Thanks to the folks at Great Day Washington for this interview, which aired on December 24th.
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Author Archives: simonebloomnathan
Creative Christmas Trees
Here is a link to some of the most unusual and innovative Christmas “trees” I have ever seen.
Christmas Eve Traditions
Every family creates and maintains their own Christmas Eve traditions. If your family hasn’t already settled on your Christmas Eve observances, or is looking for some new ones, here are some favorites compiled by IMom.
WTOP Interview
Thank you to Rachel Nania at WTOP for an enjoyable interview last week, and for this article on the WTOP website.
Hanukkah With Children
Happy Hanukkah. Here are some suggestions for celebrating Hanukkah with children of different ages (under 5, 5 and up, and tweens).
An Easier Latke Recipe?
If you have ever scraped your knuckles while hand-grating potatoes for latkes, or found yourself getting tired of peeling endless potatoes, you might want to try this new recipe for latkes using frozen hash browns, courtesy of the Washington Post’s Bonnie Benwick.
Holiday Music A Capella
Watch some of these UTube a capella versions of holiday songs that are both melodic and interesting as voices only sing the melodies, harmonize and provide rhythm.
Joy to the World by Pentatonix.
Hanukkah Song Selection by Shir Soul
Colors of Christmas and Hanukkah
Typically, Christmas is represented by the colors red and green, and Hanukkah by blue and white, while silver and gold are the colors that celebrate the festive holiday season. Consider how your family’s home can incorporate all these colors – a fragrant evergreen wreath or tree, holly berries, a blue and white tablecloth, lights of all four colors, a shiny menorah – are just some of the ways that your home can showcase both Christmas and Hanukkah colors. You may also want to purchase or make some Christmas or Hanukkah table decorations that you use each year at the holiday’s family meals and invite children to draw pictures that use all the colors of the season.
Making Photographic Memories
Choose a location in your home that creates a meaningful background for you. Decide whether your family is going to wear the same type of clothing, such as pajamas or dressy clothes, or not, and plan to take the photo in the same location with the family members standing or sitting in the same places every holiday. You may also want to designate a particular wall in your home where you showcase each year’s framed photo. Watch how each family member grows and changes over the years. These photos are likely to become family treasures.
Celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah with Food
For families that celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah, Parents magazine has some suggestions for melding the holidays through food:
- Skip the yams alongside your Christmas turkey, and serve up potato pancakes (latkes) instead. Hanukkah is the one time of year when we’re encouraged to eat foods fried in lots of oil!
- Make star-shaped cookies with the kids, which will honor both the Jewish Star of David and the guiding star that led the wise men to Bethlehem. Decorate them with blue, silver, red, and green icing.
- Hanukkah is also sufganiyot season—time to devour these yummy round, fried, jam-filled, powdered-sugar dusted doughnuts! Or, you may want to bake up a hybrid version this year: Eggnog doughnuts!
- Combine many seasonal colors by adapting this recipe for Glitter Ball Cookies, adding green, red, and gold sprinkles, too.
