Hanukkah Food and Celebration Details

Hanukkah is a celebration of the Jewish victory over a tyrant king and a rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Jews fought for freedom and reclaimed their holy temple; in order to rededicate it, they needed to light the menorah, but only had enough oil for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration to commemorate the eight-day miracle.

It’s traditional on Hanukkah to pay homage to the miraculous oil by eating foods fried in oil! That means delicious latkes, which are fried potato pancakes, and sweet jelly doughnuts.
taken from https://nationaltoday.com/hanukkah/#how-to 

What do you know about Hanukkah?  I'm just learning about it.

There are a very good step by step instructions and videos here: 
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hanukkah-candle-lighting-ceremony/

Celebrating Hanukkah this year

We are celebrating Hanukkah this year. In years past we have done a recreation of the Passover with our children to help them better understand the Jewish customs, traditions and the Bible.  As we prepare to spend an entire year studying the Old Testament at church and week day religious classes (Seminary), we're doing our best to better understand this celebration.

The following text is taken directly from this source:  https://nationaltoday.com/hanukkah/#how-to

I just added three headings to help pace readers.

The Background:

Around 200 B.C., Judea — which is modern-day Israel/Palestine — came under the control of Antiochus III, the Seleucid king of Syria, who allowed the Jews who lived there to continue practicing their religion. His son, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, proved less benevolent. Ancient sources recount that he outlawed the Jewish religion and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods.

In 168 B.C., Antiochus IV Epiphanes soldiers descended upon Jerusalem, massacring thousands of people and desecrating the city’s holy Second Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs within its sacred walls.

Led by the Jewish priest Mattathias and his five sons, a large-scale rebellion broke out against Antiochus and the Seleucid monarchy. When Matthathias died in 166 B.C., his son Judah, known as Judah Maccabee — ‘the Hammer — took the helm. Within two years the Jews had successfully driven the Syrians out of Jerusalem, relying largely on guerilla warfare tactics. The revolts turned out to be a success, and the Jews regained the rights to practice their religion in their temples.

The Cleansing and Miracle:

In order to do so, Judah called on his followers to cleanse the temple and light a menorah with oil that had been blessed by the high priest all night every night until the new altar could be built over the old one.

This is the gold candelabrum whose seven branches represented knowledge and creation and was meant to be kept burning every night. But, there was only one flask of oil left that would only last for one night. They lit it anyway and it stayed lit for eight days, the amount of time needed to press new oil.

According to the Talmud, one of Judaism’s most central texts, Judah Maccabee and the other Jews who took part in the rededication of the Second Temple witnessed what they believed to be a miracle. Even though there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for a single day, the flames continued flickering for eight nights, leaving them time to find a fresh supply. This wondrous event inspired the Jewish sages to proclaim a yearly eight-day festival.

Biblical reference:

The story of Hanukkah does not appear in the Torah because the events that inspired the holiday occurred after it was written. It is, however, mentioned in the New Testament, in which Jesus attends a ‘Feast of Dedication.’

NEXT POST: Food and Celebration details

Easy Sugar free Oatmeal Pie Crust

Easy Oatmeal Pie Crust

Note: this is what I used for the Banana Cream Pie shown in my post dated 4/4/18.

1 c oats

1/3 c coconut or almond flour

1-2 T stevia blend

1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt

1/3 c coconut oil

Combine oats, flour, stevia, salt. 

Using pastry cutter, cut in the coconut oil until the mixture is crumbly.

Press firmly on the bottom and sides of a lightly greased 9" pie plate.

 Bake at 375 F for 13-15 min. or until crust is lightly browned.

Is the crust has slid at all, as the crust cools slightly, gently push the crust back up the sides of the pie plate.

Once it has cooled completely, fil lit with any desired cream filling.

Note: I made a double batch because my 9" pie pan is rather deep.

https://www.tastesoflizzyt.com/wprm_print/18388  is where you'll find the original recipe I tweaked for my own use.

Pumpkin Nog

 original recipe by yours truly...

Pumpkin Nog 

2 c unsweetened almond milk, 

1 c coconut milk (no substitutes - use Thai organic) 

1 c pumpkin 

1/4 tsp each- cloves, ginger, nutmeg, pink Himalayan salt, and monk fruit 

Blend. Enjoy!!

Missing Pesto? Try this - Gremolata

Okay - so I've been really missing my pesto sauce.  And I don't do dairy anymore.  So I found this!  So, so good.  I did add a T of olive oil, though.  Felt like it needed that....

https://cookieandkate.com/gremolata-recipe/ 

Make classic Italian gremolata with this super simple recipe! Chopped parsley, lemon zest and garlic combine to make the perfect fresh garnish. Recipe yields about ¾ cup gremolata.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (about ¾ cup chopped)
• Zest from 1 medium lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced

• INSTRUCTIONS

  1. To prepare the parsley, wash and pat it dry with a clean tea towel (wet parsley will make your gremolata clumpy).
  2. Using a sharp chef’s knife, slice off the thick parsley stems and discard them. Finely chop the parsley (thin stems are fine to include). Transfer the chopped parsley to a small serving bowl.
  3. Add the lemon zest and garlic clove. Stir to combine. Gremolata is best served fresh. It will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.

  NOTES

  CHANGE IT UP: So many options! Substitute another variety of citrus, such as orange or lime. Try turning it into a sauce by mixing in olive oil and salt, to taste. Add toasted pine nuts or grated Parmesan, if desired. While unconventional, I bet a cilantro and lime combination would be very good with Mexican meals.

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe (Instant Pot)

Found a great Instant Pot tomato sauce recipe for my fresh garden tomatoes.  No need to peel or take seeds out.  I added 2 tsp cumin and used the white ends of 3 green onions in my recipe.  But other than that, I stuck to what you see below...

