Maccabee Meals: Food and Fun for Hanukkah

By: Judye Groner & Madeline Wikler
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing
Publication Date: August 2012
ISBN: 978-0761351443
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: June 2012

Holiday times are festive times and it’s the perfect time to get your children involved. Creative cooking, crafting, and sharing ones heritage is the perfect way to create fun and memorable family traditions. Need something to put that cookie sheet on while they are cooling? No problem because you’ll find the directions for making a simple hot plate. How about something to hold your trail mix after you whip up a batch? The crafting section of this book has some nifty origami cups to put it in or, if you prefer, these can be used to play dreidel.

Young aspiring cooks will not only learn to make typical Hanukkah fare such as latkes or sufganiyot, but also new things that give the holiday season a bit of modern flare. For example, in preparation for the Rosh Chodesh twilight supper, the more experienced cook could whip up a batch of Tex-Mex latkes for a change. Mouthwatering recipes are presented throughout this book for several occasions from the informal brunch and pajama party to the more formal Shabbat dinner.

This is a fun, exciting book of recipes and crafts children can enjoy during Hanukkah. A bit of Hanukkah history prefaces the book and full-page sidebars are interspersed throughout the book giving additional mini-historical lessons. For example, we learn about the Hannukkah Midrash, the Hunnukkat Habayit, and the Hanukkah Moon. Kitchen tips are given and symbols illustrate how the cookbook can be used. For example, dreidel symbols indicate the degree of difficulty and indicate meat, dairy, are parve recipes. Peppy artwork livens up the pages. In the back of the book you will learn how to light the candle, learn how to play dreidel, make table and Hanukkah decorations, and you learn a bit of “party etiquette.”

Quill says: If you want to liven up your Hannukah celebration, this is the perfect book to help your children join in on the fun!