I flip my latkes in the air sometimes, saying ay oh, spin the dreidel...

Chanukah is one of my favorite holidays. Unlike most Jewish holidays, it does not require a lot of advanced preparation. It also does not have the same restrictions and prohibitions. This is especially appreciated in years like this one, when Chanukah literally crept up on us just a few days after Thanksgiving. It was filled with good food, good family and friends, good parties, and a good youtube video. (I usually think these things are silly and that the people that make them are even sillier, but I'm telling you, these boys have got it going on. This will be the next Chanukah Song.)

Party at the Parents' House:



Eating:



Opening presents:





Inventing a new game- it's sort of like a cross between paper football and basketball. Played with chocolate coins, of course. Extra points awarded for getting them into the light fixtures:





Housewarming Party:

Greeting guests:



Enjoying a doughnut:



Me and one of my besties (good news, guys, she's single!):



Just 100 or s0 of our nearest and dearest:



Plus we had lots of fun on our own every night!

Lighting the menorah:





Singing songs:



Opening presents:

Where Have I Been?

Entertaining. Specifically: Mom's birthday. Sleepover company the weekend before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, including sleeping company for the whole weekend. A birthday brunch for Shimmy's almost-eighty-year-old grandmother the Sunday after Thanksgiving. A huge Chanukah/Housewarming Party the very next Sunday. Now it's time to start thinking about Sophie's birthday. But before I do, prepare for a barrage of blog posts.

Thanksgiving- A Bird's Eye View

Here's the story of our Thanksgiving, as seen through our turkeys:

The day began bright and early with the deep-fry. About 50 people, most of them men, came to drink, grunt, and fry things. Among the things fried were sausages, salami chips, this turkey:



And for the first time, a turducken, seen in it's precooked state here:


(as you can see, I had nothing to do with the process besides for the festive paper napkins)

The deep-fry lasted from about 9am, when people first started showing up, until 4pm, when our dinner guests arrived and the last of the deep-fry guests trickled out. This was way too long and really, really stressed me out.

Meanwhile, I was in the kitchen all day preparing dinner, which included: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, pumpkin bread, cranberry-apple crisp, corn muffins, and for the first time, a tofurkey, which was actually the most involved and time-consuming dish I prepared.

This is the dinner bird, aka the REAL bird, or MAIN EVENT, in its precooked state:



And here it is again, all carved on the table:




This is the tofurkey, which was DELICIOUS and was enjoyed and devoured by vegetarians and carnivores alike!




Around 4pm our dinner guests arrived and we had a wonderful meal together.

We had pilgrims:



Native Americans:



Dance parties:



And fun watching Lilah try new foods:




All-in-all it was a great Thankgsiving. The deep-fry fest went on way too long, making it hard for me to have the actual dinner prepared as perfectly as I would have liked (I am not posting pictures of the dinner table this year, because I get annoyed every time I see the aluminum pan that the corn muffins are in and the brita pitcher instead of the crystal pitcher). However, delicious food enjoyed with my family, while genuinely telling them how thankful I am for each of them and what makes them who they are, is what Thanksgiving is about and is why I love that holiday!