It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Hanukkah

We're a multi-cultural family, which makes the December holiday season all the more festive. I don't know how other families do it, but we avoid large presents as Hanukkah opting instead for small inexpensive items. When Danny was little, he'd get a Matchbox car for each night, but as he's long outgrown that, we've went for things like interesting erasers, stickers, and items of that sort. I was able to purchase nut-free chocolate coins for playing dreidel (a 4-sided spinning top) which will be a nice treat. The holiday celebrates a miracle that occurred after the sacking of the ancient temple. There was only enough oil to burn in the eternal flame lamp for one night, yet it burned for eight. To remember that, we light a candle in a menorah each evening at sundown for eight days. It is also custom to eat oily foods symbolic of the miraculous oil. In Israel, they do a sort of jelly filled doughnut, but in the American midwest, Potato pancakes (latkes) are more common. We didn't do these at home growing up, but every restaurant had them on the menu which was good enough as I don't think a frying pan in my mother's hands could have ended anything but badly. Frozen latkes are easy enough to heat on a baking sheet in the oven, but as I learned as an adult, grating and frying potatoes isn't nearly as difficult as it is made out to be.

Through trial and error, I've settled on this recipe being best:
http://eattheblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/potato-latkes-beth-henspergers-recipe.html

Applesauce and sour cream are the typical sides served with potato pancakes, but we've been taking inspiration from our Canadian friends and one year, I came up with this:
http://eattheblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/jewtine.html
Cheese curds and gravy have no place on potato pancakes...oh, what am I saying? Of course they do!

If standing and frying isn't your style, a potato kugel (pudding) is also delicious.
http://eattheblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/potato-kugel-pudding-with-carrots.html

If you really must fry doughnuts, this recipe is excellent. To make a filled doughnut, don't cut a hole, and after frying make a slit in the side, and fill through a pastry tube.
http://eattheblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/raised-potato-doughnuts.html

I let Danny finally see where I hid the wrapped presents...in the laundry hamper. I knew he'd never look there!

Happy Hannukah.