There are at Least 14 Ways to Spell It!
And here is an article explaining the most popular and the second most popular way to spell- Hanukkah or Chanukah? The Festival of Light.
Tuesday- the fourth night.
I was invited for potato latkes and the lighting of the Hanukkah candles at my friend’s house. We taught together these past 6 years until I moved to the high school this year. The first photo is her beautiful Menorah on the mantle. Her kids are grown up and out of town, too. She and her husband and I sat by there fire and then she lit the fourth candle. It gets dark so early now as we approach the shortest day of the year. The warmth of the fire and the glow from the colorful candles was lovely.
After we ate the latkes(served with sour cream and or applesauce) Ann lit the fourth candle.
We left for an adventure, traipsing around Squirrel Hill, Murray Avenue and Forbes. Up and down trying to decide where we should eat! At least it wasn’t raining. We had a nice evening, catching up on our families and school and mutual friends. When we walked by the Giant Eagle supermarket and a young man asked if we were Jewish and she said, yes and he asked if she had candles. Then we saw the table set up in front of the market with another young man cooking latkes on a griddle. They had applesauce available and their organization had a big sign on the Menorah. They told me they were “spreading light in the world.” I asked if it would be okay to blog them and they gathered to gather for a group shot. Pulled out the cell phone camera. Yep, my camera was back by Ann’s house in the back trunk of the car.
Thanks Ann for including me in the candle lighting and for taking me on a good healthy walk around the neighborhood to find the best dinner.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
—Robert Frost
Fire and Ice. Well, a candle and some cubes. Contrast.
Age of Aquarius
Went to a surprise 40th birthday party Saturday night. Half chocolate/half vanilla. Potomac Bakery made the cake. The icing edge was smiley face yellow. Her husband and sister pulled it off and I hope he takes my friend the birthday girl to the new restaurant Andora she thought she was going to try. I figured it out- I was a freshman in college when Erin was born! If you want to see what was happening in the world on her birthday, check out the Nov 16, 1970 issue of TIME.
Love the challenge of available light photography.
Book Club Held During Power Outage
It was all candles. Candles on the mantel, the table, the desk in the hall. It was very dark. I thought all of us looked great by candlelight. We discussed The Help and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The power was off for about two hours. Fortunately the night before I baked a Gateau di Sirop (recipe)with a bottle of Steen’s Cane Syrup. Baked Split Second Cookies with Bon Maman Fig Jam. Extra sharp cheddar and Honeycrisp apple slices. And Tess and Chris brought me a box of St. Moritz truffles from Oxford Centre downtown. Lovely. A gold box with an oval window in the middle. There’s a spider and a tiny dancer one and a pumpkin one and each one is delicately embellished. Just before everyone arrived, Laura had sent a picture on my phone of a lovely ring on a finger. Then she called. James Weaver asked her to marry him and she said YES. It was a happy night!
Tess told me every flavor and I promptly forgot almost all of them. Going to have to eat each one and be surprised,
Angel Food Celebration
Ten more days til the birthday but I won’t be in Columbus for the actual date. When Laura was little she called it ‘”cloud cake” Her favorite! The eager helpers, her nieces and nephews. Next frame or two Michael is up on the table helping to blow out the candles but it was so out of focus.
Window light, kitchen light, candlelight. Late in the day.
Eyeball Cake and the Happiest Birthday
Monday night Steve and I went to dinner at the Elbow Room (Pittsburgh) to celebrate his birthday. I asked him which of his birthdays was his happiest birthday ever. “Last year!” he said. We were out at Mark and Erika’s and the kids helped blow out the candles, eyeballs for the ophthalmologist. Laura had made the cake with the kids’ help decorating it. James made him a shirt with his favorite cat Fred sniffing the flowers. Mark gave him a book about Where They are Buried and Erika found some really nice summer shirts for him. It was a fun party. His best ever! The children really make life fun! Happy Birthday(2009) Steve.
Old Fashioned Rose Bouquet in Candlelight
Book club tonight, I hosted. And Then We Came to An End by Joshua Ferris. Recommend if you work in an office or a cubicle, author nails office culture and characters in an economic downturn, lots of seemingly authentic people inhabit the book. Well written. Joan brought a mixed berry pie from Patty’s Farm Market and some vanilla gelato. Sliced Pink Lady apples and Cabot sharp cheddar. Guacamole and white corn chips. Tess picked lovely roses from her garden and brought the bouquet in a vase. The smell permeated the living room. After everyone left, I lit a couple of candles to photograph them. There are more than 450 varieties of roses that start with the letter B. If you want to grow them click here
My Grandmother Hendricks crocheted the doily. I love that word.
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