Happy Hanukkah!
ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 17, 2011
We are not Jewish, but over the years we have been blessed to know many Jewish friends. When we were first married, we moved to New Jersey. Some of the first people we met there were our friends Max and Jamie, an Italian-Jewish-African American couple whose passion for good food and good times matched our own. They gave us the following brisket recipe in 1996 and we’ve been making it ever since and I think of them fondly every time we do. Accompanying the brisket recipe is a recipe for Latkes, a potato pancake, which we actually make frequently throughout the year because we love them so much. And of course, this post contains a coordinating craft to go along with it. It’s truly the whole package for you!
Max and Jamie sent this recipe to us in 1998 after we had moved back to New England. It’s not perfectly measured out, a lot of winging it, but it’s worth it! I do not have a photograph of this meal because I have not made it since I started this blog in September but I promise that the next time we make it, I will take and post photos.
HANUKKAH BRISKET
INGREDIENTS
One brisket
one medium to large onion
several carrots
a few cans of tomato sauce
DIRECTIONS
1) First chop the onion and cook it a bit in a big pot with a bit of oil (vegetable, corn, canola, whatever)
2) Put the brisket in the pot with the onion and brown it on both sides.
3) Add one can of water for each can of tomato sauce until the brisket is covered. The number of cans varies depending on the size of the can. Let the brisket cook in the liquid for one hour.
4) After about 45 minutes add the carrots (cut into medium sized pieces) to the pot. (Jamie wrote: I usually add about 3-4 carrots. You don’t want to add too many or the sauce will take on too much of a carrot flavor.)
5) After the hour is up, take the brisket out of the pot and slice it. Either with or against the grain works fine, whatever you prefer.
6) Put the brisket back into the pot and cook for another half hour.
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mmmmm…latkes!
LATKES
Elizabeth actually brought this recipe home from second grade in 2010 and I enjoy using it, it’s an easy one, although we’ve used several others in the past.
INGREDIENTS
3 large potatoes, grated
1 small onion, grated
2 beaten eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Heat half a cup of oil in a frying pan.
Drop a tablespoonful of the potato mixture in the pan.
Fry until the pancake is brown and crispy on the edges.
Turn and fry on the other side.
Drain the latkes on a paper towel.
Some people enjoy sour cream with their potato pancakes, others enjoy applesauce with theirs. I am an applesauce girl all the way, and I’m including my super-simple homemade applesauce recipe below, but see which you prefer!
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Homemade applesauce makes a perfect topping for latkes!
HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE
There are so many homemade applesauce recipes out there, and I’ve used a few of them, including a great crockpot recipe which makes a huge amount. But, for a meal like this, I’d use my usual go-to recipe that I of course, learned from my mom when we were growing up.
INGREDIENTS
1 three pound bag of apples (like Cortland or Macintosh) peeled and sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup water
THAT’S IT!!
DIRECTIONS
Peel them, slice them, throw them in the pan, dump in the water and cinnamon stick.
Wait til it boils, which happens quickly, and then simmer for 20 minutes. Mash them and eat!
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Here are the handprint Menorahs my girls made with Caroline last weekend
HANUKKAH CRAFT FOR KIDS
Caroline recently decided to do this craft with her sisters after she saw it in a Highlights magazine. I thought it was so cute and perfect to post with today’s recipes. It’s super easy and her sisters really enjoyed it. They also went online and looked up what real menorahs looked like, while doing their own version of them.
For this craft you need:
one sheet of white paper
two hands for hand prints
one ink pad (I recommend water based ink)
one sheet of yellow construction paper for flames
scissors and glue sticks
The Whole bag of Chips 
love the little hand paintings, so cute!