Sugar Buff : Happy Hanukkah

I remember my mom saying that as you get older time goes by faster - I have really started to notice that now. It makes me cherish each hug from my sweet Eddie a little longer and it makes me appreciate laughing with my sisters and talking with my parents. Maybe it is the yogi in me, but I am truly learning to live in the present moments of my life and appreciate each one. Appreciation is really important during the holidays when we come together, but also everyday we should reflect on how fortunate we really are to have these moments and people in our lives. Things happen in the world that I just don't understand, and I never will, but they remind me that life is fragile, life is precious, and as far as I know we only get it once. It may seem silly, but decorating cookies and baking sweets makes me feel like I contribute something to this world. It brings me joy and I hope it does for others too.

So, although Hanukkah has come and gone I still wanted to share the sweet treats that I made for family and friends during the holiday. We had a nice celebration at my parents' home with latkes, matzo ball soup, candle lighting, group hugs, and a present exchange. For the cookies, I made some traditional Hanukkah images, judaica symbols, and my new passion of food images. :) I also made some chocolate covered matzo crunch and some tiny blackberry orange donuts.

On Hanukkah we eat fried foods to symbolize the miracle of the oil, and because it is delicious. Latkes are fried potato pancakes that I like to top with both sour cream and applesauce. Sufganiot are fried jelly donuts. My family also always has matzo ball soup and matzo crackers on Hanukkah too.

The dreidel is a four sided top with one Hebrew letter on each side representing the phrase: A great miracle happened there נס גדול היה שם

The Hanukkah menorah is a beautiful traditional symbol of light. As kids we would each have a turn lighting the candles, but my favorite moment was always taking one last glimpse at the tiny glowing lights before they went out for the night.