The Fourth Night of Chanukkah, 12'22

 

On the Forth Night of Chanukkah 

my true love gave to me

 a plate of 4 potato latkes, with sour cream, and applesauce

to be eaten

by the light of

four candles glowing

on the menorah. 

It doesn't get much more romantic than that!

Candle lighting on the Third Night of Chanukkah: 12 '22

 

Chag Sameach, Happy 2nd Night of Chanukkah: 12 '22

Chag Sameach!

Happy Second Night of Chanukkah

And for dinner we had 

prime rib, corn, and baked potato puffs with 

and apple dumplings for desert.

Happy First night of Chanukkah: 12 '22

 This year, Chanukkah falls, as it often does, right atop the Christmas Holiday

In 2022, the first of the eight days of this important Jewish Holiday

 starts at sundown on December 18th 

and runs through to end at sundown on December 26th.

On each of these nights, we light a candle on the menorah 

and recite a prayer from a prayer book  Bruce has carried with him for all of his adult life.

Then we have a feast. 

at our Chanukkah decorated table

First Day of Chanukkah 11'21

 In some ways,  having to downsize Thanksgiving

 due to Covid's social distancing was a blessing,

 because this year,  the first night of Chanukkah

 fell on the Sunday night that Thanksgiving weekend ended.

Having fewer Thanksgiving ornaments to put away

made it much faster and  simpler to 

transition into  Chanukkah.

One of the first things we set out was Bruce's Menorah. 

 He has had this with him since he joined the Navy at age 18, 

and we cannot imagine celebrating this holiday without it.  

Next, the dining room table was reset

with blue and white dishes

and a Judaic latke dish and spatula.

I also put up a  blue bottle menorah in the front window.

We don't light it due to the potential fire hazard, 

but we do shine a spotlight on it,  so that everyone 

can see it from the outside.

And of course,  we celebrated by lighting the first candle 

followed by a lovely meal of roast duck and ended the evening by watching the 

National Menorah Lighting ceremony.

Last night of Chanukkah

Tonight was the last night of Chanukkah.

We will miss having special meals at our lovely Chanukkah table,

but we will miss kindling the candles on the  Menorah  even more.

Sixth Night of Chanukkah: 12 '19

Following tonight's Kindling of the Candles,

Bruce made us a platter of Chanukkah Cupcakes.

Fifth Night of Chanukkah:12 '19

Bruce takes the responsibility for the mitzvah of kindling the Chanukkah candles very seriously and always reads the prayer he is going to say before beginning the reciting the blessing.

The candles seemed especially beautiful to us this evening.

The ritual was followed by a wonderful  Chanukkah dinner
of roast chicken, potato salad, and Haroset
served at our newly redecorated dining room table.

Happy Chanukkah: 12 '19

Having a mixed faith marriage has its challenges, especially when it comes to celebrating the holidays.  We are committed to respecting  each other's faith, and do our best to honor the traditions we each grew up with.  Usually there is no conflict, but this year  the Chanukkah  and Christmas  holidays completely overlapped one another, forcing us to get really creative.  

We decorated one the coffee table in the  living room in white and blue with the Menorah in the center ,  and made sure that everything  else in the room  reflected a Jewish theme appropriate for celebrating the mitzvah of kindling the Chanukkah lights. 

We set the Christmas tree up in the dining room 

next to the table  which was decorated with set with the red and green Christmas  dishes.   

As soon as Christmas day was over. (December 26th)  I  removed all of the red and green ornaments from the tree and replaced them with blue white and silver.

  then did the same with the dining room table.

All the Christmas dishes were packed away that same day, and the table reset with Judeica themed dishes. These will remain in place until Chanukkah ends on Dec 30th when we will

redecorate everything with a snowman theme.

For some celebrating both  holidays may seem a bit strange, but the way we see it, Jesus was a practicing Jew his whole life.  He undoubtedly celebrated Chanukkah himself, so I doubt seriously he would have a problem with our celebrating Chanukkah and his birthday at the same time.

4th Night of Chanukkah: 12 '19

Lighting the candles  is our favorite tradition of the holiday season.

3rd Night of Chanukkah: 12 '19

Lighting the Menorah is our favorite activity of the day.

Latkes for Breakfast: 12 '19

Bruce made us Latkes for breakfast. Neither of us had ever had latkes with a side of applesauce before. I doubt whether we'll ever eat them any other way after this delight.

Chag Urim Shameach, 2nd Night of Chanukkah: 12 '19

  

Bruce lit the candles  for the second night of Chanukkah

 on the Menorah he has used since he was 18 years old.

Their light offers such hope for  a joyous New Year.

And of course,the candle lights

added to the ambiance of our Chanukkah dinner.

 Our 2nd Chanukkah holiday dinner consisted of:

 mango coconut curried squash  soup,

Stuffed Cabbage rolls with ginger snap cookie topping,

maple glazed  sweet potatoes,   

and a desert of fresh oranges.

First Night of Chanukkah: 12 '19

Happy Chanukkah , Everyone!

Chag Sameach!

May the Peace and Joy of the Holiday Season

be with you throughout the coming year.

Chanukkah Snowman: 12 ' 19

Bruce Got this Chanukkah Snowman complete just in time for the first night of Chanukkah.

Potato Latkes for Dinner: 12 ' 19

Bruce and I watched a PBS special on Chanukah this morning. I guess it set off a craving, because Bruce made us a big batch of potato latkes (from scratch) for dinner. 

I am such a lucky woman.

( Original recipe can be found at : 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16073/potato-latkes-i/?fbclid=IwAR1_U3uaDQDZglecbfgX0BOfWBm3sPrRvWydk2WUeqSPnmixdaUtQ0ywVAs)