (ala Pesach) Or just the table? 😉
There’s also the shlepping of the chanukiot from the attic…but my boys are old enough to do that. And to do a lot of the chanukiah set up with my husband.
My kids love Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat too :). In fact, we even use the latke recipe in the back of the book.
I’ll have to look at the recipe.
Interesting meme but it is also quite long, isn’t it?
I found it a lot of fun to do, so the length didn’t bother me at all.
Glad you played along….great picture!
2007 photo – must take some new pics this year!
My husband would be thrilled if I could make latkes. My early attempts were just awful….LOL…
what made it awful – maybe we can help you? I usually just fry the first one to see how it comes out, if enough salt, if sticking together well. Lots of recipes abound. I think what makes mine work is after I grate it (potatoes) I squeeze out all the liquid before adding other ingredients (eggs, matzo meal, onions)
Your picture was so delightful, it reminded me of my house when our kids were littler (and home)…never mind…I guess “I read it, so I’m tagged,” right? If so, I’ll write about it.
Lady-Light, now that will be fun, if you do it, too!
I love the reflections of the light and candles. This is a wonderful photo.
I will write more later, and answer some of your questions.
Chanukah is the one time of the year I agree to do vegetable tempura – soooooooooooo delicious. I do use sesame oil, so I am not apt to just throw away the oil afterwards. I will filter it and keep it in the fridge with a umeboshi plum pit and reuse it.
All oily dishes in mb are balanced with radish – often daikon grated with some soy sauce (can also add grated carrot).
another question to add to the meme – do you light just as soon as the sun sets or do you wait for everyone to get home at the same time??
The higher the temperature that the oil is heated, the more likely it is to produce free radicals, which are bad, bad, bad.
Some oils are better at being slightly heated than others. I’ll look for a link later.
Thanks for joining in. I didn’t think it was *that* long, but even so, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
In regard to length: one can always skip questions and just do a few. It’s about having fun with the upcoming holiday.