Chanukah at the White House
My new favorite way to celebrate Chanukah is lighting candles with Barack Obama. The annual White House Chanukah Party was held Dec 5, a day after Chanukah.
My new favorite way to celebrate Chanukah is lighting candles with Barack Obama. The annual White House Chanukah Party was held Dec 5, a day after Chanukah.
Sixty years after Roosevelt, thanks to hard work and commitment by generations of American Jews, Betsy and I stood next to a mashgiach in the White House kitchen during a time in America when nearly all politicians of import have a profound respect for the role American Jews play in our society.
On the first night of Chanukah my true love gave to me…social justice? That\’s the theme of one of the hottest parties of the Chanukah season, \”Vodka Latka: The Festival of Rights,\” sponsored by the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA), JDub Records and Reboot on Dec. 13 at the El Rey Theatre in Mid-Wilshire.
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.
Latkes are a simple form of potato preparation, as potato dishes go. But simplicity in cooking, as the food writer Richard Olney wrote, is a complex thing. I have had rubbery latkes, starchy latkes, undercooked latkes and latkes so greasy that two of them could run a diesel engine for a week.
In the middle of a rowdy rendition of \”I Have a Little Dreidel\” at the Sobelson family Chanukah party in Concord, N.H., Howard Dean walked in and declared himself the cantor.
The Democratic presidential candidate recited the blessings over the candles in near-perfect Hebrew in a dining room crowded with campaign staffers.
\”It\’s another Jewish miracle,\” Carol Sobelson exclaimed
Julie Hermelin wanted nothing more than to throw a great Chanukah party that would rival her friends\’ Christmas bashes.
I\’m an experienced multidater, so I\’m usually pretty good at juggling men.
"Entertaining is a lot like gardening," Linda Burghardt said. "You can\’t make mistakes."