Latkes, Vodka, and More

One of the best parts about being an interfaith couple (that sounds so official, doesn't it) is that it seems like there is always a celebration around the corner, especially this time of year when we get to partake in Hanukkah and Christmas. Admittedly, Hanukkah has pretty much taken a back seat for us in years past...what can I say, the Jewish girl was so excited to FINALLY get to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the world. But, with this being baby boy's first Hanukkah, Josh and I decided to do it up this year and host our first ever Hanukkah party, appropriately entitled "Vodka and Latkes: Hanukkah with the Hobbs Family."

While a google search for Christmas decor, menus, etc. will yield you millions of results, a similar search for Hanukkah related ideas will unsurpisingly leave you with lackluster findings, so I decided to take it upon myself to share with you the details of our little Hanukkah shindig. First, the menu:

Appetizers:

Feta Foldovers

Hummus and pita crackers

Meal:

BBQ Brisket

Pizza bagels

Latkes (potato pancakes) with applesauce and sour cream

Kugel

Broccoli Salad

Desserts:

Oreo Truffles

Suphganiot (doughnuts without holes)

The food was pretty much completely eaten (with the exception of the pizza bagles which I left "warming" in the oven a little too long and they took on an unappealing maroon color...oops, you live, you learn).

As for decor, I already shared with you most of our Hanukkah upgrades right here.
To complete our look, then, all I did was add a menorrah centerpiece to the table.

I suck and always forget to take pictures during the actual event, so you will have to trust me that it looked much better all lit (well the first 3 candles and the middle shamash candle since it was the third night). All I did was wrap two Coke 12 packs in aluminum foil for the base. Then I purchased eight small votive holders from Target ($1 each) and a bigger, sparkly white candle, also from Target ($4) and voila...a menorrah! Again, it looks pretty lame here in its day after glory, but all lit up and surrounded by the food platters, it was actually quite perfect!

Finally, there was the actual party. It's funny to me how many people asked me in the days leading up to our party what we would do at a Hanukkah party. Well...hmmm...you eat, you drink, you light the menorrah (which takes about 2.4 seconds), and then you open some presents. Because most of the people at our party only knew a few others, we decided to do an open gift exchange. Everyone brought a gift...we had made a spending limit of $10...and then picked numbers once they got here. Once the numbers were picked, people simply went in order to make their gift selections. It seemed to work pretty well, and I think it made it a little more fun that each person got to go home with a little something.

Overall, it was a really fun party, and something I am very glad we did. Hopefully, we will repeat it for years to come and have a nice little ***Jewish***tradition to pass down to our son.

So...how bout you all? What fun holiday happenings did you partake in this weekend? Anybody else have some Hanukkah fun? Please share; I love hearing from you