Eight Chanukah Party Favorites

By Mindy Kobrin

Party Latkes

Celebrate the 8 nights of the festival of lights with these 8 favorite party winners. My great ideas for menorahs, latkes, games and gelt promise to brighten your Chanukah party and keep you glowing long after the candles have melted.

DECORATIONS

1. Stunning Menorahs
A beautiful, one of a kind Glass Menorah handcrafted with fused glass by artist Tamara Baskin will illuminate your window with colorful style.

2. Decorated Dreidel
An over-the-top hinged dreidel is ideal for keeping your trinkets or jewelry inside. Made of enameled pewter this is a solid piece that will last a lifetime. Each side of the dreidel features a Star of David with a flower in its center. Each point has a carefully placed gem. The spindle is encircled with gems as is the stand. The color scheme on his dreidel is shades of brown and ivory. This is truly a collector’s item.

3. Artbeads
For a special touch, add these reasonably priced charms and beads to Chanukah invitations or wineglasses. They even have Swarovski crystal beads to bump it up a notch!

INVITATIONS AND ATMOSPHERE

4. Sugar Paper Custom Cards and Invitations
Sugar Paper, a Los Angeles based company, specializes in customized invitations with a chic, hip and energetic vibe. Great for parties, holiday celebrations and gifts.

5. Chanukah Lounge CD
A real party favorite, The Chanukah Lounge cd is an eclectic mix of smooth-mood-inducing holiday classics by world renouned producers and Grammy award winning artists (Craig Taubman, Yuval Ron, Frank London, Scott Leader, The Afro-Semitic Experience and more).
Whether celebrating with family or throwing a holiday party with friends, kick back, chill and enjoy the Lounge.

Groovey Chanukah Lounge Tunes

FUN FOR KIDS

6. Hide the chocolate gelt
Holiday splendor can be found at the Mega M&M World stores playing with their incredibly addictive self-dispenser candy bins. Fill a bag or order online a Chanukah Holiday themed M&M chocolate mix. Splendid colors of light blue, dark blue, white and gray M&M's tied in bags are the perfect treasure hunt item this Chanukah.

7. Family Fish Bowl
Family Fish Bowl, a tradition begun by my grandfather,"Pop", is now a must-have for our family Chanukah celebration. Pop saved coins of all denominations throughout the year, to build his treasure chest for his grandchildren.

On the first night of Chanukah, after we've stuffed ourselves with yummy latkes and brisket, we couldn't wait to sit in the family room and dig into the Family Fish Bowl.

Pop used a standard goldfish bowl to fill his yearlong collection of coins (gelt). From youngest to oldest, each grandchild had a chance to dig for gold. Each child had two chances to dip their hand into the fish bowl and grab as many coins as their little hand could hold. There were rules, of course.
a. Palm must always face down
b. No scooping like a shovel
c. Hand must be withdrawn from the fish bowl without assistance

Imagine all the giggles and heckling when certain relatives (like my oldest brother, Scott) tried to scoop too much gelt and got his hand wedged in the neck of the fishbowl. Each child used a personally labeled cup to hold his/her cash of coins. If you were really lucky, you would need two cups! The competition grew when everbody dumped out their cups on the floor and starting counting to see who fished the most.

No matter how much time passes, we all look forward to Pop's fish bowl tradition. My nephew, Luke, cannot wait for Chanukah this year because Pop's family fish bowl was so much fun!

IT’S LATKE TIME

8. Potato Latkes with Applesauce or Creme Fraiche

Of course you cannot have a Chanukah Party without great latkes! My favorite recipe comes to us courtesy of Wolfgang Puck.

Potato Latkes Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck

Ingredients

8 medium potatoes, peeled
1 medium onion
Lemon juice
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 cup melted butter
Freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Watercress, to garnish
Caviar, to garnish
Applesauce, for garnish
Creme fraiche, for garnish

Grate potatoes and onions on a large-hole grater. Splash with lemon juice and squeeze out excess water. Mix flour, milk, egg, baking powder, and nutmeg. Add to the potatoes and then add the melted butter.

Heat some peanut oil in a skillet and fry until golden on one side. Flip, and cook the same way on the other.

Serve with watercress, caviar, applesauce, and creme fraiche.

Chanukah is a fun time of year to celebrate miracles, family, food and thanks. We'd love to hear about your family traditions and favorite recipes so remember to check-in with the Celebrations Community.

Happy Holidays!