But Hannah Did Not Have Potatoes! Latkes with a Tropical Twist.

The first night of Chanukkah is tomorrow, we have grandkids staying with us, they have already collected their Chanukkah gifts, and are looking forward to traditional delicacies. Here is one – happy Chanukkah, Beautiful People!

koolkosherkitchen

Chanukkahis coming, and kids are looking forward to stuffing their faces withlatkes– potato pancakes. When I was growing up, we had all kinds oflatkesonChanukkah, and sometimes my grandmother skipped thederuny(potatolatkes) altogether because of the variety of other, more interesting ones: carrots with apples, zucchini with raisins, and my father’s favoriterechene(buckwheat)latkes. When a guest inquired about the missing “traditional” kind, she would say, “But Hannah did not have potatoes.” Two burning questions of my childhood were: who was Hannah and why, oh why, couldn’t she get potatoes?

This is the story I put together at the age of about four. In the ancient times, there was a mean king who didn’t want anybody in his kingdom to be Jewish. He sent his soldiers to the Jewish Temple (Temple? we had a Temple? where?) and ordered them…

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