Eva asked me the other day "Can we celebrate Hanukkah?"

[conuly]

"Well, sweetie, you know we're not Jewish, right? I was planning to make potato pancakes and call it a miracle."

"But we celebrate Christmas and we're not Christian."

"That is different for vague reasons I don't care to specify."

"Well, what if I want to be Jewish?"

"Then I'll sign you up for Hebrew school. The local reform synagogue has free classes for everybody."

Then we went home, and I made potato pancakes, and Eva didn't like them. Sheesh.

Also, I have FOUND the trick to never having potato pancakes or meatballs or fish patties ever fall apart. Two teaspoons chia seeds to a bowl of stuff-to-be-fried, let sit for 10 minutes, and it works wonders. You can do this as your binder, but I've just been adding it to my existing recipes.

*****

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Comments

[redbird]

Hanukkah is in some ways a weirder holiday for non-Jews to celebrate than other Jewish holidays, since it's about resisting assimilation. How would she feel about those candle-shaped ornamental lamps that they sell for Christmas decorations?

[conuly]

You know, that's when the cashier said their onigiri was ready, so I didn't hear what she finds so appealing about the holiday! Maybe it's the appeal of eight days worth of gifts, in which case, I hate to break it to her but I don't think that it's eight days of really great gifts unless you're really wealthy. It's got to be, like, days one and eight are nice gifts and days two through seven are pajamas and undies, right?

[redbird]

I think the appeal is partly the candles at a dark time of year, and partly that it's a chance to unwrap a bunch of small things, even if one day it's a chocolate bar. Or maybe she just liked the idea of the special holiday food, before she figured out that she didn't like latkes.

(I only remember my parents doing the gift-every-day once, I think for the reasons you mention.)

[conuly]

and partly that it's a chance to unwrap a bunch of small things, even if one day it's a chocolate bar.

I got them Fair Trade Advent calendars one year, and they ate all their chocolates on the third. Which was their own silly faults, and I don't know why they blamed me for it.

[siderea]

Maybe somebody told her about sufganiot?

[conuly]

I'll ask her what she meant today, after she and her sister get back from Nutcracker with their dad.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Chia seed trick sounds brilliant; thanks!

Why did Eva want to celebrate Hanukkah? Did she say?

I adore 'How To Tell The Birds From The Flowers'!

Very glad I'm not the only one who hates tedious Elmo, for all the reasons.

[conuly]

No, she didn't! I have no idea why, her onigiri appeared right at that moment.

Everybody hates Elmo, I think.

This comment is terse, because while typing it I got struck with a 30 second headache that was quite possibly the most excruciating pain I've ever been in that wasn't caused by injury or illness.