Chanukah sameach (and the Pumpkin Latke Recipe)!

-
His mother’s favorite of his pieces was the elaborate Chanukah menorah with the rampant Lion of Judah he’d made when he first started crafting his own designs. The holder for the shammes that lit the oil in the eight other lamps leaned in slightly, but she swore she would have it no other way.

“It’s eager to perform its task,” she’d say every year with a smile as his father lit the first light.

--[WIP] Untitled Chanukah historical novella

Happy Hanukkah! Chanukah Sameach! No matter how you say it (or spell it) the Festival of Lights is a special time around the world. In the Northern Hemisphere the Jews gather at the darkest time of the year to kindle small flames in the cold night, while in the Southern Hemisphere they wait...and wait...and wait for sundown to light the chanukah menorah (and have a cookout at the beach). Regardless of how it's celebrated, the festival commemorates the victory of the weak over the strong, the small against the mighty, and faith in the face of tyranny and oppression.

This year I made a special Sephardi treat, pumpkin pancakes (aka latkes). They're fried in oil as so much of the food is for the holiday, and offered the members of my family allergic to gluten and dairy an alternative to the more traditional sufganiyot, jelly doughnuts. By request, here's the recipe:




SEPHARDI CHANUKAH PUMPKIN LATKES

1 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 cup 1:1 substitute Gluten Free flour (Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour both offer a brand)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
oil for frying


1. combine all ingredients into a thick batter

2. heat oil in skillet

3. drop tablespoons full of batter into oil. When bubbles begin to form in batter, turn latkes and cook until golden brown

4. serve hot

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you have permission to waltz?

-
Image
"Would you care to dance as well?” Light-footed Captain St. Armand was standing behind Daphne, smiling down at her, but before she could answer Alexander said, “Mrs. Murray was about to favor me with a dance, Captain St. Armand.” “I was?” “Indeed you were,” Alexander said, helping Daphne to her feet. She cocked her head to the side, listening to the music. “That music is in waltz time, Dr. Murray. Do you know the waltz? It is my favorite!” “Then it will be my favorite also.” Daphne looked up at him as he took her into his arms, a quizzical grin on her face. “What a charming thing to say, Dr. Murray! I vow, you are becoming quite the gallant.” Alexander said nothing to this, concentrating on the music. Yes, he'd waltzed when ashore. On occasion he'd been invited to balls and assemblies, even a surgeon being a useful man to have when the navy was expected to provide gentlemen at entertainments. But he'd never felt the music, the dance had never mattered so mu...
Read more
-
Image
HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION Worldcon (Denvention3) was fantastic. I arrived Wednesday in plenty of time for my 4:00 panel, Survival Tips for New Writers. The other panelists were David Coe and this year's Campbell Award winner, Mary Robinette Kowal, and along with the audience I picked up tips from them on how to improve my work habits. On Thursday I had a full day of panels. How do Ebooks Change Writing--an Ebook Writing Primer was intriguing, and moderator Dave Howell worked hard to keep us focused on the topic and not wandering off into weird ebook stories. We talked about interactive ebooks with hyperlinks, but also about how many readers seem content with ebooks simply being an exact copy of a print book delivered through different media. Aaaargh! The Pirate Panel was just what you might expect from the title, an exploration of why we like pirates so much, and where pirate history and mythology collide. The other panelists--David Riley, MistyMassey and Linda Donoh...
Read more
-
Book Reviews--Dearly Devoted Dexter Dearly Devoted Dexter Jeff Lindsay 2005, Doubleday Dexter Morgan, the serial killer who only takes out the trash, is back in a novel that picks up where Darkly Dreaming Dexter ended. In that first novel we learned how Dexter’s foster father saw early what the boy was and channeled his social quirks into a more acceptable outlet. Oh, Dexter still likes to torture people to death–that will never change–but thanks to his cop dad Dexter has a mission–to only use his talents on really, really bad people. Specifically, other serial killers. Dexter works for the Miami PD as a blood spatter specialist and he cheerfully goes through his life, as he puts it, pretending to be human and letting his dark friend come out to play every now and then. Dexter’s sister is a Miami cop and while she has a pretty good idea what he’s up to, she leaves him alone to do his thing. The problem is, Dexter’s doing a little too good a job of passing for human. So much so that t...
Read more