On Dec. 14, Jewish families throughout the world will celebrate the start of Hannukah, aka the Festival of Lights. The holiday is especially welcome by children who in most households receive presents, oftentimes eight of them — one for each of the eight nights the Temple’s menorah miraculously stayed lit despite there being only enough oil to provide light for one day.
For many families, no celebration of this joyous holiday would be complete without the presence of tasty foods fried, symbolically, in oil such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyah (jelly donuts). Other sweet treats enjoyed by children include Hannukah “gelt” — chocolate coins festively wrapped in gold aluminum foil.
Shopping for ingredients for Hannukah recipes became far simpler last year when kosher food giant Manichewitz underwent a complete makeover and dramatically expanded its product line. Many of the items now available make for perfect holiday gifts.
Take the brand’s Ugly Sweater Chanukah Sugar Cookie Kit. No one really wants a hideous sweater to take up space in the back of a dresser drawer, but who doesn’t like a good sugar cookie? The kit includes the cookie mix, color powders, sprinkles, piping bags, and even a sweater cookie cutter. The kits make 8 to 10 cookies to share, gift, or just eat. Suggested retail price: $8.99.
Or get the whole family involved in building sweet memories this holiday season with the Manischewitz Chanukah House Sugar Cookie Kit, a variation on the classic Christmas gingerbread house. This fun, hands-on no-bake kit includes everything you need to decorate your own blue-and-white Chanukah-themed cookie house: Pre-baked vanilla cookies, icing, candy decorations, and a base for easy assembly. Available at major supermarkets and online at manischewitz.com, the cookie house is the perfect diversion for families, friends, or classroom projects, bringing creativity and celebration together. Suggested retail price: $12.99-$15.99.
An option for those on your gift list who are chocoholics is the Happy Hannukkah Box, sold by Sugar Plum. The assortment includes a 4-ounce chocolate menorah sprinkled with blue and white nonpareils, two 4-ounce chocolate Hanukkah lollipops, and a 4-pack of fluffy milk & dark chocolate-covered marshmallows. The 8 Days of Hannukah Gift Mailer sells for $49.
If anything good can be said about the COVID-19 pandemic it is that the year-long lockdown spawned a new generation of at-home cooks and wannabes. For the latter, a company called Global Grub has come up with a collection of DIY cooking kits that help you cook dishes you’ve never dreamed of cooking, such as ravioli from scratch. The kits, which may be purchased from Global Grub, range from $27.99 to $31.99.
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