Lights,
Camera, Latkes!
As I write this, I am still in recovery mode from the
second night of Hanukkah, which we celebrated with brisket, latkes, cookies,
candy, candles and—wait for it—three, 3-year olds.
The blue and silver wrapping
paper carnage was EPIC.
The hardest part of the evening was getting my
husband into the family room with his super-duper digital camera to take
pictures. The kids were very patient, waiting for permission to tear into their
packages full of the latest Batman toys, a baby doll, the new Hess firetruck,
and stacks of ready-to-assemble crafts projects in anticipation of the coming
months. The mothers frantically picked
up wrapping paper and tiny parts to keep them away from our two dogs. The kids
compared toys and used the firetruck to keep the Scooby-Do Haunted House to
keep from burning down. Did I mention it was a bit of mayhem?
Too soon, the fun came to an end. Gifts and
leftovers were packed up. The little ones were dressed in their pajamas and
jackets, ready to fall asleep in their car seats on the way home. As she hugged
me, my daughter-in-law said, “Don’t forget, I need that latke recipe!”
Latkes, in case you don’t know, are potato pancakes,
fried in oil. The holiday celebrates the Maccabees
(the Hebrew word for “hammer”) victory over the Greeks who wanted the Jews to
reject their one G-d and worship pagan gods. When the Jews reclaimed the
Temple, they found only enough uncontaminated oil to light the menorah for one
night. Instead, the oil lasted for eight nights, a miracle. On each of the
eight nights of Hanukkah, we light candles to commemorate this miracle. We also
cook in oil to remember the special oil in the lamp. Some families make donuts.
We make latkes.
Everyone’s family has a different recipe. Now I’m
seeing recipes for latkes with jalapeno peppers! My mother-in-law, may she rest
in peace, would not approve. Herewith, I share with you two of my
mother-in-law’s recipes for Hanukkah, brisket and latkes.
Brisket
Slow Cooker Style
(Serves
4-6 hungry people)
3-4
pounds brisket
Large
container Paprika
One
large onion
One
1 pound bag carrots
6
Beef bouillon cubes
6
Cups water (depends on size of cooker)
Horseradish
Place
peeled carrots on bottom of slow cooker.
Place
chopped onions in slow cooker on top of carrots.
Coat
brisket in Paprika and place on top of onions.
Put
in 6 beef bouillon cube and pour 6 cups of water around everything. Cover and
simmer on medium/high for 8-10 hours–depending on your slow cooker.
Serve
on a large platter with side of horseradish.
Latkes
(Serves small army, but remember you want
leftovers!)
5
pound bag of white potatoes
2
large sweet onions
1
large container of egg substitute
Black
pepper
Olive
oil for cooking (lots—don’t skimp or the latkes will stick!)
Sour
cream
Applesauce
Using
food processor or hand grater, grate onions and set aside in large bowl. (You
will cry.) Drain onions and pat with paper towels. They make a lot of water!
Peel
potatoes and place in large bowl or pot of salted water to prevent them from
turning colors.
Cut
potatoes into chunks and grate in food processor or by hand. (Oy! That’s a lot
of work. Sure you can’t borrow a food processor from someone?)
Mix
onions, potatoes, and egg substitute until all potatoes and onions are covered
well with egg. You probably won’t need the entire container. Throw in black
pepper to your taste.
Heat
olive oil in frying pan. You want it hot, not smoking, but hot.
Place
large spoons full of latke mix in pan and turn when golden brown (you will see
it on turn color on the edges).
Serve
latkes hot with a generous dollop of sour cream and/or applesauce.
I hope you enjoy the recipes. More importantly, I
hope you enjoy your time with your families, whatever you celebrate.
Happy healthy holidays to all!
Kiss of the Virgin Queen
Kiss of the Jinni Hunter Series
Book Two
Sharon Buchbinder
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: October 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5092-0392-5 Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-5092-0393-2 Digital
ASIN: B015ATFQTA
Number of pages: 300
Word Count: 75K
Cover Artist: Rae Monet
Book Description:
Homeland Security Special Agent Eliana Solomon is on a mission to prevent terrorist attacks. Hard enough to do when the threats are human, almost impossible when it's an evil, shape shifting jinni. Eliana needs help so she calls the sexy and beguiling psychiatrist, Arta Shahani. However, no matter how good he is at his job, the man is on her blacklist. On their last case together, the guy left her for dead.
Arta is stunned when he receives Eliana’s call. Forced to abandon the woman he loves, he now fears she won’t accept his shape-shifting skills as a Persian Lion. Eliana, in the meantime discovers she is a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba with special powers of her own. But will her skill and Arta's be enough to defeat the jinni, or will they lose the love history decreed for them as well as their lives in this battle of good versus evil?
