Looks like we need to prepare our stomachs — Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are a day apart this year! I am so excited to kick off the holiday season with two of my absolute favorite and most personally meaningful holidays. Hanukkah and Thanksgiving are both such warm, family-oriented holidays that happen to also involve the BEST possible food! The traditions that I have with my family are special to me, and are what make the holidays unique and FabULyss for me and those closest to me. I would love to share with you what my family and I love to do on these two very special holidays.
This holiday will not happen for another 70,000 years, so they say. So celebrate, with Manischewitz-brined turkey; a cornucopia of gelt; pecan pie rugalach; potato pancakes with cranberry sauce; and lots more DeLysscious holiday treats.
Some of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving traditions are:
A big breakfast, and then head over to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade here in Manhattan. My boys love seeing the new floats every year.
After the Thanksgiving meal, everyone writes down on a piece of paper something he is thankful for. The slips of paper are folded up and placed in a pretty basket. We then draw each piece of paper out, read it aloud, and try to guess who wrote it. (The kids used to draw pictures before they could write.)
My sister is the best cook in the world. Every year she prepares the Thanksgiving feast for two days prior in my apartment.
My boys love being her sous chefs. When things are settled in the kitchen, we watch “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.”
Some of my family’s Hanukkah traditions are:
We always play dreidel the first night of Hanukkah, and whoever wins gets to light the first candle of the menorah.
We always have the most De-Lysscious jelly doughnuts for Hanukkah in our apartment, and of course, yummy latkes. We try and have one or two each night of Hanukkah.
We always listen to Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song” on the first night of Hanukkah as we open the first night of gifts.
I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek into the holidays at the Stern house; sharing these traditions made me doubly excited for the upcoming holiday season.
I hope that every DivaMom has a meaningful holiday season, and remembers that memories and traditions are absolutely everything; they are what bind a family together for generations and are what your DivaTots will pass onto their children one day. Enjoy the family, friends, fun, and, of course, the food this season!
