Hanukkah helpers

By Heather Camlot

Looking for new ideas or traditional tales for Hanukkah? We’ve rounded up the best links to help you and your family celebrate the festival of lights.

Food and decor

• Looking for some culinary inspiration? Canadian Living offers a mix of traditional – potato latkes and sufganiyot – to novel, like lemon menorah cake and nutty halvah cheesecake.
• For even more tasty ideas try Allrecipes.com. The recipes give a new spin to traditional dishes – think vegetable and feta latkes and sugar-free rugelach.
• Where would we be without Martha Stewart? With more than 20 craft and decor projects, including DIY menorahs and paper dreidel boxes to choose from, you’ll be wondering how the eight days flew by so fast.
• For dressing up the dinner table, a rustic menorah or playful dreidel plates from Crate & Barrel will do the trick nicely, among other offerings from both furnishing stores.

Stories and traditions

• To learn the ABCs about Hanukkah, visit Aish.com, which not only explains in easy language, but also offers an animated video tutorial in lighting the candles and audio of the blessings.
• Caldecott Honor Book Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins takes the woeful tale of the Syrians denying the Jewish people the right to pray and turns it into a humorous and uplifting read with a mysterious twist.
• New to the market for 2010 is The Hanukkah Mice, about a family of mice who overhear a conversation about the holiday and decide to venture out of the mouse hole to learn more.

Music and entertainment

• If you’re looking for a new spin on Hanukkah music, Songs in the Key of Hanukkah may be your thing. A mix of klezmer, reggae, electronica, hip hop and pop, the 2008 album features five reworked traditional and five new songs written under the direction of Erran Baron Cohen, yep Sasha’s brother.
• For a more rocking holiday — with laughs — check out the LeeVees’ 2005 album Hanukkah Rocks. With titles like Applesauce vs. Sour Cream and How Do You Spell Chanukkahh? the album will definitely bring chuckles, and perhaps even some toe-tapping.
• Most people consider Hanukkah a kids’ holiday, so keep the little ones entertained with crafts, colouring pages and other activities.

Happy Hanukkah!

First published November 24, 2010, on WorkLivePlayCafe.com.