We hope we did Papa Mickey proud this year! Happy Chanukah!
When you live in New York City, even if you are not Jewish, you find yourself joining in with the Chanukah festivities. The rituals of lighting a candle for each of the eight nights and spinning the dreidel for Chanukah gelt are beautiful, and seeing that light in the darkest point of the year satisfies some deep need in all of us.
After his granddaughter was born, my Jewish father-in-law asked me if I would light the candles and say the prayers. Since my husband was not raised in the traditional way, his step-father, who has been Sean’s dad since he was twelve, wanted me to help pass the Festival of Lights down to his grandchildren. I was honored.
Latkes? Doughnuts? Presents? Chocolate? What’s not to love?
Here is a look back at our eight nights.
Books. Books. And more books in our house. We have a nice selection for each season and keep the seasonal books out for the children to grab and explore and ask us to read. Some of our Winter books were not available when I was taking these pictures because they were “occupied”.
Some favorites for Winter, for Christmas, and Chanukah?
*Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
*Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden
*Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft
*Rotten Ralph’s Rotten Christmas by Jack Gantos
*The Nutcracker Ballet by Vladimir Vagin
*The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (pictured)
*Olivia helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer
*I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Holly Hobbie (Toot and Puddle)
*A Day on Skates by Hilda van Stockum
*Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat by Naomi Howland
*Hershel and the Hanukah Goblins by Eric Kimmel
*Snow by Uri Shulevitz
What about you? What are you reading this time of year? I’ve been downloading some of these to my Kindle. Huge thank you to Alexander Chee for hooking me up with that list.
Go round exploring other book-ies:
caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale samantha, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, jenell, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, jodi, gillian, travelingmama
athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, kelleyn, iris, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, kathryn , lisa, liza, juliette, braja, mulot, anne, lucy, leonor, elizabeth, helene, dominique, shokoofeh, cole, jenna, podane, grey-lemon, line, nihal, urbaNiche, inner toddler, puna, lucylaine, adrienne, emily, lynn, skywriting, eliane, the wanderer´s daughter, carole, anna, dorit, kenza, sherry, conny, susan, l´atelier, elis, kamana, anne, rosamaría
When my daughter was a young toddler and we were trying to introduce cow’s milk to her, she rebelled against it for weeks. Mira was an avid nurser, and cow’s milk was, well, just not up to snuff as far as she was concerned.
One day, as I was walking with her and sipping an iced chai, Mira pointed to the cup and said, “Cha! Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
She grabbed the straw and gunked down half the cup. One taste and she was hooked. We began making it for her at home, slowly weaning her from the full chai to the mostly milk chai to just plain milk. To this day, whether it really includes chai or not, we call her morning milk “chai”.
We still love a genuine full-bodied chai (hot or cold) when it is time for a treat. To add a little more protein, vitamin E and magnesium, we crush a few almonds in a mortar and pestle to put in the bottom of the glass, as my friend Yoana taught me to do. Note that this is very, very popular with two-year-olds, and most likely with little brothers everywhere.
Here are both the dairy and non-dairy versions of our special drink:
Mira’s Masala Chai
*1 star anise
*6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle or the back of a knife
*12 whole cloves
*1 long cinnamon stick (3-inch piece) or 2 shorties
*a quarter-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
*6 black peppercorns
*4 cups water for the dairy version/7 cups water for the non-dairy, version
*2-3 T. Darjeeling tea
*1/4 c. light brown sugar
*1 t. vanilla
*3 cups milk for dairy version/alternate milk to taste for non dairy (almond, soy, rice, oat)
*handful of almonds for each chai drinker
In a medium saucepan, combine the star anise, cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves, ginger, peppercorns, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue to let boil for 5 minutes. Add the tea, stir, cover, and take off the heat to steep for about 10 minutes.
For the dairy version, add the milk to the pot and bring the mixture just up to a boil. Remove from the heat, stirring.
Strain the mixture, discard the spices and tea leaves. Stir in the brown sugar and vanilla. For the non-dairy version, add milk to taste.
Using a mortar and pestle, a spice grinder or a big plastic sealed bag and a rolling pin, crush the almond to a powder. Place these in the bottom of the glass before pouring the chai on top.
Serve immediately or cool and chill in the fridge to iced chai.
Our cooking class needed a vegetarian lunch dish to power up before devouring our chocolate salami. When I consulted my friend Roberta, she suggested rice and beans, a staple of the Brazilian diets.
How fortunate! It is also a staple of our diet and a favorite of the Yummies. Is there anyone who doesn’t love rice and beans or eat them in some form? What is the Brazilian version?
Well, now, I am pretty sure that I will be immediately called out by the Brazilians on this one. This dish might be more appropriately called “Brazilian Rice and Beans via New York” since we took out the the bacon that is supposed to be included and added the carrots to the beans. Come to think of it, the beans are pretty much whatever we decided they needed to be with the only known Brazilian influence being the bay leaf. I was all set to add sage since Roberta swore that is what all Brazilians add. I chopped it up and left it there on the cutting board to add at the end.
By the time I got back to the board, the sage had been tossed out by Roberta’s mom. It was lost in translation, apparently, since Sonia said she had never even heard of adding sage to her beans. So, we’ll leave that call up to you.
Whatever you decide, these are hearty and the perfect warm up dish before delving into serious holidays sweets.
Brazilian Rice and Beans (with a TYM twist)
For the Rice:
*2/3 finely diced onion
*pinch of salt
*2 T. olive oil
*1 c. rice
*2 c. water
Big Person: Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Throw in the onions. Saute till the onions turn golden, 10-12 minutes.
Add the rice and cook, stirring, till the rice absorbs the oil and becomes translucent. Add the water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the rice is soft but not mushy.
For the Beans:
*6 c. black beans (or pintos), cooked or canned
*2 teaspoons cumin
*salt, to taste
*a bay leave
*2 T. olive oil or butter
*1 1/2 c. grated carrots
*1 small onion, chopped
*2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
Together: In a large bowl, stir together the black beans, the carrots, the cumin, and the salt (start with one teaspoon of salt and add more to taste at the end). Add the bay leaf (whole).
Big Person: Warm the oil or butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and saute till translucent. Add the garlic and, stirring, saute a minute longer. Pour in the bean mixture and cook down until most of the water evaporates. Discard the bay leaf. Season to taste.
Serve a scoop of beans over a bed of rice and enjoy.