Now that Thanksgiving is over the next holiday in line is Hanukkah, which this year, will start at sundown on December 5. With just a little over a week to prepare for this Jewish holiday you will want to start planning your menu this weekend. The traditional menus for Hanukkah are generally going to focus on fried foods, because of this holiday’s connection to oil. However, there are a lot of great Jewish recipes to choose from that will be appropriate for a Hanukkah celebration.
Preparing a menu for your Hanukkah celebration is the first step that you will need to take in planning your celebration. Try to keep in mind the special diets that family members and friends are on, and do your best to remain Kosher. Start your menu with family favorites like latkes and nut bread, and then look for new twists on Hanukkah recipes by paging through holiday magazines, cookbooks and online recipe sites.
The second step is to use your menu to create your holiday shopping list. Before you can do this, however, you will need to determine how many people you will be cooking for. When writing your shopping list try to organize it by aisle. This will help you to make fewer trips up and down the aisles and it will reduce your chances of having to return to the store for missed items. Add to your shopping list drinks, decorations, ingredients, gifts and extra plates and silverware.
When you get home from your shopping excursion organize your Hanukkah items on a counter or tabletop. This will make them easy to get to while cooking, and you won’t have to put everything away only to have to bring them out again in a day or two.
To add a little excitement to your Hanukkah menu try new Hannukah Jewish recipes or traditional Jewish holiday recipes that you haven’t made in a while. You can also use special Jewish recipes that have a harvest theme. Have a Happy Hanukkah!