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/4ONWBeBZXlw
Short
intro:
This full length novel is the second in the enthralling new Jinni Hunter series
from award-winning author, Sharon Buchbinder. Edgy and suspenseful, this
paranormal romance series explores diverse cultures and an array of
supernatural beings. Join the Special Agents of the Anomaly Defense Division as
they race to save humanity—and the people they love.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Summertown,
West Virginia, U.S.A., Present Day
A picturesque
flight over the Appalachian Mountains to Summertown, West Virginia gave Special
Agent Eliana Solomon of the Homeland Security, Science and Technology
Directorate, Anomaly Defense Division time to process the urgent report she’d
received by email. Up until this week, the existence of werewolf packs had been
concealed from the general population. Now reports of the secretive shape
shifters exploded in her inbox. Where had this information been all this time?
Had the government monitored them all along? If so, why had her boss, Bert
Blackfeather, insisted on her obtaining proof of their existence, along with
the jinnis? She’d pry an answer out of that closed mouth man—someday. Right
now, she had a more pressing matter at hand.
Five days ago,
three nine-year-old werewolf boys and their three eighteen-year-old sisters
went on a birthday expedition in the heavily wooded state wildlife area and
disappeared. By day, local human authorities, volunteers, and bloodhounds
brought in from surrounding jurisdictions combed the forest, the hills, and
caves. By night, pack members ran through the forest using their extraordinary
senses—olfactory, visual, and auditory—to hunt for their missing kin. Divers
also explored the waterways, all to no avail. No clues to the kids’ whereabouts
had been found, not even a backpack—until two this morning.
A night security
guard discovered the boys in the middle of the Adalwolf Winery parking lot.
Slightly bruised and scratched up, but otherwise alive and well, in their human
forms, the youngsters had no
recollection of anything between arriving at the park and waking up in
the parking lot with their back packs under their heads—their five-day-old
lunches untouched.
Rushed to the ER
and examined thoroughly, the boys displayed no evidence of physical abuse. The
blank space in their minds where the memories should have been was inaccessible
to parents and psychologists. If it weren’t for the fact that the three older
girls were still missing, the local authorities wouldn’t continue to press the
boys for information. Over time, their memories could return, but without
ransom notes, calls or clues, the clock was running down for a successful
search and rescue. The local police, state troopers, sheriff’s office, and the
West Virginia Bureau of Investigation feared the operation would soon become a
search and recovery.
The plane
touched down, bounced along the runway, and Eliana’s cell began to vibrate.
“Solomon.”
The gruff voice
of her boss boomed in her ear. “New development in the case.” Blackfeather
paused. “A hiker found one of the missing girls in a culvert near an abandoned
mine. Bites, claw marks. Throat ripped open. Damn thing nearly tore her head
off.”
She shuddered.
“Black bear?”
“Based on the
paw prints around the body, the first responders are saying these weren’t bear
bites. More like a dog—or wolf.”
“Boss, aside
from zoos and wild animal preserves, there are no wolves in the eastern U.S.”
He sighed. “I
stand corrected. Werewolf.”
Her stomach lurched,
and she gripped the armrest so hard her knuckles turned white. Shit. Shit.
Shit. A werewolf attacking one of its own? Why? What the hell was going on?
“West Virginia
Division of Homeland Security has a car waiting for you, fully loaded with
everything you’ll need for the investigation. Get to that scene.” Her boss
clicked off.
Bossy desk
jockey.
A flush of shame
rushed over her. He’d taken on the orphan Anomaly Defense Division of the
Science and Technology Directorate that no one else wanted, along with a
mission no one else supported or believed in. As abrupt and abrasive as he
could be, the Gulf War veteran deserved credit for giving her the opportunity
to pursue what everyone else thought was something out of the tales of The
Arabian Nights: jinnis. With the needed proof of werewolves and jinnis from
Project Aladdin, support surged into the division. A stable funding source made
her jinni hunting work possible So far, it seemed wherever there were
werewolves, there was jinni activity.
This case was no
different. According to the report, relationships between the local humans and
werewolves were more than cordial. They were so intermarried, almost everyone
was family. A large non-denominational wedding facility placed Summertown on an
international list of destination weddings, like Hawaii and Las Vegas, but
specifically for werewolves. A thriving bed and breakfast trade supported the
wedding industry, along with other leisure activities, such as biking, hiking,
white-water rafting, and winery and sightseeing tours. Murder of a werewolf
girl wasn’t just bad for the family, it was bad for the town.
About the Author:
Sharon Buchbinder has been writing fiction since middle school and has the rejection slips to prove it. An RN, she provided health care delivery, became a researcher, association executive, and obtained a PhD in Public Health. When not teaching or writing, she can be found fishing, walking her dogs, or breaking bread and laughing with family and friends in Baltimore, MD and Punta Gorda, FL.
Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001IODIE2
Twitter ID @sbuchbinder https://twitter.com/sbuchbinder
Instagram: https://instagram.com/sharon_buchbinder/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sbuchbinder/
Goodreads author page https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4417344.Sharon_Buchbinder
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1 comment:
Thank you for hosting my Queen. Happy holidays!!
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