While some food writers automatically push the same old latke and brisket menu at Chanukah, Susie Fishbein offers a lighter touch by mixing in Mediterranean fare. And although she tweaks culinary tradition, she honors it. Fishbein believes in presenting beautiful food in unique ways.
Following are pointers on livening up your Chanukah table from \”Kosher by Design\” by Susie Fishbein (Mesorah, 2003).
Ironically, the Chanukah story, with its many tellings, preserves those nuances better than almost any other holiday in Jewish tradition. It celebrates a variety of ways to be Jewish — ways which have changed through the generations, the challenges and the times.
When it comes Chanukah, you\’ve got eight nights to get your gift giving right. Our Gift Guide points you toward a cornucopia of categories for every evening of the Festival of Lights.
Less well-known, according to a leading Israeli archaeologist, is that the Maccabees also were major builders who transformed the face of Jerusalem and restored the centrality of the Temple in Jewish life.
When it\’s time to celebrate Chanukah, nobody should be left out of the fun. We\’ve scoured the holiday gift scene to find the perfect presents for Mom, Dad and the whole family.
\”My sister-in-law stuffs Thanksgiving turkeys with a matzah ball mixture,\” says Faye Levy, food columnist and author of 14 cookbooks. \”Instead of making patties and poaching them, she cooks this tasty mixture inside the turkey.\”
This never struck Levy as odd, because her mother used to make noodle pudding on Thanksgiving.
\”Her Thanksgiving dinners were almost like Shabbat meals,\” she says.
One of Levy\’s all-time favorite dishes is Thanksgiving potato kugel with asparagus. \”I first tried it at the home of a friend from Colorado,\” she says, explaining that it was his grandmother\’s recipe.
\”In his family, that dish was the essence of Thanksgiving.\”
Becoming a grandparent is a very exciting event.
For years, young Jews have voted with their feet after their bar or bat mitzvahs, with about half of those in non-Orthodox synagogues\’ religious schools leaving before the 12th-grade confirmation.
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