Making Hanukkah Fun and Meaningful For Adults

Image is from BonAppetit.com

My husband and I invented No Limit Texas Dreidel so that adults (and older children) can enjoy dreidel too. Here are some other ideas to make your Hanukkah party fun and meaningful for your adult friends whether they are Jewish or not.

Have guests bring a symbol of a freedom they are guarding or fighting for. Yes, there is the (silly) story about oil lasting for eight days. But, really, Hanukkah is a celebration of religious freedom. In 167 B.C.E. the Maccabees fought Antiochus who brought Greek idols into the Temple and banned the practice of Judaism. The menorah is the Jewish symbol of this fight for freedom. Ask guests, "What freedom are you guarding or fighting for?" Invite guests to bring an object that represents this freedom. Guests can choose to share the meaning with the group or simply set the item with the others.

Upgrade your holiday menu for an adult palate. Chocolate gelt (coins) has developed a bad reputation as something you don't necessarily want to eat. Serve gourmet chocolate coins, which the most discerning chocolate lovers will appreciate, such as those (personally taste-tested and approved by me!) from Madelaine, Godiva, or See's. Serve sweet potato latkes or Zucchini Latkes with Garlic by Faye Levy, the cooking columnist for the Jerusalem Post, or try serving traditional latkes (like those from Modern Jewish Mom Meredith Jacobs) with gourmet Rosemary and Brown Butter Applesauce from Bon Appetit. The Bon Appetit website has many gourmet latke recipes.

Tzedakah is always appropriate for any Jewish holiday. Tzedakah is translated as "charity," but its root, tzedek, means justice: We give not only to help those in need but to help set things right, as part of the process of creating a just world. Have guests bring a grocery bag of food for your local feed-the-hungry program or a toy for the Toys for Tots program. Or have each guest "buy in" to receive their chocolate gelt for the No Limit Texas Dreidel game and make a group donation to a local charity. The buy-in idea came from a ModernTribe customer, who is doing this for her own Hanukkah party this year.

Optimize Your Latke Frying

We make hundreds of latkes for our Hanukkah parties. My husband's alter-ego is "The Optimizer" so he is always measuring and tweaking to find the best way to do everything. Read on to learn from our mistakes:

1. Use lots of oil. The oil should not be "coating the pan." Those potato lumps should be swimming in the oil. We prefer a vegetable oil, not olive oil's stronger taste.
2. The temperature of the oil is critical. Either use an electric grill that allows you to set the temperature of the oil or, if using the burners (like we do) use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil. The oil needs to be between 350 and 375 F. When frying lots of latkes you are constantly adding oil. You should wait for the right temperature or your latkes will be too greasy (if oil is not hot enough) or burn (too hot).
3. The most time consuming and boring part of making lots of latkes is grating the potatoes and onions. Yes, use a food processor... but better: buy pre-shredded potatoes and diced onions. Both are available (separately) in frozen foods. We tried this last year and this version was almost as good as freshly grated... and 300% less work!
4. Fry ahead of time and then freeze. We've spent many Hanukkah parties stuck in the kitchen. Now we know better. Fry ahead of time. Put the latkes on cookie sheets. Cover. Place the cookie sheets in the freezer. Once frozen, you can put the latkes in zip lock bags, thus making room for more latkes. The night of the party, heat on the cookie tray at 350 F for 20 minutes or so.
5. I'm sure many would protest, but which latke recipe doesn't really matter as long as you use potatoes, onions, and eggs. Matzah meal vs. flour? Not important in our experience.
6. Gourmet toppings are nice but you can't beat apple sauce and sour cream.

Happy Frying!