Christmas Balls

Being a Half-Jew , Half-Catholic (just like Robert DeNiro and Christopher Columbus!), I’ve always taken a rather cavalier attitude towards both Christmas and the High Holidays. Of course, the high point of both revolves around food, whether it’s pink ham or challah bread.

My fellow half-Jew friend Bethany and I recently attended the Beloit College Alumni Matzo Ball Eating Contest at Ben’s Deli in NY. We were both shocked be the yellow-yellow color of their balls – much more colorful than my aunt’s bullion instructions could possibly account for. When pressed, the chef admitted they added yellow food coloring for the extra effect. Why, I don’t know – I personally don’t like my Hanukkah feast to look like urine, but to each his own I guess.

Anyway, it gave us the great idea pictured above and below. Since Hanukkah is already over, we made our matzo balls Christmas-y, with red and green food coloring. I have to admit, Beth was the chef, I was mostly just creative director, and we followed my aunt’s recipe, which worked superbly. Full disclosure: we bypassed the chicken fat, and everything seemed to still work OK. Obviously, ES officially endorses the chicken fat version.

I also made some tasty latkes, following the recipe from the Notorious K.O.D.

Below, the super-colorful balls, cut open, for full effect.