Fourth night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the fourth night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 4.

'Tis the season for big family dinners, which I'm actually about to head off to do. A few years ago, in yet another article that isn't available online anymore (hey newspapers, great use of the infinite storage of the new electronic medium), Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press had a piece about the Red Wings players' Thanksgiving traditions. I know, Thanksgiving was last month, but roll with me on the food theme.

In the Schneider clan, at least on that big food day, Mathieu is the cook. Here is the related section I archived on the original Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage (see November 24, 2005):

"I actually do cook the turkey every year. My wife's busy baby-sitting all the kids. It's never a sit-down dinner, though -- it's just kind of chaos once the turkey gets on the table." Do all of the turkeys he cooks turn out great? Well... "It's kind of hit-and-miss, to tell you the truth. I've had a couple good ones and a couple real bad ones, just very dry. It's an art, obviously. I think if I had some more time, I could really, really improve my cooking skills." Overall, though, "it's fun, I enjoy it and everything that goes along with it, the whole day."

But can he make killer latkes? It is not Christmas in my life until the Weinsteins, my neighbors and second family, make latkes. Mr. Weinstein is by far the best latke maker ever. I have his exact recipe, and I can't get them as good as him.

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)