by Michelle Valigursky

Festive celebrations translate into grand meals, joyous laughter, spiritual reverence and time-honored traditions that become memories to cherish. For every family, special foods are at the heart of the festivities no matter which holiday you hold close to your heart.

Hanukkah

Sundown, December 4-December 12

More than 2,000 years ago, at Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, the Maccabees reclaimed their temple after several years of battling for religious freedom. When it came time to rededicate the temple, the purified oil in the temple light should have lasted only one day, but miraculously burned for eight days and nights.

“Hanukkah” means dedication in Hebrew. In honor of this famed oil, many Jewish families celebrate the eight-day holiday by enjoying fried foods.

In Israel, hundreds of thousands of sufganiot – fried and filled Hanukkah doughnuts – are made each day during the celebration. These traditional Israeli treats are generally filled with fruit preserves, though innovative bakers take filling to new heights with gourmet custards and creams and top the doughnuts with melted chocolate, sugar and toasted nuts.

Here in Atlanta, sufganiot are made every year by Alon’s Bakery in Virginia-Highland and at Park Place across from Perimter Mall. At Alon’s, the sufganiot are prepared with raspberry filling, pastry cream or served plain. A few families whose heritage is based in the Sephardic tradition also make these fried sweets during their Hanukkah celebrations. You can special order sufganiot in advance of the holidays by visiting www.alons.com.

The Yanovich family of Alpharetta wouldn’t dream of celebrating Hanukkah without crispy latkes topped with chunky applesauce. “We get the generations of our family together each night as we light a new candle and enjoy a great meal,” says Jody Yanovich. “It’s a wonderful chaos of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, and my boys, Alex and Larry, are right there, lining up with the other kids to taste the first latkes.”

For the Silver family, their teenagers prefer latkes served with a dollop of sour cream. At Hanukkah, the Silvers also enjoy indulging in traditional burmuelos, a fried sweet fritter of Spanish origin drizzled in a honey sauce.
 

Latkes
1 pound potatoes, peeled and grated ½ cup grated onion 1 large egg, lightly beaten 2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste ¼-½ cup olive oil for frying Sour cream or applesauce for garnish	Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Prepare potatoes and rinse in cold water. Drain thoroughly.In large bowl, combine potatoes, onion, egg, flour and seasonings. In frying pan on medium-high heat, heat several tablespoons of oil. Drop batter into oil and fry latkes, turning when golden brown. Spread potatoes for even cooking, then cook through. Remove latkes to platter in warm oven and continue frying until all latkes are made. Serve with a sour cream or applesauce.
Sufganiot: Hanukkah Doughnuts
¾ cup milk, warmed to 110 degrees 1 envelope active dry yeast 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 2 large eggs ¼ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup butter, melted 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon salt 3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading 1 teaspoon butter 1 cup seedless fruit jelly or jam 1 cup superfine or confectioner’s sugar Place warm milk in large bowl. Sprinkle with yeast and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Stir until blended, then set aside for 10 minutes until bubbly. In small glass bowl, beat eggs, remaining sugar, cooled melted butter, vanilla extract and salt. Stir egg mixture into bubbly yeast mixture. Add 3 cups of flour a little at a time. Stir until soft dough forms.	Flour work surface to prevent sticking. Turn dough onto floured surface. Knead for five minutes until smooth and pliable. Add up to 1/2 cup extra flour as needed to keep dough from being too sticky. Grease large bowl with 1 teaspoon butter. Add kneaded dough and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in warm place for about 1 hour. Flour a baking sheet.Punch down dough and turn out onto floured work surface. Roll to 1/2” thick.Using biscuit cutter, cut rounds out of dough and arrange on baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and continue cutting. Allow sufganiot to rise again, uncovered, until they are approximately 1 1/2” high. In deep fryer, heat oil to 360 degrees. While oil is heating, fill pointed-tip squeeze bottle with jam, or use pastry bag fitted with filling tip. Carefully place doughnuts 4 at a time into hot oil. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Remove to paper towel-lined rack to cool. When oil reheats, continue frying doughnuts in small batches. While doughnuts are warm, insert tip of squeeze bottle into dough and fill gently with jam. Immediately coat warm doughnuts with sugar. When cool, coat again.

Christmas

December 25

The culinary traditions at Christmas time in America are as varied as the cultures of the world. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, and for many Christian faiths it represents one of the most spiritual days of the year. Though gift-giving and lavish parties may accompany the holiday, at its root the day symbolizes love, peace and kindness toward all men and women.

Family gatherings pay tribute to the celebration; Christmas turkey became a tradition in America during the earliest days of settlement, when the fowls were plentiful and the bird was served at the first Thanksgiving feast.

Regardless of family heritage, special sweets and treats are always included in Christmas festivities. The French celebrate with a Bouche de Noel cake to symbolize the yule log. The United Kingdom enjoys fruit puddings, slowly steamed then aged to perfection and served with brandy sauce, while Italians savor baked pannetone bread. Germans enjoy Dresden stolen, an elongated holiday bread draped in a white sugar glaze, representing baby Jesus in swaddling clothes. Eastern Europeans celebrate with a feast that includes pierogies, bite-sized pastry dumplings stuffed with potatoes, onions and cheese, then fried in butter or baked until golden.

