Our Hanukkah

Ian grew up on the East Coast in a small town in New Jersey. His father was a Hebrew School teacher as well as a member in a band. Both of Ian’s parents were Jewish. Ian and I were married by a Rabbi and today celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah with our girls. We want them to know about our past, how we grew up and our family traditions. This year we celebrated Hanukkah a little early. It actually starts on Christmas Eve this year! That’s a lot at once!  Since we will be traveling to see my family on the Christmas tree farm, we agreed it was appropriate to do them separately.

One of Ian’s favorite new traditions for Hanukkah is each member of the family lighting their own menorah. He loves all the lights around the house and each person is involved in the lighting. Mia has a princess castle menorah. Penna has a Noah’s Arch menorah and Ian and I have a classic silver Menorah. We actually haven’t picked out a menorah yet. Typically you would get one for your wedding. Ian and I did not and I got us one from Crate and Barrel our first year. We have been using it ever since. I definitely think our goal for this year is to pick out one that is special to us both.

For Hanukkah we give the girls their “big gifts.” Which are actually anything we don’t want to fly back from Ohio. This year their gifts were

-Night #1- Mia- a foot spa / Penna- a Live Talking Bird

-Night #2- a climbing gazebo for the backyard

-Night #3- pieces from the target Supergirl Collection

-Night #4- Mia- pottery wheel/ Penna- Marble Run

-Night #5- Mia- Ice cream maker/ Penna- Shimmer and Shine toys

-Night #6- A tree house was built in the backyard

-Night #7- arts and crafts

-Night #8- Hachimals- (oh yes we did!)

It was such a busy week! We had holiday parties and events and hurried home every night to have our special family time to celebrate. We had friends over one night to light the Menorah. The kids played dreidel and colored pictures. Last year I hosted a much bigger Hanukkah party and even had Elsa come to light the Menorah for the kids. This year was just too busy to make that happen. We will definitely have to plan better for next year. I think Elsa needs to come back for sure! At least for this year, Penna dressed up as Elsa to make up for my loss.

 

 

Our favorite classic dish for Hanukkah is the Latkes- I wanted to share my quick and easy recipe to make your own!

Latkes-

4 cups of thawed or refrigerated shredded Hashbrowns- about 2 bags

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

2 tablespoons of milk

2 eggs beaten

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon of large grain pepper

vegetable oil

Directions

Place hashbrowns in a large bowl. Add onion, parsely, milk, eggs, flour, salt, garlic powder and pepper; mix well. In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1/4 inch of oil. Drop mixture by 1/4 cupfuls into the heated oil. Fly until golden brown on both sides. Place on paper towel to drain the oil. Serve with sour cream or applesauce! ENJOY~

For more about our holiday traditions watch our video from Mom.me!

Erin and Ian chatting Holiday Traditions