Dinner is ready. The seventh candle is lit with a blessing. And then it’s ready, set, go. But get the flowers out of the way–we need room for reaching long distances.    Blogfinger.net photo. December 12, 2015

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

We light a candle  (an electric one–it’s the miracle of JCP&L) every night for eight times, but we all, immediate family,  get together  on one night only for a lovely meal including the traditional potato latkes (pancakes.)  The latkes are fried with oil, a traditional nod to the miracle of the oil that is recalled at Hanukkah time.

We decided to replace Eileen’s 30 year old food processor, so we went to fine stores everywhere in the Grove  (Shrewsbury) and visited Eileen’s favorite store Williams-Sonoma.  The idea was that we wouldn’t have to grate the potatoes by hand anymore  (ie to abandon a multi-generational tradition.) But, when push came to grate, our son #1 did his usual thing—–to grate them using a box grater; his challenge was not to bloody his knuckles.  When she made her latkes she fried them in a stove top pan in about 1/8 inch of canola oil.

Williams-Sonoma in the Grove. No man should go there alone (without a woman guide)   The guy in the photo just spent over $900.00. He was babbling.   Blogfinger photo 12/12/15.

There are many recipes and traditions regarding how to make latkes.  Eileen made her’s small  (diameter about 2 inches) thin and crusty–browned around the edges—- for the ultimate crispiness.

On the menu were Stilton cheese, crackers, guacamole (in honor of our Aztec ancestors) and chopped chicken liver with eggs and onions for appetizers  (you either love the liver or hate it.)  For dinner there was a fine salad with a new feature—cabbage for crunch.  Then she served roast chicken, skirt steak grilled on the stove top  (my job was to measure the temperature of the meat), grilled asparagus, latkes just out of the pan—- served with applesauce, home made cranberry sauce, and an Italian bread.

For dessert there was a chocolate fudge cake from Wegmans and 2 flavors of ice cream  (mocha fudge and chocolate chip mint.)  Also s’mores from Williams-Sonoma.    And coffee and herbal tea.

Then were gifts: some clothing, a Blue tooth wireless speaker, gift certificates, some booze, and a snazzy wine carrier.

Next year we’ll do it again.  But now Eileen has to figure out what to do with her new Cuisinart.

DEBBIE DAVIS and MATT PERRINE   “Hannukah in Santa Monica”