“In our house, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the gingersnaps,” says Susan Dumon of Milton. Sons Trent and Jay love baking cookies at the holidays. “We play Christmas music while we bake, and the aroma fills every room of the house,” Susan says. “The kids roll up their sleeves and put on aprons to be cookie chefs for the day, and they’re always proud of what we create. We even make a special decorated cookie for each family member to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve.”

The use of ginger in holiday cooking spans centuries and has its roots in European tradition. When the Brothers Grimm wrote about Hansel and Gretel and the house of sweetly decorated bread in their legendary tale, German bakers began to produce houses made of lebkuchen, a honey-spice dough flavored with ginger and cloves. Historical records show that gingerbread people were also made by the court of Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth I to honor important visitors.

“We get the cousins together to make sweet houses to use as our holiday table centerpiece,” Susan explains. Though pre-baked gingerbread kits are readily available, “we’ve made the tiny houses out of graham crackers, royal icing and leftover Halloween sweets for decorations. The kids nibble all day long, but they have a great time, and it’s something they look forward to every year.”
 

Holiday Hot Chocolate
3 cups whole milk 1 cup light cream 8-10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate pieces Whipped cream Chocolate shavings Peppermint sticks In heavy-bottomed saucepan, warm milk and cream over low to medium heat. Heat gradually while stirring with a whisk, but don’t allow to boil. When milk/cream mixture is hot, add in chocolate pieces. Whisk until well blended. Pour into six mugs. Top with generous scoop of whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a peppermint stick stirrer.
Susan’s Gingersnaps		Sweet House Decorative Icing
2 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon allspice 1 teaspoon ginger 3/4 cup solid vegetable shortening 1 cup sugar 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/4 cup molasses Granulated sugar In small mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and spices. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, blend shortening and sugar. Add egg and combine until smooth.Add molasses to mixture and blend. Add dry ingredients 1 cup at a time and mix on medium speed. Scrape sides to incorporate all ingredients. Roll finished dough into ball, wrap in plastic and chill one hour. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll shaped cookie balls in granulated sugar to coat. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven on ungreased baking sheet for 7-10 minutes until desired crispness is reached. Cool on baking rack and store in airtight container.		3¾ cups sifted confectioner’s sugar 3 tablespoons meringue powder 6 tablespoons warm water Food coloring In large mixing bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder. Add water one tablespoon at a time, scraping sides of bowl to incorporate. Mix on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes until desired consistency is reached. For a thinner, “writing” consistency, add a little more water. Separate portions of icing into small bowls. Tint icing with food coloring to achieve decorative effects. Icing can be used as a decorative, edible “glue” to adhere candies to cookies, houses, etc. Undisturbed, the icing will firm up fairly quickly.

Kwanzaa

December 26 through January 1

Celebrated each year since 1966, Kwanzaa was “created to reaffirm and restore our rootedness in African culture,” according to the website of its founder, Dr. Maulana Karenga of California State University. The name was derived from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” which means first fruits, and the holiday has evolved into a worldwide cultural harvest celebration for African heritage.

Though not a religious holiday, Kwanzaa encourages a celebration and acknowledgement of Nguzo Saba, the seven values of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Family celebrations often include beautiful displays of African woven fabrics, baskets and bowls of fresh fruits and vegetables, artifacts evocative of history and culture, and the kinara, a candleholder with seven candles to represent Nguzo Saba. The colors in the bendera, the Kwanzaa flag, are black, red and green to symbolize the people, their struggle and their hopeful future.

During Kwanzaa, families enjoy foods rooted in the harvest, and many of the dishes date back hundreds of years. Benne Cakes, a traditional West African dish enjoyed in Mauritania, is a recipe brought to America in the 1700s and is still enjoyed in the South today.
 

Benne Cakes
1 cup light brown sugar, packed 4 tablespoons butter 1 large egg, lightly beaten ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup sesame seeds, toasted Vegetable oil spray Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, combine brown sugar and butter and mix until creamy.Add beaten egg, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Blend well. Sprinkle in flour, baking powder and salt. Mix lightly until combined. Fold in sesame seeds. Spray baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Drop batter by teaspoonful onto baking sheet. Benne cakes will spread – don’t overcrowd. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until cakes are golden and edges are browned. Remove to wire rack until crispy.
Boiled Peanuts: A Harvest Treat
2 pounds green peanuts 1 1/4 cups salt In large stockpot filled with water, combine peanuts in their shells with salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook peanuts for 2 1/2 hours, lightly covered.	Using a slotted spoon, remove several peanuts and drain. Shells should peel back easily, and peanuts should be soft and well seasoned. If peanuts are still too crunchy, cook an additional 30 minutes until desired consistency is reached. Drain in a colander and enjoy warm!