<p>I figure that anything fried works for Chanukah. </p>
<p>We’ve never made sufganiyot, but I am going to try some because for Thanksgivukkah they should definitely be filled with cranberry sauce. Not making latkes because they are really best fresh. Why settle for so-so latkes and all the stress of making them ahead of time and freezing them and then having to rewarm them when oven space is at a premium when you can have superlative mashed potatoes (which you can make ahead of time in a crockpot) with gravy on Thanksgivukkah and have excellent latkes the other 7 nights?</p>
<p>Working on Thanksgivvukah song lyrics.</p>
<p>Manischewitz wine is still horrible. Its main virtue is that it gets no less horrible when kept on the shelf, so there is always something in the house with which to make kiddush if needed.</p>
<p>This recipe makes a great cranberry applesauce!</p>
<p>6 Golden Delicious apples, unpeeled, cored and cut into 1/8’s
1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup apple cider
1 2-inch stick cinnamon
2 T packed brown sugar
Pinch nutmeg, to taste</p>
<p>In large saucepan combine apples, cranberries, cider and cinnamon stick and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover the pan, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until apples are very tender.</p>
<p>Remove the cinnamon stick, put the mixture in a food mill, and puree into a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar and nutmeg.</p>
<p>I’d like some help with that sweet potato kugel. Yes we are doing the Buzzfeed menu for the big day. Please advise! </p>
<p>1) Are the wide noodles necessary, or could I use whatever random pasta I have in the pantry?</p>
<p>2) Can I assemble the kugel on Wednesday, and then bake it on Thursday? </p>
<p>3) Assuming that I could keep hungry people from attacking it on Wednesday, is it something that I could bake on Wednesday and reheat on Thursday?</p>
<p>The sweet potato kugel looks awfully good and more festive than a regular kugel. I usually do an orange glazed sweet potato dish but getting tired of it. You can definitely do this the day before although I might then do the pecan/corn flake mix topping on day of so it doesn’t get too dried out. </p>
<p>Personally I wouldn’t be cooking my turkey in Manischevitz but Melissa Clark in this week’s NYTIMES dining does recommend a mixture of apple cider and white wine… </p>
<p>We will be doing traditional latkes as a Thanksgiving side dish… but I will think about this kugel myself. We are celebrating once again at our friend’s and there are about 14 or so for the gathering. Assignments to be handed out this week. In addition to Thanksgiving and Hanukkah… it is also birthday time for oldest d and DH with friend’s granddaughter right behind… so in addition to traditional pies, for us it is perhaps birthday cake or Carvel cake time.</p>
<p>Thanks! Baking early could really reduce the chaos on Thursday. No birthday cake fortunately - the cousins with the November birthdays are several states away.</p>
<p>Instead of raisins, play dreidl games with dried cranberries or craisins.</p>
<p>I once read that Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony used some Hebrew in his journal entries. Whoever finds it first gets free tickets for the Dec. 25 movie.</p>
<p>Bradford taught himself Hebrew and “his careful lettering and translations appear at the beginning of his account of Plymouth Colony’s founding and growth, Of Plymouth Plantation, and in his 1652 Third Dialogue.”</p>
<p>His monument in Plymouth (erected much later), where he is believed to be buried, has a Hebrew inscription.</p>
<p>My BIL is deep fat frying the turkey. Evidently he’s been experimenting with this and says that he has the timing/temp ratio down pat. We shall see…</p>
<p>I’ve made sweet potato latkes in the past, but frankly, we all preferred the traditional potato ones. So, I’ve never bothered to make them again. They aren’t bad - it’s just hard to beat a white potato latke.</p>
<p>For those of you who want to go this route or try something similar, but don’t want to make your own donuts (yeast dough + deep frying), try calling your local donut store to see if they’ll sell you donut shells aka unfilled jelly donuts.</p>
<p>There were no not-pre-brined turkeys available at Trader Joe’s, so our bird is in a spiced up low salt Maneschewitz & citrus marinade based on the original brine recipe from Buzzfeed. We managed to avoid eating all the challah, and what is left is drying in the oven for the stuffing. I pre-cooked the sweet potatoes for the kugel, and will assemble it tomorrow. I’m still not certain if I will bake it on Wed. or wait until Thurs. Can hardly wait to see just how purple the turkey will turn out to be!</p>
<p>I made the Buzzfeed sweet potato kugel today and just tasted it. I’m disappointed. It’s a decent enough kugel, but the sweet potato and bourbon favors were completely lost among the eggy/noodley/buttery/flavors, so I feel like the sweet potato component of my Thanksgiving dinner will be missing now. The only impact the sweet potato seemed to have was to color the kugel so it looks a lot like macaroni and cheese. Anyway, YMMV, but I thought I’d let you guys know my reaction in case anyone was still only contemplating making it. I also think the recipe wasn’t tested properly, because I didn’t have nearly enough sweet potato puree to make three cups. I ended up with only two and had to cut down the rest of the ingredients by a third to compensate (still made a ton of kugel). And you know what? I had already put the full amount of bourbon in when I realized I didn’t have enough sweet potato, but even so I couldn’t taste any bourbon impact in the final product. Maybe the lesson here is don’t get recipes from Buzzfeed!</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads-up on the kugel. Maybe I will up the sweet potato content a bit. And there’s no bourbon in my house anyway so it is sweet potato & rum instead.</p>
<p>The Buzzfeed rugelach exploded/leaked/collapsed a bit and I have rather handsome cookies surrounded by crunchy praline. One cookie sheet-worth leaked more than the other, so I suspect that batch may have had a thicker filling layer. Pretty tasty however.</p>
<p>Everyone else in the house fast asleep because they ran a half marathon in ridiculously cold weather this morning. Check.</p>
<p>Wanting them to wake up soon, but enjoying the quiet, watching the dog show on tv and reading cc. Check.</p>
<p>Happy that the first Chanukah present last night happened to be special warm, thin, merino base layer garments that came in very handy this morning. Double check.</p>
<p>H and I lit the Hannukah candle alone last night. Youngest D is headed down from school today. She will meet us at the in laws. S is in town but will meet us at the grandparents as well. Older D is working today. We will miss her but by working today she will get Tuesday off and will come down late on Saturday night for a few days.
I premade brisket(which I have not done before, hope it is good) and latkes and have them in the freezer. We will have one big meal with younger D and S on Saturday and another big meal with older D and S on Monday night. It’s not perfect but I’ll take it.</p>
<p>My book club had our holiday plan changed and they will all come to my house for the last night of Hannukah. Only 3 out of 10 are Jewish. It will be interesting. The plan is they will learn how to make latkes. We will listen to music and light the menorah. One friend is bringing driedels and gelt.
Does anyone have a favorite type of pan for frying latkes? I notice that they come out different in the cast iron skillet versus the non stick frying pan.
Happy Thanksgiving and Chanukah to all.</p>
<p>Those pecan-pie rugelach I was in such a panic about last night turned out to be the hit of the day. I can see that they will be a must-have for future Thanksgivings. The kugel turned out OK too, so we may try it again in the future as well. Many thanks to all of you for the cooking advice!</p>
Not making latkes because they are really best fresh. Why settle for so-so latkes and all the stress of making them ahead of time and freezing them and then having to rewarm them when oven space is at a premium when you can have superlative mashed potatoes (which you can make ahead of time in a crockpot) with gravy on Thanksgivukkah and have excellent latkes the other 7 nights?</p>