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???????
Also in the back ground is his new chair given to him by uncle Henry.
The second sweater is more of a lounging type garment. Actually it looks like he should have a pipe in his mouth when wearing this.
Yesterday Chaim turned on the furnace to test it, making sure it was in perfect working order before it really got cold. I built a radiator cover for Hiro Hanani's room so we wouldn't get burned when the heat kicked on. When we heard the hissing and the smell of heat, Hiro Hanani crawled over to the new radiator cover and began to sniff it.
Last year, right after Hiro Hananni was born, we discovered National Guacamole Day, but were too elated from having a new baby in our midst as well as just being too sleep deprived to celebrate it.
He ended up drinking a lot of water with the meal, but did love the black beans and rice, which were perfect for him, since it came cold. Otherwise the meal was very good. I had the chille rellenos, and Chaim got the steak al la Mexicana, both very good, though Chaim had to add some of his own emergency chillie peppers kit that he still had in his bag from our trip to Japan. The margaritas were very good, though I really could have gone for a few more.
He starts out with really great form.
looking good
but then the water comes rushing into his face
but he keeps going back for more before he will turn the cup upside down.
Lots of assembly required...about two hours worth, to put together a pack and play for Baby H. A lot of cursing while looking at directions with pictures. "You'd think that since your life !#@$# depended on all this &#^@%# Velcro, the directions would be a bit more straight forward!"
At our baby care class, we learned how to hold the baby like a football, give baths, diaper and heard about a lot of products we should and should not use.
After going to see the insulin counselor, she made me feel more at ease with the whole process, when she showed me the sharpie-like pen I would be using every night. It also doesn't hurt at all, except when I sometimes put it in my thigh at the wrong angle. The first few weeks, there was not much difference in the morning fasting glucose levels, so slowly Dr. Sinha upped the dosage. This morning, finally I awoke and took a BG level of 77. Yippee.
At this time of year, you can often find me kneeling by the printer, but this year I've been spending time around our new Thermador PRG 304 Professional hearth where it is warm and cozy. We have no tree, no twinkling lights and the only Christmas music is heard by me or Chaim singing "Happy Birthday Micky Jesus".
We exchanged gifts, even though we said we wouldn't buy into the commercial hype. I got an electric toothbrush, a gift that may at first seem very unromantic, but in the end, it's about taking care of one's health, so it turns into a loving gesture. And I got Chaim a sample kit of popcorn; 8 different kinds of popcorn with some coconut oil (which is like 98% saturated fat) and movie spices. It's called the Amish country popcorn kit, and we wondered what coconut oil has anything to do with the Amish.
Today's appropriate Times story is titled "A Holiday Medley, Off Key", where they discuss multi-religious and interfaith couples. The article lists examples of many Jewish families that have Christmas Trees, and most families try to balance out their separate religions and try to have an equal amount of decorations strung up around the house.
Oh and by the way, a Babka update. The dough finally rose after about 8 hours, and this morning I kneaded and twisted it into a nice sticky mess, and placed it into the oven to bake for 45 minutes just like the recipe called for. And much to my surprise, it is actually good. Chaim says "wow this is the real deal!, it tastes like it was made by a women who wears a wig". It doesn't look as good as the picture in the times, and I think it tastes like coffee cake.
Well actually no presents were exchanged but I won my first game of Dreidel. I won a whole $3.00. It was a short game in that on the second spin, when it was my turn to call the ante, I went all in, because my wrist hurt, and won the pot when Chaim landed on the shin letter, and he couldn't put one in.
Happy Chanukah!....
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.
Recycling pick up on our block happens on Mondays and Thursdays, and often lands on a National holiday; Memorial day, etc...
