Hanukah for New Beginers: Hosting your Family

Are you interested in hosting a Hanukah Party but are clueless about the details? Do you enjoy the latkes but don't know how to make them? Read on to find great ideas and recipes for your next Hanukah bash.

• Oh! Dreidel

For this party you need not scratch your head to find games that will entertain everyone. This holiday has a built in ready to play game; the dreidel. It will cost you some pennies, and its lots of fun to play, trust me. You can find dreidels in any Judaica store or find them online at Eichlers.com. Here are the rules for playing. Assemble everyone in a circle and hand everyone a predetermined amount of pennies (anything from 5-20 pennies depending on how long you want the game to last). Select one person as the banker and they are in charge of collecting and distributing pennies. The bank should have in its possession about double the amount than you have given everyone. Take turns spinning the dreidel and watch on which letter it falls on.

1. Nun=nisht: you get nothing

2. Gimmel=get: you get everything that is in the bank except the last coin, all other players give one coin to the bank.

3. Hei=halb: you take half of what is in the bank

4. Shin=shtel tzirik: give one penny to the bank

The game ends when the bank is left with nothing. The person with the highest amount of pennies is the winner. You can play dreidel with coins, small candies, jellies, chocolate chips, anything really.

• Latke, Latke

Does the word latke conjure memories of your Bubby standing over the hot stove with a smile across her face? Jews the world over have warm memories of their Bubby slaving in the kitchen frying potato after potato. Today, the kosher celebrity chefs like Jamie Geller and Susie Fishbein have produced tri color latke recipes and other gourmet creations. You can find their recipes online or purchase the cookbooks. Here is a traditional recipe passed down from my Bubbe Shaindel.

5 potatoes peeled

1. 3 eggs

2. ¼ cup oil

3. 2 Tablespoons flour

4. Oil for frying

Mix the eggs, oil and flour in a mixing bowl. Grate the potatoes either with a food processor or by hand. Heat the oil and fry by the Tablespoon full. After 2 minutes check if the latke is brown on one side and flip to cook the other side. Transfer to a big plate lined with towel paper to absorb the excess oil. Serve immediately with either sour cream or apple sauce.

• Involve Everyone

No one likes to be left with a huge mess after the guests have left. A good idea is to announce cleanup time when everyone is still there. Hand someone the bagless canister vacuum cleaner and direct them to the carpet. Ask the children to collect all decorations. Your guests will feel better if they are included in the cleanup process, adults and children alike. My Grandma Bettie used to hand out cleaning items to everyone in sight after each party and the guests loved her for it. They joked that they came for the cleanup rather than for the party. Your bagless canister vacuum cleaner might even steal the show!

Everyone will go home with great memories and a good feeling to boot.