Enjoy!

Tip: Grating the garlic while it's frozen is a great way to get small pieces easily.

 https://confessionsofafitfoodie.com/fresh-tomato-sauce-instant-pot/print/12486/

Ingredients

SCALE

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

6 cups of fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped (grape/cherry can stay whole)

1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped or or 4–5 baby carrots

1 (6 oz.) can of tomato paste

2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (can sub 1 tsp dried)

salt & pepper, to taste

(optional) dried oregano & parsley (start with 1 tsp then add more if desired)

---

Instructions

1. Set Instant Pot to saute and add olive oil.  Once hot, add onion and cook until translucent.
2. Add garlic and saute 1 additional minute.
3. Add tomatoes and carrots to pot and give everything a good stir.  No need to add water, the tomatoes make plenty of their own liquid during cooking.
4. Lock lid and set Instant Pot to manual/pressure cook for 20 minutes. When cook time is up allow the pot to NPR for at least 10 minutes.  (You can also let the pot completely NPR, but if in a rush 10 minutes will work!)
5. Add 1/3c.- 1/2 c. tomato paste (this will act as your thickener- so use more for thicker sauce and less for thinner sauce)
6. Use an immersion blender to blend sauce until smooth.  Then add chopped basil and give it a stir.  Add salt, pepper, and other seasonings, to taste.
7. Note: due to the fresh tomatoes, this sauce will be on the thinner side. If sauce is too thin for your liking, you can put instant pot on saute to thicken it a little bit.

Jenna's Peach Jam

The easiest way to process fruit is by making jam. The first few steps are the same as if you were to bottle the fruit. But the rest is easier in my book. And you don't have to put the jars through the hot water boiling bath (in the canner) at the end. You can flip the jars over and they'll seal!

Equipment and supplies - large stock pot, 6-8 c large Tupperware for cold bath, blender, cutting board, sharp knife (I like steak knives for this job), dishcloth, ladle, 1 c measuring cup, 4 c pyrex, 1-2 c pyrex, small bowl or Tupperware, wooden spoon, small pan with lid.

opt: specialized canning supplies: magnet jar lifter, home canning funnel.  If you don't have these, you can make due with two spoons and your 4 c pyrex.

9 - 8 oz jars (or 4 qt jars), 9 rings and 9 new unused seals.

Jenna's Peach Jam 

makes 8 cups jam (abt. 9 - 8 oz jars

4 c ground peaches

5 c white granulated sugar

1 orange - juice and peel

Opt: 1/2 c cut up maraschino cherries or dried cranberries

1 - 3 oz pkg cherry (or orange) jello

Note: 4-5 peaches (depending on the size of the peach) will make the 4 c ground peaches needed. 

Prep - Wash jars and rings in warm soapy water; rinse with warm water. Or if they're new jars, run in a rinse cycle of the dishwasher and keep there until needed. Put a small pan on the opposite back burner and fill with 1/3 water. Do nothing else for now with that pot of water. 

Prepare a cold water bath (6-8 c. container 1/3rd water, plus ice so it's filled no more than 1/2).

Instructions for Jam:

• Get a large pot on a front burner of the stove filled half full with water.  Turn stove on to high and get it to boiling.
  
  
  
• Slice orange up and blend the whole thing in the blender (making sure there are no seeds in the blender) or carefully squeeze the juice out and dice the peel in very small pieces.  Keep in a small pyrex (the spout is helpful for pouring later).
  
  
  
• Opt: Chop (into fine dice) sweetened cranberries or maraschino cherries.  Keep in small bowl for later.
• Wash the peaches in cold water.
• Place washed fruit into boiling water for 45 seconds (8-10 at a time).  You should be able to easily pull skins off once they've cooled in next step.
• Place par boiled fruit in cold water bath.
• Peel and quarter fruit, taking pits out.  
  
  
  

At this point, there is no difference in the instructions for bottled fruit and jam.  This is where things get different...

• Place fruit into blender and blend well. 
  
  
  
• Empty and rinse the pan you used to par boil the peaches. 
• Pour the 4 c. of ground peaches into that pan.
• If you are using the whole orange, pour a little of the ground peaches into the blender to grind up all of the pulp better.
• Add the 5 c. sugar and stir well in the pan.
• Add the orange peel and juice.
• Place on stove and turn on to 6-7.
• Using a wooden spoon, stir every 1.5-2 min making sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
  
  
  
• Once it's boiling, drop heat down to 4 and boil for 15 minutes. Keep stirring.
• Optional - add maraschino cherries or sweetened cranberries.
• Boil an additional 5 minutes, whether or not you add the cherries or cranberries.
• Turn on the dishwasher with your jars and rings - on quick rinse.  You're getting them up to the boiling temperature of the jam so they don't crack.
  
  
  
• Add the jello - mixing with a whisk to blend.  
• Time to get the water in that small pan up to boiling. This is to soften the sealing lids. Turn on the back burner to high. Bring to a boil.  You'll need to boil the lids face down for 7 min.
  
  
  
• Bring the jam back up to a boil.
• Get the jars ready on a dishcloth.  Rings should be nearby and upside down - ready for  softened tops.
  
  
  
• Ladle jam immediately into the prepared jars, filling to within 1/8-inch from the tops. 
• Wipe jar rims and threads with a wet paper towel.  Use a clean section for each jar.  Any sticky residue will keep the jars from sealing. 
• Place each softened lids on individual rings.
  
  
  
• Cover with lids and rings; screw bands tightly.
• Turn upside down and don't touch for 2-3 hours.
• Then and only then check the cooled jars.  If they've sealed, they can sit on your shelf.  If not, refrigerate.