Friday, December 07, 2007

Hanukkah Happenings and Thanksgiving Leftovers

Happy Hanukkah or Chanukah or Hanukah!

Looking for information on the holiday's history? Check out this "blast from the past" post from last December. The history of Hanukah might not be just as you thought.

Want a tried-and-true recipe and technique for making potato latkes? Click here.

Do you light the candles left to right or right to left? For a hanukkiah (menorah) how to, go here.

Feeling guilty about not knowing about gelt and how to play dreidel? Got you covered on that, too. Read all about it here (including a resource for a paper pattern to make your own spinning top.)

You may have read my thoughts about stuffing more thanks into Thanksgiving. Did Blog Appetit practice what it preached? Well, yes, kind of. Plus Blog Appetit (well, really it was I) learned a valuable lesson.

At my family Thanksgiving (which featured my sisters' bronzed and moist turkey and two kinds of sweet potatoes with yummy toppings), I tried to start a discussion about the issues raised in the post. To say my tablemates were resistant to connect on a more meaningful level as decided by me during the meal would be politer then they were. However, once the dishes were cleared, my very excellent husband proposed we play some games. Uno cards were produced. And wouldn't you know it without trying so hard, without alienating anyone, we all bonded and related and shared. Just what Thanksgiving should be all about, without anyone being a turkey about it.

(Just for the record I still think one can successfully integrate a discussion of meaning and experience into the Thanksgiving feast, but it can't be imposed from the outside or sprung as a surprise. I'll try to advance the cause next year.)

No comments: