Are we supposed to eat Latkes for 8 days???

Happy Chanukah!....
Some spell it Hanukkah, but now that I am married to Chaim, anything with a "hu'gh" sound with forever be spelled with a CH.

Trying to get with the spirit of my new borrowed holiday, I took out our new menorah, given to us by Pat and Mia. (We had put two of them on our gift registry thinking that we could use them all year round as candelabras, but since Mia works at the Skirball Center in LA, they probably were on to us, and only got us one from the Jewish Museum gift shop).

It's great to be able to begin using our wedding gifts for our home. The only candles I could unearth were the two packs of Manischewitz Shabbat candles I had bought years ago for the 9-11 emergency kit. Since the cans of Dinty Moore beef stew had been consumed, the candles were the only things left in the kit, so I figured this would be a good time to use them up as well. Only, I learned that Shabbat candles and Chanukah candles are different sizes and burn different lengths. Chanukah candles are much smaller so I had to shave off the bottom inch of the Shabbat candles to fit them into our new menorah. I stated shaving and filled all 9 candle holders, only to be told that you are only supposed to place only the candle you are burning into the menorah. Stubbornly I left them all in and so the first candle began to melt the second night's light, so tomorrow will be a little shorter festival of light.

I came home tonight with three potatoes and 4 beets thinking to make some Latkes for Chaim, in honor of the holiday. For some reason, I had in my mind that beets had something to do with this holiday..... I didn't have any chicken shmaltz, so I used a mixture of olive and vegetable oil. In addition, I added some of the fresh sage from Jill and Aaron's garden. The last batch, I shredded some beets and we put a little bit of wasabi on them (we didn't have any horseradish) for an interesting twist. Chaim and I both wanted apple sauce on the latkes instead of sour cream, so I sent him out to the Dynasty to get some. On his way out started chanting "pork chops and apple" sauce to myself, something from an old Brady Bunch episode, and 15 minutes later, Chaim returned with the apple sauce and some pork chops, telling me that this is not really kosher.

So this is what I learned today:
Beside the fact that you are only supposed to put the candles you are lighting in the menorah, the 9th candle is called the shamas, and this one lights all the other candles. And unlike the punk sparkler you use to light fireworks, this candle stays lit the whole time the other candles are lit, so just like taking antibiotics, on the first night you take two and light both. I also learned that since Chanukah candles are smaller, you are not supposed to use them for the Sabbath, since the burn time is much shorter. Therefore, our Menorah candles are actually on for way too long according to the family Jew. But I say we are just having a deluxe first Chanukah in our new Woodside home.

My only question is, are we supposed to eat latkes for the next seven nights???????