Chanukah recipes needed
This will our second year since we decided to celebrate Chanukah instead of Christmas (we didn't change religions - we are still Christians). This is still new to us then to have the added complication of GFCF, I am stumped as to what to make. My mom is Jewish and my dad is Catholic. We did some things for Chanukah, but no special food. We mainly celebrated Christmas. Could some of you that celebrate Chanukah send me recipes for the holiday that are GFCF? I would love to hear some of your family traditions you have as we are charting new territory. You can e-mail me directly. Monica
In a message dated 12/4/01 3:46:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, Luvee77@... writes: OK, I know this has been explained before but I'll ask. Why would you celebrate hanukah if you are a Christian? I'm confused! As a life-long Jew (and though not a particularly religious one, my grandparents were orthodox) we never considered hanukah a very important holiday. Yes, we got presents (of course!) and we always had potato latkes at least once. But we didn't do much else. My understanding is that it is a "lesser" holiday, that has only taken on importance because most people celebrate Christmas. If you are a Christian who celebrates hanukah, do you also celebrate Christmas? I know it's a little off topic and sorry but... As for recipes---potato or ANY root veggie will make a great latke (pancake.) You need to grate, squeeze out as much moisture as possible, then bind with egg and something to substitute for matzoh meal (ground hol-grain, or Miss R's breading or Pesach crumbs, as discussed last spring. GF bread crumbs work too.) Season with salt and pepper and form into patties. Fry in HOT oil. Delicious. Many serve with applesauce but in my family we never did them sweet, only salt and pepper. A friend of mine made them with spaghetti squash last year and they were delicious. LL
I am asking about Hannukah only because that is the holiday that is coming up. We actually have been trying to celebrate all the feasts (Passover, Purim etc.). Over the years we have been troubled over the commercialism of Christmas and how some of the traditions have nothing to do with the birth of Christ (Santa Claus, X-mas trees, lights etc). I was told about Santa Claus as a child. My parents went out of their way to make me believe in him. When I was told he was not real, I resented my parents for it. The rest of my childhood, I don't think I ever could really trust them again. I did not want to do that to my kids. At first we celebrated Christmas as just what it is - a birthday. We had a birthday cake etc. I told the kids they were getting presents because God loved them so much he provided enough money for us to be able to get them presents. But that still did not sit well with me. Then I started to hear Jesus was not really born in December but during the Feast of Tabernacles. Now Christmas was an empty holiday with no meaning to it. I searched the New Testament and realized that not only did Jesus celebrate the Jewish festivals (including Hannuhak) but so did the early church. We started to look into it and realized how rich in symbolism the traditions are. We have enjoyed everything we have done so far and are eager to learn more. My kids are happy we made the change - they get more holidays in the end. They don't get as many presents but they enjoy the family times together. We do give a rather large gift each in December but make more of their birthdays now. The gift we give always has a focus on what the family can do together. This year we hope to have enough to buy bikes. My family still sends the kids gifts but during Hannukah. We also enjoy going for drives looking at the lights. We are not opposed to Christmas. We just chose to celebrate differently. I do find that more and more Christians are celebrating the Jewish holidays. Our church has held a passover Sedar for the last 3 years and there are so many interested that you have to make reservations 2 months in advance! Monica
Thank you for the explanation. It sounds like some really nice traditions to be handed down in your family! LL