What a whirlwind the past few days have been. I’ve spent a lot of time getting ready for the holiday, and I’m happy to report that all the gifts are wrapped, the menorah is polished, the decorations are displayed, and my Hanukkah menu is finally complete—with a day to spare; imagine that!

In our home, we have a big celebration on the first night and then do just a little something for the other nights. After the gifts, the food seems to be the most important. While I enjoy trying/tasting new recipes, the other folks I’m feeding are not as adventurous. Try serving them the “gourmet” and “strange” foods from Epicurious and they’d rather eat a frozen pizza.

Unless we have vegetarians joining us (none this year), meat is always served, either a whole bird or a brisket. 2016 is a turkey year since I had 2 left in my freezer from the Thanksgiving sales. In addition to the substantial main dish, lighter sides are a good balance.

Dinner

• Roasted Turkey
• Challah (store bought)
• Latkes (white potato and zucchini. I won’t offer 25 toppings, but there will be a variety.)
• Green Salad (lettuce, walnuts, dried cranberries, pear slices)
• Honey Carrots
• Steamed Broccoli

Desserts

First night:

• Rice Krispies Treats (We did orange ones shaped like pumpkins for Halloween. The kids loved them so much, they asked for blue ones now.)
• Jelly donuts (Always on the menu for Hanukkah. I’m buying a dozen at Dunkin Donuts to make it easy.)
• Dreidel Game Kits, courtesy of Sew Jewish

Midway through the holiday:

• Frosted Sugar Cookies (made from a mix, cut into stars, dreidels, and menorahs, covered in blue icing/sprinkles)
• Cupcakes (usually white cake with blue icing.)
• Dairy Noodle Kugel (Some consider it a side dish; to me it’s a sweet.)

Keeping it simple is the goal, just good food, nothing elaborate, and hopefully, no cooking disasters/complaints!

What’s on your Hanukkah menu?