Interfaith Couples Find a Balance During the Holidays

Christmas trees and Hanukah menorahs sit side by side in many homes.

During Hanukah, Glencoe residents Renata and Greg Bregstone light a menorah and give their children a small gift for each of the Jewish holiday's eight days. But at the same time, their children, ages 3 and 5, are also counting down to Christmas with an Advent Calendar. Decorations for both holidays are displayed in the window and a Hanukah banner that their children decorated hangs above the fireplace beside a Christmas tree. Renata is Catholic and Greg is Jewish and both wanted to raise their children with the holidays they grew up with, but have come to value the different perspective celebrating both traditions provides. “I want them to be open-minded and understanding of others,” Renata said. The challenge of getting that balance …

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Betsy and Sal

Wrap It Up

Finding a gift is only half the battle.

Did you know that 33 percent of all Americans have, at any given time during the year, at least one wrapped, yet-to-be opened Christmas present stashed in a basement or a closet or an attic?  I know this is true for two reasons. First, because my sister-in-law Collette told me, and she’s smart. Second, because right now, as I sit upstairs typing, there lurks in my basement not one but two pristinely wrapped gifts from two years ago, languishing in the deepest recesses of the furnace crawl space, simultaneously gathering dust and emitting low-levels of guilt. To the young, or the newly married, or the men, it may seem odd to harbor a backlog of gifts. But among my cohort of been-there, done-that, given-and-received-and-returned all of it, …

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From Plant to Plate

Hanukkah Means Potato Latkes

Our local food columnist shares her recipe for a traditional favorite.

On the First day of Hanukkah my true love gave to me…a golden fried potato latke! I was raised Presbyterian in Ohio, so the whole tradition of Hanukkah was new to me when I married my husband, whose family had been celebrating the holiday for generations. And what can I say, I love new traditions—like the song says, "make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold."  Must have been talking about delicious golden brown latkes! Of course, there is also the menorah, the candles and the gifts, but what I like best are the family gatherings and the frying of the latkes. As you may know, Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday, also known as The Festival of Lights.  In Hebrew the word Hanukkah means "dedication," and the holiday …

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Elizabeth Manaster

8:27 am on Saturday, December 4, 2010

Beth, I'm glad you like the latkes! Here is the Kugel recipe. Don't even think about how many calories it has. Savor the goodness and excercise in January! Noodle Kugel 1/2 pound egg noodles 1/2 pound creamed cottage cheese 1/2 pound cream cheese 5 eggs 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 3/4 cup sugar 2 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 pound butter 1/2 box white raisins. Soak raisins in hot water until…   more ›