hanukkah

well i made it.  i made it through all of the preparation - the planning, the decorating - pulling the boxes of dreidels and menorahs and such out of storage in the basement and arranging them all around the living room and dining room, the grocery shopping, the sewing (most of it, anyway), the purchasing, the wrapping (more on that later). 

i barreled right on through all of that to a place where tuesday evening at 5 o'clock i was standing in the kitchen with apples simmering on the stove melting into applesauce, potatoes and onions grated and drained and mixed with some egg and salt and a touch of flour frying in rounds in my electric skillet (more on that later, too - because doesn't fried potato warrant it's own post altogether?).

that first night was glorious.

it was quiet.  just the four of us and my mom.  the lights were low.  my favorite hanukkah cd playing in the background.  a few small - and very special - gifts waiting to be opened.  my new tablecloth - a blue and white provencale print found on sale just before thanksgiving - covering the table.  our hanukkiot (also called menorahs - the two words are almost interchangeable, but not quite) laid out and waiting.  piles of dreidels and chocolate gelt around each place at the table (thanks to little l. who had the job of sprinkling these things across the table - but instead of sprinkling, she gave us each a pile.   no matter.  i love that she did it with glee.).

and then we were ready.  the latkes fried, the applesauce cooked, the table set.  we lit the candles, we sang, we ate.  we sat and we enjoyed each other and the holiday.

we've celebrated two nights now, and still, there are six nights left.  perfect for endless variations on the celebration.  there will be dinners with friends and dinners with family, there will be dreidel games, cookie making, donut delivering, and more.  i'm so glad that this festival of lights goes on for a whole week.  plenty of time to enjoy.

Comments

[julia]

beautiful photos. sounds like a lovely time so far. we too are enjoying our hanukkah as well. happy happy to you and your family!

[nessie]

omygoodness emily, that first photo is so so pretty. it sounds like a wonderful start to the holiday.and spreading it out for several days makes it special...like celebrating your birthday "week" or birthday "month" (as my husband likes to do...) Why not celebrate? he says/

thanks for sharing your holiday with us...

[heather]

i'm really enjoying your posts this week. i always enjoy your posts but it's been really sweet for me this week, coming here. our good friends and neighbors are in israel on sabbatical right now and we miss them terribly. my daughter does especially as their young girl and she are very best friends. actually, just last week they formed a sistership via email... it was a pretty big and formal deal for them! they are both only children and mean so much to one another. your posts have felt warm and familiar, like merle herself is busy across the street preparing for a beautiful holiday... jeremy is a rabbi and they always have many folks over for the holidays. and there are so many! ;) it's always the best time - we love that they include us and patiently await their return at the end of january. anyway, thanks for listening, and thanks for writing. happy hanukkah!

[Ella]

so beautiful. so fun. happy hanukkah.

[leslie]

it all sounds so lovely. warm special memories. i love that you get a whole week!

at dinner tonight we were talking/and fighting about the pronunciation of latkes.someone in Andrew's class brought them in, and he loved them!

happy days to you and yours.

[cloth.paper.string]

so lovely, emily.

i especially love the anticipation in the unlit candles, their wicks wild awaiting the flame. and the gleeful helper. and the nibbles of detail of what i'm imagining to be complete deliciousness. all warming me up on this cold eve.

wishing you and yours well, sarah

[Ali]

You are so right about spreading the celebrations over a week rather than cramming them into one greedy day.

[tracy]

so lovely. things here are such a flurry between work and school i haven't been posting. i love hanukah. feel like just putting a link to your lovely posts on mine!! thanks for sharing your beautiful nights! xo

[Julie]

What a beautiful post. I have been lurking for quite some time and this post made me want to say thank you for sharing your life with all of us.

I am Christian but grew up in a very mixed Jewish/Christian neighborhood. At my public school back in the 70's we celebrated Hanukkah as much as Christmas. My girl scout leaders were both Jewish and taught us the dreidel song that I still sing to this day. I had a set of honorary grandparents who were Jewish and included us in everything. So I was blessed twice with two worlds that were equally rich in tradition.

I miss all of that and have such fun being transported back to that time when I read all about your celebrations.

I hope you have a wonderful Hannukah. It looks wonderful to me.

[sue]

My-girls-and-I-were-excited-to-see-another-Jewish-blogger(well,we-fell-off-the-wagon-til-our-space-key-is-fixed;)out-here-in-cyberspace!Lovely-and-inspiring-posts!And-wherever-did-you-find-the-wooden-puzzle-Menorah?Love-it!

Happy-Chanukah!