Sufganiyot (Jelly Doughnuts)

C. Kwanzaa Recipes

Coconut Biscuits

Okra Gumbo

Sweet Potato Pie

D. Christmas Recipes

Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing

Walnut-Cranberry Stuffed Brie

Glazed Baked Ham

Creme Brulee with Spice Rum

E. Holiday Websites

F. The Last Word - Hannumas

Classic Potato Latkes
Makes approx. 10 latkes

4 medium potatoes (about 1-1/2 pounds)
3 tablespoons rendered chicken fat (schmaltz)
2 slightly beaten eggs
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Sour cream (optional)
Applesauce (optional)

1. Peel and finely shred potatoes. In a mixing bowl combine potatoes
with chicken fat, eggs, garlic, and salt. Using 1/3 cup mixture for
each latke, press mixture into patties about the size of the palm of
your hand, squeezing out excess liquid.
2. In a large skillet heat chicken fat over medium-high heat.
Carefully slide patties into hot fat.
3. Cook over medium-high heat about 2 minutes or until latkes are
golden brown, turning once.
4. Repeat with remaining batter. Add additional fat during cooking,
as needed. If necessary, reduce heat to medium to prevent over
browning. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

Serve with sour cream or other toppings, if desired.

Beef Brisket
Serves 6

4 pounds beef brisket
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 (12-ounce) can beer

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Season meat with salt and pepper and place in a 9 x 13-inch pan;
cover with onion. In a small bowl, combine ketchup, chili sauce,
sugar, garlic and beer; pour mixture over meat. Cover with foil and
bake for 4 hours.
3. Remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 35 to 40
minutes. Remove meat from pan; let cool. Slice meat cross-grain.
4. Make gravy. With an immersion blender or a blender, blend all
liquid from the pan. Cook and stir until thick. Return sliced meat to
baking dish and reheat. Serve with gravy.

Sufganiyot (Jelly Doughnuts)
Makes 12

1 tbsp dry yeast (1 pkg)
4 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup lukewarm milk (or water for pareve)
2 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt (does it hurt the salt to get pinched :-))
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoon butter (or pareve margarine) Apricot, strawberry or
some type of preserves Sugar Vegetable oil

1. Mix yeast, 2 tablespoons sugar and milk. Let sit till it bubbles. Sift
flour, mix in remaining sugar, salt, cinnamon, egg yolks and yeast
mixture.
2. Knead dough until it forms a ball. Add butter or margarine, knead
until butter is well absorbed. Cover with a towel and let rise
overnight in fridge.

The next morning:

3. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut dough into 24
rounds with a juice glass or other object about 2 inches in diameter.
Place 1/2 teaspoon of preserves in center of 12 rounds. Top with the
other 12. Press down at edges, sealing with egg whites. Crimping
wtih the thumb and second finger is best. Let rise for about 30
minutes.
4. Heat 2 inches of oil to about 375 degrees. Drop the doughnuts
into the hot oil, about 5 at a time. Turn to brown on both sides.
Drain on paper towels.
5. Roll in sugar.

Coconut Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup butter or margarine (cold)
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar,
baking powder, salt and coconut. Cut in the butter until the mixture
looks like coarse crumbs. Combine the eggs and milk, and then fold
it into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Turn the dough onto
a floured surface and pat gently into a 8 inch circle (about 3/4 of an
inch thick).
2. Cut the dough into eight pie-shaped wedges. Separate the wedges
and place them onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
3.Before baking, let the uncooked biscuits rest 10 minutes. Bake at
450 degrees for 13-17 minutes, or until golden brown.

Okra Gumbo
Serves 8

2 pounds shrimp
16 cups chicken stock (1 gallon)
1/3 cup butter
2 pounds okra - sliced
1 large onion - chopped
1 green pepper - chopped
1 clove garlic - minced
2 tablespoons parsley - chopped
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes

1. Peel and clean shrimp. Melt butter in soup pot. Add okra, onion,
green pepper and saute. Add garlic and chopped parsley and cook
for 2 minutes.
2. Add chicken stock and tomatoes. Add shrimp and cook over
medium heat for 30 minutes. Stir thoroughly. Serve with rice.

Sweet Potato Pie

9" pie shell, baked
2 cups sweet potatoes, (cooked or canned and drained)
4 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups buttermilk or milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Mash sweet potatoes with butter until smooth
3. Mix in eggs, sugar, buttermilk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.
Pour into pre-baked pie shell
4. Bake 45-60 minutes or until the center is set

Bread Stuffing
Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
3 stalks celery, diced
2 onions, chopped
1 (20 ounce) loaf French or Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 (16 ounce) package herb-seasoned stuffing mix
4 eggs, beaten
2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 tsp rubbed sage
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the
mushrooms, celery, and onions until softened.
2. Dampen the fresh bread cubes (not the stuffing mix,) then
squeeze out any excess water.
3. In a large bowl, combine the mushroom mixture, bread cubes,
stuffing mix, eggs, and 1 can chicken broth. Season with sage,
thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and mix well. The stuffing
should have a rather paste-like consistency. Mix in additional
chicken broth as necessary.
4. Loosely pack stuffing inside turkey cavity before roasting.

Recipe Variations
This is a very basic stuffing recipe. Feel free to add in anything you'd
like, such as sausage, cranberries or chopped nuts.

