Thanksgiving Reflections

I have no memory of spending a single Thanksgiving at my parents' house when I was a child or even as an adult. I don't remember my mother ever preparing a turkey, though in a tattered, notebook filled with her handwritten, stained and sometimes unreadable recipes, there are several for turkey, along with side dishes obviously linked to the holiday, such as baked cranberry relish and pumpkin pie; clearly, we always went to someone else's house for this quintessential American holiday.

A well-worn page from my mother's notebook, with recipes for
coffee cake, pineapple tsimmes, stuffed cabbage and a jello mold

My parents were immigrants--my mother from Glasgow, Scotland, and my father from Karlsruhe, Germany--and the holidays that filled our house with food and family were usually the Jewish ones--Hanukkah, Passover and Friday night sabbath. The foods that my mother prepared evoked a mix of Jewish, English and occasionally German or Russian traditions: roast beef, fish and chips, red cabbage and apples, bagels and lox, mandelbrot (a dry almond cookie that's quite similar to a biscotti), rhubarb pie and a constant staple at our house, pound cake with candied ginger. Most of the recipes in the dilapidated notebook carry the names of relatives and friends who shared them with my mother.

A family celebration in my parents' backyard in Palo Alto

Flipping through the pages is like taking a stroll down an echoey hallway hearing voices from a long-vanished past filled with parties, laughter and, always, delicious, bountiful food. At a time of year when it's hard not to wax nostalgic for distant celebrations and loved ones who are no longer with us, my mother remains a constant presence and inspiration in the kitchen, even when I make recipes that were never in her repertoire and prepare to celebrate the coming holidays with another generation of friends and relations. Isn't this what Thanksgiving is all about?

My beautiful mother Flora in 1963

Thanksgivukkah: Rare 2-in-1 Holiday Mash-up

A Thanksgivvukah poster from the people at Modern Tribe,

Last year, Hanukkah arrived about two weeks after Thanksgiving--and for me that was already too soon. We'd just had our traditional family feast at my mother-in-law's house--and before I could take a breath, I was up to my elbows in potato latkes, brisket and rugelach for my annual Hanukkah gathering. This year, the schedule's even more challenging. For the first time in 125 years, the first day of Hanukkah coincides with Thanksgiving. Oy!

Menurkeys are hot right now.
 (Photo credit: New York Times) 

The Web is alive with stories of this rare holiday mash-up. It's even got its own name--Thanksgivukkah--along with Facebook and Twitter accounts and a Wikipedia entry. There are Thanksgivukkah cards, posters, coloring books, even a rap song and Thanksgivukkah-themed nails. A turkey-shaped menorah called a Menurkey, dreamed up by a precocious 9-year-old kid from New York City, is flying off the Internet--not to mention the little ditty that goes along with it ("Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, come light the Menurkey. Once in a lifetime, the candles meet the turkey."). There's even a parody trailer in which the twofer celebration gets extended for eight days, with two families--one Jewish, one gentile--locked together in turkey/latke hell.

 YouTube Video screen shot of Thanksgivukkah gone amok.

Since the two holidays apparently won't coincide again until the year 79811, Thanksgivukkah has become a magnet for media, marketers, comedians and, yes, food bloggers like yours truly. What could be more fun than trying to dream up a menu that combines the flavors of these two food-centric holidays? After all, they're eminently compatible--more, I think, than Christmas and Hanukkah, two holidays that we're used to seeing converge at the end of December. The possibilities are endless, and dozens of recipes are popping up on the Web: Manischewitz-brined turkey, challah chestnut stuffing and pumpkin tsimmes are just a few that caught my attention.

Thanksgivukkah Pumpkin Tsimmes from food writer Jennie Schacht

I haven't yet figured what to bring to my mother-in-law's and whether to tone down my Hanukkah party--or ignore the calendar and delay the celebration until late December--when perhaps we'll toast the usual Chrismukkah mash-up instead. But ultimately, tradition must triumph (in this case, two traditions!), so we will have our latkes and turkey on November 28, perhaps mixing some cranberries into the applesauce and adding a pinch of pumpkin spice. Then later, a post-Hanukkah celebration. We might call it Un-Hanukkah and hold it in the holiday-free pause between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I'm covering my bets by buying a Menurkey and some candles in varying shades of pumpkin. Oh, yes, and a turkey dreidel!

Gobble tov!