Happy International Women's Day!

It's March 8th. The day dubbed as International Women's Day. Today we celebrate all the women for all they do and all they are! No better way to spend the late-morning and afternoon of this day than with some great ladies!

Brunch and brunch-related beverages at the Slow Club, in the lovely Potrero Hill neighborhood (I think I want to move here)...

Followed by a lovely wine tasting at Ruby Wine, to finish off the afternoon.

Thank you ladies! If only every Sunday can start this way.

Until next time...

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel...

I've never focused on Hanukkah in the past. This was a good excuse to make some latkes and light some candles, mostly when I didn't forget to (which was every couple of days). Probably nothing to brag about but when you don't really grow up with it, it's hard to make this a natural part of life.

Having your own children changes one's perspective a little. Even though religion has never been part of our lives, I'd like them to have some basic knowledge of the cultural aspect of our background. Plus, the holiday season is always fun. The more holidays you celebrate the better. When December came around and Christmas became the primary topic of discussion in preschool, I wanted to convey to my son that we don't celebrate Christmas at home. I explained that we celebrate the New Year, with a New Years tree (very similar to Christmas tree but after Christmas, with gift opening on New Years day), and lightly touch upon Hanukkah. My preschooler didn't disagree. He thought about it and asked if he could still celebrate Christmas in preschool. I saw no reason to say "no".

The best way to get into the holiday spirit for a child is to do various craft projects related to said holiday. My little guy gets very enthusiastic at the mention of the word "project".  This year, this chic Mama was ready. I happened to come upon a great little crafting kit at Michaels (no longer available at there unfortunately). Two crafts in one kit. A suncatcher menorah and dreidel to put on the window. The little guy was busy for two evenings for about a half an hour each evening. He was so proud of his creation, he absolutely had to show it off in preschool. Now it's proudly displayed on our window.

Happy Hanukkah!...From New York to Santa Monica

A bit of a cheesy title but I found it catchy after reading "The Night Before Hanukkah" to my son. This is the first year that my older son is aware of holidays. Since preschool heavily focuses on Christmas, I wanted to make sure my son has at least a basic understanding of his background. For this reason I decided to make it at least a little bit traditional. No praying involved here. But some yummy food is a must, and maybe a lighting of a couple candles too.

I made a brisket for the first time! Mom threw in her house for dinner and, some latkes, deviled eggs and eggplant dishes. This is from a woman that has a full-time job. I also contributed rogaliki for dessert.

The brisket recipe I used is quite simple actually. It involves using the slow cooker. With this hands-off approach, it makes the cooking process much easier. Especially when a 4-month old is in the mix. The recipe comes via Food & Wine magazine's website. Due to lack of time, I cooked the meat on high for 5 hours instead of on low for 8. I also didn't add the last 1.5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar to the sauce at the end. The meat still turned out great.

I don't know what Mom's recipes are for deviled eggs and latkes, but I'll share some of my. I've shared these recipes before on my old blog, so I'll just re-share (no need to reinvent the wheel).

Deviled Eggs...

Recipe: 

Boil eggs (number of eggs depends on how many you need).
Mayonnaise (I usually just eye ball it. But about 1 tablespoon should do)
Dijon mustard (also eye ball it)

Peel boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise. Carefully remove the yolks from the whites, keeping the whites in tact. Place the yolks in a mixing bowl, and whites on a serving plate. Add mayonnaise and Dijon mustard to the yolks and mix with a fork until smooth.

Spoon the mixture into a piping (pastry) bag and pipe into egg whites. Don’t worry if there is no piping bag around, you can also spoon the mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle with dried dill weed, and they are ready to eat.

Latkes...

This recipe comes to you via Epicurious. With a KitchenAid shredder/slicer attachment this recipe takes no time at all.

For dessert...

Rogaliki...

Recipe:

For the dough you’ll need the following:
3 egg yolks
1 stick of margerine
100 grams of sour cream
Flour (as much as needed to get the dough consistency)
Raspberry preserves (for the filling)

Mix the egg yolks, margerine and sour cream with flour until the mixture has dough consistency. Separate the dough into 3 or 4 balls and refrigerate for about 3 hours or over night. Roll out the dough into a thin circle (using additional flour, to prevent the dough from sticking). Cut the dough into 16 triangles. Place a small amount of raspberry preserves onto the wide side of the triangle and roll away from you to create rogaliki. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls. Place rogaliki on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake for about 15 minutes at 375 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Once rogaliki are out of the oven, sprinkle them with powdered sugar and serve once they cool off.

Next year I will attempt sufganiyot (a.k.a. jelly doughnuts). Who doesn't like some good old deep-fried dough?

Happy Hanukkah!