Hanukkah

This is one of my absolutely favorite things to give away at the holiday time. It makes a great gift, especially if given with a hand-thrown mug and one of those long, involved novels that are best read in January. (Armchair optional.) It’s also great to keep a few batches on hand as hostess or last-minute gifts.The beauty of this recipe is its flexibility. You can adjust any of the spices to your taste and even eliminate one altogether.

Growing up on the coast of Southern California, I was pretty far removed from my father’s native Brooklyn neighborhood. However my Mississippi-born mother made sure to close some of that distance with one delicious Jewish recipe she adapted from her mother-in-law. Savory noodle kugel is as comforting and cozy as it gets.Like all great casseroles, kugel has many variations, incarnations and riffs.

Making caramel sauce is simple, and additions of sea salt, lavender or even chilies take a basic sauce and make it into something special. This holiday season, I made mine boozy with an infusion of maple bourbon. Maple bourbon is the most popular flavor of bourbon on the market now with big guys like Jim Beam and Knob Creek topping the list of producers. It’s a sweeter style and works well in lots of hot cocktails, after dinner drinks and desserts.

I adore the weekend after Thanksgiving. It’s long and replete with leftovers, and it’s also when I get seriously excited about planning holiday gifts. This weekend is perfectly early enough to start a project like DIY vanilla or cocktail bitters, and not too early to freeze some dough for homemade puppy treats. If you need a few fresh ideas for homemade holiday gifts this year, take a look!

Every year when Hanukkah comes around, I always take on the challenge to cook up creative latke recipes. The classic potato-and-onion recipe is always great on the first few nights, but by the third night, I find that I’m craving something a little different. Here, I’ve swapped the starchy grated potato for some tender spaghetti squash and tossed it with fresh herbs, green onions, and Pecorino Romano — an easy (and gluten-free!) latke everyone will love.

Parsnips — sweet, citrusy, spicy, and starchy — make a crazy-good latke. What? You thought latkes were only made from potatoes and only for Hanukkah? Let me explain. Latkes — typically potato pancakes — are a traditional European side dish that the local Jewish (Ashkenazic) population adopted long ago as their Hanukkah treat.

What’s happened to Brussels sprouts may be one of the best food moments of the 21st century. No more boiling them into cabbage-y oblivion. We love roasting them, for good reason — time in a hot oven reveals Brussels sprouts to be remarkably nutty, earthy, sweet, and versatile. If you’re like me and can’t get enough roasted sprouts, you already know how great they are with balsamic vinegar. Meet my new best friend: pomegranate molasses, the Middle Eastern equivalent.

French macarons may be all the rage, but don’t dismiss the humble macaroon, which is derived from marzipan — a smooth paste of blanched almonds and sugar that, when mixed with egg white and baked, turns into chewy little gems. And macaroons are a heck of a lot easier to make than a DIY Ladurée project. It wasn’t always so simple. My aunt Hanna once told me a story about the massapan that her mother, my Iraqi grandmother, use to make.

Make latkes. Pop bottles.

Fried jelly doughnuts, called sufganiyot, are a common Hanukkah treat in Israel, and are increasingly popular in the United States. But while homemade doughnuts filled with strawberry or raspberry jam are delicious as a once-in-a-while treat, they make the house smell like fried food and leave a pesky amount of cooking oil behind to dispose of. These gougères, which come sandwiched with fig preserves, offer a savory, sophisticated twist on sufganiyot.

Bubbly Champagne makes the perfect, effervescent pairing for potato latkes and other fried foods served on Hanukkah. Here, apple cider enhanced with homemade fennel seed syrup and offset with a splash of lemon juice puts a cozy, winter-friendly spin on a classic Champagne bellini. The fennel syrup is simple to prepare and keeps well in the fridge, making it the perfect prep-ahead base for holiday cocktails.

Individual knots of challah bread, rich with eggs and ready for a slathering of butter.

Salads are the unsung hero of my winter. Often overlooked — it’s too cold for salad! There are no tomatoes! — a winter salad challenges my creativity; surprises me with possibilities; and lifts my spirits on short, gray days and long winter nights. Yes, we have those in California where I live. Truth is, a refreshing winter salad is the essential counterpoint to hearty soups and braises.

This hearty winter braise is inspired by two of the most beloved dishes my safta (grandmother in Hebrew) used to make: kubbe — miniature meat-filled semolina dumplings simmered in a vegetable or meat stew — and long-cooked green beans, variously known as loubia or fasoulia. Here, herb-flecked semolina dumplings capture the flavor and nubbly texture of my safta’s original recipe without all the work.

In my recent interview with cookbook author and magazine editor, Janna Gur, she described a recipe so delicious that I just had to share it. The recipe is for Syrian herb and meat latkes, called ijeh b’lahmeh. They’re shaped into patties, bound with eggs, and fried in oil just like Hanukkah latkes. But instead of the grated potato most of us are used to, these latkes are made with ground beef and a delightful mess of chopped mint, parsley, cilantro, and scallions.

When Faith floated the idea of having the gang from The Kitchn gather at my house in Oakland to celebrate and shoot the 2014 Thanksgiving spread, I was thrilled. They would take care of everything, she promised, except maybe could I do a modern interpretation of the old-fashioned relish tray as appetizers? Absolutely! We ended up deciding on three trays: pickles, spreads, and cheese and fruit. Let’s start with my favorite: the pickle tray.

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah typically arrives in December, but I start getting excited for it sometime around Labor Day. I love lighting the menorah (Hanukkah candelabra) and watching the candles’ reflection, warm and comforting, in my window. And I crave the overall feeling of coziness that comes with the season. But what I long for most are the latkes — fried potato pancakes that Jewish families fry up during the eight-day holiday.

Many people have strong opinions about mints, especially those of the wedding variety. But those who have either been on the fence or a little shy about them — you’ve never had a real, melt-in-your-mouth butter mint. Bonus: they’re easily customizable for any party and a snap to make!Amanda over at Bake It Pretty has been kind enough to share her recipe for butter mints. This time she pressed them gently into a small snowflake mold to make them festive for the season.

Potato latkes are such humble little things, yet so incredibly addictive. This version puts the traditional applesauce topping on the inside, where it gets warm and wonderful as the latkes cook. We love adding cubes of cheese to the filling, too. They melt into pockets of cheesy goodness and add extra savory depth to this classic dish. For this recipe, we’re essentially making a fresh applesauce and sandwiching this between two layers of potato pancake.

If we had to name the ultimate Fair Food, hands down it would have to be funnel cakes. The sweet smell of fluffy, frying bread in combination with powdered sugar is enough to make even the strongest go weak in the knees.Well, lucky for you, they aren’t difficult to make and are perfect for a party or just a weeknight snack.Not wanting to disappoint anyone’s favorite childhood (or adult!

Sixty-seven years of amazing cookies — 1941-2008. That’s what Gourmet Magazine is featuring on their website right now. They went back through every year of their magazine’s history and chose a favorite cookie from each year.It’s like a time capsule back to their early days inthe 40s and 50s and all through the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. They give a quick recap of each decade and some of the new influences in each.The real stars of course are the cookies.

Old-fashioned candies, sweet and strong, are our favorites. Toffee, caramels, divinity – they all show up in our Christmas packages. Here’s a new favorite with an old flavor: molasses. These are strong little candies with a heady molasses kick that tastes of burnt-sweet and sour dark sugar syrup. We added a pinch of salt and a dash of cocoa to round out the flavor.We love how these appear hard at first – teeth crackers! – but soften into taffy as they warm in the mouth.