Walnut-Cranberry Stuffed Brie
Serves 12

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1 (17 1/4-ounce) package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry sheets,
thawed
1 (8-ounce) 4 1/4-inch diameter round Brie cheese
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp water
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 400F. Combine walnuts, preserves and cranberries
in small bowl; set aside.
2. Place 1 pastry sheet on lightly floured surface; top with second
sheet. Roll out to 13-inch square. Cut to 13-inch circle. Place pastry
circle onto greased 15 x 10 x 1-inch jelly-roll pan.
3. Remove center of Brie cheese, using small sharp knife, in as large
a piece as possible, leaving 1/4-inch shell around outside edge and
bottom. Set center of cheese aside.
4. Evenly press walnut-cranberry mixture into shell. Gently place
Brie cheese center on top of walnut-cranberry mixture. (Do not
push down or edges may crack.) Place filled Brie cheese in center of
pastry circle. Gather pastry up around Brie, holding firmly at top;
pinch edges of pastry to seal. Check for holes in pastry, patching
with extra pastry, if needed. Decorate top with star-shaped pastry
cut-outs, if desired.
5. Beat together milk, water and egg in small bowl with fork; brush
over pastry. Bake for 38 to 42 minutes or until medium golden
brown. (Brie may leak when baking.) Let stand 15 minutes to allow
Brie to set. Serve with apple slices or crackers.

Glazed Baked Ham

1 12 lb. ham
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp mustard
1/4 cup pineapple juice
6 slices fresh or canned pineapple
6 maraschino cherries

1. Place ham, fat side up on rack in open roasting pan. Bake in 350
degree oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
2. Combine sugar, mustard and pineapple juice. Remove ham from
oven 45 minutes prior to completed baking time. Pour off excess fat.
Spread 1/3 of the glaze on fat side. Arrange pineapple slices and
cherries on the glaze, pressing firmly.
3. Return to oven and baste with remaining glaze at 15 minute
intervals.

Creme Brulee with Spice Rum
Serves 6

2 cups coffee creamer (the recipe called for this, but I think you
should be able to substitute real cream)
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs yolks
1 egg
2 tbsp spiced rum
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp sugar
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need six 5-ounce ramekins.
Place them in a shallow baking dish or roasting pan, leaving space
between them.
2. In a small saucepan combine creamer, cornstarch and flour;
whisk together until dissolved. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring
constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent scorching, until mixture
thickens and coats the back of the spoon. It should be the
consistency of heavy cream. Remove from heat and cool for 10
minutes.
3. In a medium-size bowl combine sugar, egg yolks, whole egg, rum,
vanilla and salt. Whisk together until smooth, then whisk in the
condensed milk and cooled creamer mixture. Be careful not to over-
whisk as this will create too much foam on the surface of the
custards. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Divide mixture
evenly among the 6 ramekins and pour enough hot water around
them to come 3/4th of the way up their sides.
4. Bake for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until custards
are set. Remove from oven, cool custards to room temperature in
the pan, then remove them from their water bath and refrigerate for
at least 4 hours or overnight before making burnt sugar topping.
The sugar isn't actually burnt but rather caramelized to a golden
amber on top of the custard. As it cools, the caramel hardens,
making the signature crisp sugar crust.
5. Preheat broiler. Combine brown sugar and 3 tablespoons sugars,
breaking up any lumps. Sprinkle the top of each custard with 2
teaspoons of sugar mixture, spreading it as evenly as possible. Place
custards under the broiler until sugar caramelizes to a golden
amber. It is best to do only a couple at a time, making it easier to
watch them so that the sugar doesn't burn. Refrigerate custards for
1 hour before serving, to harden the sugar crust and cool the
custard. Serve with fresh berries, if desired.

http://www.thenorthpole.com

If you have children (or even if you don't) you should definitely check this site out. It is just too cute for words.

www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmas-desserts/index.htm

Cute site with creative recipe ideas.

http://www.meals.com

15,000 'sponsored' recipes (big brands developed them using their own products), but gives great ideas and you can just substitute!

http://www.christmas.com

Lots of links to other great Christmas sites

http://www1.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah

Recipes, stories, links and even a worldwide menorah lighting video

http://new.melanet.com/kwanzaa/links.html

Kwanzaa recipes, links, fun activities, and more

Continuing the current trend of large scale mergers and
acquisitions, it was announced today at a press conference that
Christmas and Chanukah will merge. An industry source said that
the deal had been in the works for about 1300 years, ever since the
rise of the Muslim Empire.

While details were not available at press time, it is believed that the
overhead cost of having 12 days of Christmas and 8 days of
Chanukah was becoming prohibitive for both sides. By combining
forces, we're told, the world will be able to enjoy consistently high
quality service during the 15 Days of Hannumas, as the new holiday
is being called.

Massive layoffs are expected, with lords-a-leaping and maids-a-
milking being the hardest hit. As part of the conditions of the
agreement, the letters on the dreydl, currently in Hebrew, will be
replaced by Latin, thus becoming unintelligible to a wider audience.

In exchange, it is believed that Jews will be allowed to use Santa
Claus and his vast merchandising resources for buying and
delivering their gifts. In fact, one of the points holding up the
agreement for at least three hundred years was the question of
whether Jewish children could leave milk and cookies for Santa even
after having eaten meat for dinner. A breakthrough came last year,
when Oreos were finally declared to be Kosher. All sides appeared
happy about this development except for Santa's dentist.

A spokesman for Christmas, Inc., declined to say whether a takeover
of Kwanzaa might not be in the works as well. He merely pointed out
that were it not for the independent existence of Kwanzaa, the
merger between Christmas and Chanukah might indeed be seen as
an unfair cornering of the holiday market. Fortunately for all
concerned, he said, Kwanzaa will help to maintain the competitive
balance. He then closed the press conference by leading all present
in a rousing rendition of "Oy, Come All Ye Faithful."

by Michael Nathanson