Hanukkah -

by Borracho

Top 10 Holiday Song Food Shout-outs

Around this time of year, we start seeing food everywhere. Who are we kidding? We see food everywhere all the time. But during the holidays we hear it everywhere, too! Have you ever noticed how much of holiday songs are about food? We have. And here’s a list of our Top 10 favorite holiday song food shout-outs, with a recipe to match for each.

Click the pics for recipes and assorted goodness.

10. The Christmas Song: Roast Chestnuts

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos”

9. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree: Pumpkin Pie

“Rocking around the Christmas Tree
Let the Christmas Spirit ring
Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie
and we’ll do some caroling”

8. Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah: Latkes

“Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, come light the menorah
Let’s have a party, we’ll all dance the hora
Gather round the table, we’ll give you a treat
Dreidels to play with and latkes to eat”

7. Let it Snow: Popcorn

“It doesn’t show signs of stopping
And I’ve bought some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

Hanukkah: A Celebration of Oil

Growing up I hated it when Hanukkah and Christmas didn’t overlap. It reminded me how different I was in such a Christian country. Sure, I received presents first, but by the time my Jesus-following friends ripped open their gifts of My Little Pony and bikes and, lets be honest, socks, I forgot about my equally as lame cool gear.

But as my brother and sister and I moved out of the house, and as we all maintained different schedules, it no longer mattered when Hanukkah (its date determined by the Hebrew calendar) landed. We knew we’d all be home over Christmas, so that is when we exchanged gifts. In fact, it became our ritual to exchange on Christmas night — we knew all of our friends would be busy with their families.

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah. And I’d never been so happy to have the Festival of Lights occur this far from Christmas and this close to Thanksgiving.

Cue the mashed potatoes.

Playing with Perfection: Cilantro Latkes with Cranberry Miso Dip

I’m sure I’m not alone in sometimes feeling that the best things about Hanukkah are the potato latkes (even better than the gifts or the gelt)! Is there anything more perfect than the pairing of starchy crispy fried goodness of a hot-from-the-pan potato latke and the sweet cooling fruitiness of applesauce? Is there? This is the question I set out to answer on the second night of Hanukkah 2009. After all, what good is the culinary part of the commemoration of a struggle against oppression if we feel our creativity is chained by the bondage of how things have always been done?

Okay… really, to be absolutely truthful, I didn’t set out to make a political statement with my cooking this Hanukkah. It was actually Gansie who inspired me to play with the traditional Hanukkah fare: When I told Gansie that I was going to my parents’ house to make potato latkes, her first reaction was, “Any interesting dipping sauces you’re going to try?”

Well… I hadn’t thought on that… because why mess with perfection? But this is ES, and at ES we are nothing if not experimenters (and no, I wasn’t tempted to throw a fried egg on them, eat latkes ala Gansie and call it a day).

As Hanukkah came early this year, and Thanksgiving was still very much at the tip of my palate, I thought to inject the holiday with something slightly reminiscent of T-day flavor.

Enter cranberries, a fruit I believe we use all too seldom in non T-day festivities, and one I love to experiment with.