Happy Hanukkah!

Most religious, ethnic, or cultural practices call for some sort of celebration of winter. This year for those around the world who are Jewish Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 1st lasting through sundown December 9th. Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights. I find it amusing that the first day of the Dark Days Challenge falls on the first night of Hanukkah. Gail and I will be lighting candles tonight to mark the occasion. We won't be exchanging gifts because we traded presents a few days before thanksgiving. I was given mine early because it contained something alive and she got hers because I am bad at keeping a secret and the package had arrived!

We both went for the practical and very useful for our gifts to each other. Along with a beautiful wallet Gail got me this awesome set from King Arthur Flour! The set comes with a small bit of sourdough starter that must be fed and a gorgeous stoneware crock to store the starter while it's in the fridge.

In my quest to improve my baking, especially bread making skills I will definitely use the starter many times. The crock will undoubtedly get used. Also, it just looks great sitting on our kitchen table:

I too went the practical and kitchen related route when picking out Gail's gift:

I got her the above set of 3 Cherry & Black Walnut handmade cutting boards from Brad Englehardt of Kingston, NH. The rest of his work can be seen at knotagain.com. On the homepage Brad states:

At Knot-Again, we try to use as much reclaimed wood as possible, and wood that other woodworkers may not consider for their projects because they do not like the wood character. This in turn creates savings for you, the customer, and lessens the burden on the environment.

Supporting a local business that strives to lessen their impact on the environment is a noble idea and I am proud to support Mr. Englehardt whom I had the pleasure of meeting briefly this summer at the Newburyport, MA farmers market on my drive back home from a wedding. I was immediately impressed with the quality and craftsmanship of his work.

With Hanukkah coming so early this year we will be done with our holiday gift exchanging long before some people have even started their shopping. The gift giving is nice, but the nicest part is spending time with family and loved ones....and all the great food!!!

Look for a Hanukkah themed food post soon, I'll be doing research for the next few nights!