Candy Dish Blog

The dreidel game I grew up playing was a gambling game. I suppose this fell under North Carolina’s anti-gambling laws and perhaps I am guilty of some crime, but it was worth it for the fun. We never played for money – that wasn’t the point. The fun was trying to win some Hanukkah gelt – gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins whose value, unlike the currency of adults, depended on the size and shininess and the knowledge that a nice little treat was right under the wrapper.

My Jewish Learning has some great instructions on how to play this game. The basic requirements are a dreidel and something to win. If you have no gelt, you can play for other chocolates and candies. Every player puts a coin in the pot and take turns spinning the top. The four sides of the dreidel tell you whether to take half the pot, take the whole pot, put into it, or do nothing. The game ends when nobody wants to lose any more chocolates to the person winning or else has eaten all their fake money. I am usually in the latter category.

If you are really feeling lucky, you can join the Major League Dreidel competition at Fontana’s on Sunday night in New York’s Lower East Side. Every Major League Dreidel competition raises money and awareness for various Jewish organizations and charities.

One warning though – the rules change when you enter the big leagues. This is basically a dreidel endurance contest. How long does your dreidel spin, versus your opponent’s? Check out the full rules before entering, as this is a whole different game. But if you bring yourself, bring your game face too. I suspect the transition to the big leagues in this game is much like stepping up from AAA baseball – an entirely different level of competition.

Are you going? Let us know how it plays out!

Dreidel by mjfajardo

A couple of years ago, NCA wanted to enhance its collection of recipes and we had a little contest among our staff members and the employees of our public relations firm.  Our staff is pretty small, but our PR firm, Fleishman-Hillard, is pretty big so we received a lot of entries.

Of all we received, this was one of my favorites.  It was submitted by a Fleishman employee in St. Louis.  With Hanukkah right around the corner, you won’t want to waste any time in preparing it.  Take my advice and buy enough ingredients for two batches because once you taste the first one, you’ll start work on the second one immediately. 

Each recipe makes two Mandel loaves so you’ll have plenty to drop off at the neighbor’s house, take a hostess gift or give to your co-worker as a present (ahem).

Toffee Mandel Bread

Mandel bread, or Mandelbrot, is a firm, slightly sweet baked good. It is served during many Jewish holidays, including Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah.

This delightful take on the traditional bread is sure to sweeten up your family’s Hanukkah celebration.

You will need:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp sugar, reserved
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 cups flour
• 5 coarsely chopped chocolate-covered toffee bars

Directions:

• Mix eggs, 1 cup sugar (be sure to set aside the final 2 tsp for later), oil, vanilla, baking powder and salt.
• Using a wooden spoon gradually add flour until well mixed
• Add chopped toffee bars
• Place dough into two greased loaf pans and sprinkle each with reserved teaspoons of sugar
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes
• Remove and cut into slices
• Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes
• Remove when finish and let cool before serving

We are down to the wire here, with Hanukkah starting next Sunday, the 21st, at sundown. There’s not much time left to buy supplies, make latkes and clean the wax off the hanukkiah (try this stuff – I am told it works miracles). But many people still wonder – what is Hanukkah? Here is a little more explanation for folks who are not as familiar with it.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated around the world to commemorate the victory of the Jews over the Hellenist Syrians in 165 BCE. Following their victory, the Maccabees, who led the Jews in their revolt, entered the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to reclaim it from the Syrians and to rededicate it to the service of God. Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for dedication or consecration. To light the temple, they needed oil blessed by a priest, which would take a trip of eight days to acquire. They only had enough consecrated oil to light the temple for one evening but miraculously, this oil burned for eight nights until someone could return with the blessed oil. This is the miracle of Hanukkah.

To commemorate this miracle, candles are placed in a hanukkiah, which is a type of menorah or candelabrum with holes for nine candles. Eight of these candles represent the eight days of Hanukkah and the ninth is the Shamash, which is the candle used to light the other candles. The Shamash is lit first and then used to light the other candles. Each night of Hanukkah sees a new set of candles. They are placed in the holders starting on the right and then lit starting on the left. The first night only one candle is lit, the second night two are lit, and so on until the eighth night, which can look like quite a blaze! Prayers are recited and the lights are enjoyed for their beauty and never used for any purpose except as a reminder of God’s blessings.

Hanukkah is a joyful family celebration during which gifts are exchanged, children play games, and traditional foods, such as latkes (potato pancakes) or sufganiyot (Israeli jelly doughnuts) are served. The foods of Hanukkah are often fried in oil, which is associated with the oil in the Temple lamps. Another popular Hanukkah treat is gelt, which are chocolates in the shape of gold coins.

Children play dreidel, a game of luck, with a toy that spins like a top. The dreidel has four sides and each side contains a Hebrew letter that represents the first word in a Hebrew phrase meaning, “a great miracle happened there.” In Israel, where the great miracle actually happened, the last letter is different, standing for, “here,” instead of, “there.” The origin of this game is uncertain. Some believe that it dates back to ancient India and others believe that the dreidel was a playful teaching tool during times when Jews were not allowed to practice or study, and thus had to hide their faith.

Are you planning a Hanukkah party or even just a small family celebration? What do you have in store to make it a fun, meaningful occasion?

Hanukkah by drurydrama.

Yesterday, Carl showed us the best ways to choose candy gifts for everyone on our list.  If you already have a gift you think is pretty perfect, today we offer some ideas on how to make it even sweeter.

It’s easy to get creative about pairing candy with a gift to make it more memorable (and delicious!). Here are some ideas to get started.

Pamper a loved one with a spa service like a facial or fancy pedicure
Wrap the spa certificate inside a luxurious towel along with a relaxing CD, a gourmet dark chocolate bar and an aromatherapy candle (peppermint is a mood lifter and helps improve mental clarity, alertness and concentration).

Give a membership to the local gym
Tuck the membership card inside a sports duffel bag – don’t forget a water bottle, new sneakers, energy gum or mints and a portable music player for those high-energy tunes.

Treat a movie lover to a gift certificate to the local theater or movie store
Place the card inside an empty popcorn bucket with a few boxes of movie-theater style candy and a film trivia book or encyclopedia.

Serve up a themed gift to the coffee lover
A fancy coffee maker (maybe one of those one-cup-at-a time models?) will be appreciated even more when it comes with a couple of large coffee mugs, a pound of beans, a small grinder and some chocolate-covered espresso beans or coffee-flavored chocolates. For a personal touch, hand-dip heavy-weight, clear plastic spoons in melted chocolate and place on wax paper to dry. Remove from wax paper and wrap in a glassine bag or envelope you’ve made from more wax paper.

Pair a gift of travel with regional foods and gifts
Planning to give someone a trip for the holidays? Offer the recipient clues and make them guess the destination. For example, if you’re going to San Francisco, you can include chop sticks (the city boasts the largest Chinatown in the U.S.), a box of Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco treat) and a few Ghiradelli Chocolate squares (and be sure to visit Ghiradelli Square once you get to town). A little Internet research should yield regional candies for just about any location.

Indulge the explorer
Pair binoculars and a globe or atlas with candies from around the world, or get more specific and focus on one country with maps, foods and crafts native that culture. Look online to find out what foods are enjoyed in the location you chose and what kinds of handmade items they have.

Give to the green-thumbed gardener
In a big flower pot, assemble flower or vegetable seeds, gardening gloves and tools, gummi worms, and chocolate-covered seeds, nuts or berries. Tuck in some foil-wrapped chocolate flowers and tell the recipient that even though it might be too cold outside for flowers, there’s no reason not to enjoy them inside this winter.