Sugar Plums (c) jfhaugen

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah!

Sugar Plums (c) jfhaugen

From My Kitchen to Yours

Whoa, what a most wonderful time of year! Colorful lights brighten our long winter nights and Christmas songs play in most every store, elevatorCarl Larsson Brita as Iduna and mall. (I know this first-hand as a friend and I have just begun “mall-walking.” And this time of year, mall-walking is to the beat of a wide variety of Christmas tunes.) Most of the time I don’t listen, yet my head still fills up with music, rhyme, Santa Claus and jingle bells.

Here are some lyrics that I do listen to and sing along with whenever they play. They’re from the last verse of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day:

And the bells they’re ringing
Like a choir they’re singing
And with our hearts we hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men
Do you hear the bells they’re ringing?
Delight the angels singing
Open up your heart and hear them
Peace on earth, Good will to men
Peace on earth, Peace on earth,
Peace on earth, Good will to men.

I don’t seem to hear or know many Hanukkah songs, so I am pleased toPublic Menorah in Denetsk, Ukraine photo by Andrew Butko share this creative take on The Twelve Nights of Christmas entitled The Eight Nights of Hanukkah. You can easily work backwards from this last line to fill in the other seven nights 😉

On the eighth night of Hanukkah, someone sent to me, eight fiddlers fiddling, seven rabbis dancing, six grandmas cooking, five kosher dills, four pounds of corned beef, three golden latkes, two matzoh balls, and a warm bagel topped with cream cheese.

However you celebrate, may it be delicious in every way!

Warm wishes I send to you for a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah. I hope you enjoy every moment as you prepare gifts of food from your heart and kitchen for friends and family. It has been so very much fun sharing these recipes with you and hearing from you that they have been delicious and well received.

Enjoy the holidays and look forward to some new recipes next week including a most festive and tasty Roasted Vegetable & Lentil Salad for both good fortune and good health in the New Year.

Happy Holidays to You!

2 thoughts on “Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah!”

  1. Happy Holidays! I am baking the Cranberry Apple crostata for the second time today. We enjoyed the first one, baked after Thanksgiving, so much. It had just the right amount of sweetness and tartness and was easy to make. This time I will make sure that the filling has completely cooled before pouring onto the crust and folding up the edges. You can imagine what happened!! With the filling slowly flowing towards the edge of the pastry circle my husband helped me lift the whole thing into a quickly grabbed pie dish. I was then able to fold up the pastry and bake. It came out of the oven looking surprisingly beautiful!! Thanks so much for this and all of the other recipes.
    Bernice

    1. You are most welcome, Bernice. That was some pretty quick thinking on the part of you and your husband to save your last crostata, well done!. So that this doesn’t happen to anyone else I just edited the recipe to read till “completely” cool. May today’s crostata be just as delicious and even easier to make and perhaps you’ll take a picture and send it to me. Have a most wonderful day!

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