When it comes to celebrating the Jewish holidays
there is one motto that we live by. “We
fought. We won. We eat! “. I guess you
are aware by now that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fell out on the same day this
year. Now, that’s a whole lot of
eating! How did I handle the two days
of gorging? I combined the traditional
foods.
Venturing to Fairway Market in Douglaston I started
with the fowl. Although they had fresh
turkeys that are antibiotic-free, I’m not a fan of turkey so I opted for a nice
size (what exactly is “a nice size”?) kosher chicken. Having learned from a Fairway cooking event,
I prepared a stuffing separate from the young bird (which should have been
fried in oil…to remind us). I switched
to using Challah bread, of course.
Yams, sweet potatoes…I don’t really know the
difference. I made fried-in-oil sweet
potato latkes (pancakes) and topped them with a cranberry-apple sauce. Bought cranberries and apples. Fairway has a pretty good variety of
organic. Testing out gala, pink lady
and fuji to see which is sweeter.
I know I could buy ready-made chicken broth but I
prefer to make my own. Grabbed a
package of chicken backs which has the chicken fat that I need to make chopped
liver. A chicken-corn soup was the outcome. As for the chopped liver, I thought about shaping it into a pilgrim and
placing a sign reading, “What am I…chopped liver?” Unable to locate a turkey-shaped menorah, I
opted for using candles of orange, brown and red.
The truth is if it weren’t for it being Hanukkah a
couple of lobsters would have commemorated Thanksgiving. After all, the Pilgrims first landed in
Provincetown, MA and there were no turkeys to be found.
Experimenting with cold-brewed coffee, I purchased a
Fairway blend (light roast) and a hazelnut flavored one. Coarsely ground, I placed the coffee in a
large bottle and added a bit more cold water than the amount of coffee and let
it stand out for about 16 hours. I then
strained it and placed the coffee into a different jar. However, this now becomes a concentrated
coffee which means that you have to add water or milk when you use it. It can be heated as well.
Rooibos tea is my choice of herbal (not made from
tea leaves). Not many supermarkets have
a variety of loose teas, if any. How
could I resist a rooibos with cranberry and orange for this occasion?
Making my way to the frozen food section for ice
cream, I noticed another new Fairway item.
Frozen shrimp. Not just any
frozen shrimp. “No chemicals”. OMG. There are chemicals added to shrimp? I will research this. I did see another brand alongside that had
something added. Look for a future
article with the 101 on what you’re consuming.
Over at the meat
department there is a sale on beef.
Porterhouse steaks are about $8 per lb.
Why would you also get a Porterhouse for about $30
per lb? The former is an angus USDA “choice”
while the latter is a “prime aged” steak.
How much of a difference in flavor, texture, and quality? I’ll test it out.
The first night of Hanukkah fell the night before
Thanksgiving thus the first big meal commenced.
Breakfast needed smoked fish.
Instead of lox I opted for a white fish chub…smaller ilk. With Fairway having a sushi making stop, I
couldn’t resist whatever was on sale…just for a nosh.
Dessert.
What’s this? A gelato called
Fiasco? Interesting flavors and
certainly not a run of the mill gelato (“run of the mill”…must look up
origin). Produced in Maine. Impressive packaging. Not only is it in a jar, it’s sealed across
the top and then sealed around the top in plastic. Great for one who is paranoid about someone
else having opened the lid to check it out…like me. Probably should have eaten fried ice
cream…to remind us.
What
am I thankful for? Oy, the invention of
seltzer and knowing that the phenomena will not occur until something like the
year 27798. You don’t believe me? Hang around and find out.
