Throughout this blog post are pictures of a sweet girl named Shayna Maydele. Her human family enjoys displaying Shayna Maydele's activities on Instagram and I enjoy following her. You can find her on Instagram at shayna.maydele.the.coton. The photos were taken and posted by her family so I take no credit, but I would like to meet her (and her family) one day when I'm in NYC. Shayna Maydele's name is Yiddish and means "pretty girl." Rob and Shayna Maydele have a few things in common. They are both Jewish and from NYC. Shayna Maydele is pictured above at Bennett Park in Washington Heights, which is an Upper Manhattan community, and home to the highest natural point in Manhattan. Rob grew up in Washington Heights and played in Bennett Park. Shayna Maydele and Rob are also both quite photogenic, but we will let Shayna Maydele know she is more so.
Shayna Maydele is pictured at a very large menorah in NYC as she gets into the holiday spirit.
"Chanukah" and "Hanukkah" - it means the same however you spell it - and is the eight-day festival known as the Festival of Lights. The Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle so, unlike Christmas which is always on December 25, Chanukah’s dates vary. This year, it begins tonight at sundown, November 28.
Chanukah is a minor festival. However, it has become one of the most beloved of Jewish holidays. In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of observance and belief in God. Against all odds, a small band of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God. When they sought to light the Temple's menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity. Chanukah is a holiday that celebrates the liberation from oppression. It also provides a strong argument in favor of freedom of worship and religion. In spite of the human action that is commemorated, never far from the surface is the theology that the liberation was possible only thanks to the miraculous support of the Divine.
“We light candles in testament that faith makes miracles possible.” — Nachum Braverman
At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting. The menorah holds nine flames, one of which is the shamash (“attendant”), which is used to kindle the other eight lights. On the first night, we light just one flame. On the second night, an additional flame is lit. By the eighth night of Chanukah, all eight lights are kindled. Special blessings are recited before the menorah is lit.
We have several menorahs. Some belonged to Ruth (my mother-in-law) and Felice (the woman whose family took Ruth in after the war and became a grandmother figure to my husband). We light only one menorah for Chanukah, but some households choose to light more than one.
“A candle is a small thing. But one candle can light another. And see how its own light increases, as a candle gives its flame to the other. You are such a light.” — Moshe Davis
Also, a girl can never have enough yarmulkes - yämə(l)kə - to wear whether celebrating a holiday or just running errands. (They are also known as "kippot," which is plural for the singular "kippah.")
She inspired me to look at our collection. Many events have been celebrated over the decades at which guests were given kippot to wear and take as keepsakes.
On the inside of many kippots are imprints of the occasions for which these were worn.
I realize I could go on and on about Shayna Maydele and Jewish traditions, but I will shift gears to this week's bake. Rob chose to make sugar cookies and he used cookie cutters in the shapes of Chanukah symbols: a dreidel, a menorah and a Star of David.
Sugar Cookies from Chef Anna Olson (Her website is https://www.annaolson.ca)
If you have access to good quality butter (82-84% butterfat) that is ideal, but the cookies will still turn out if you don’t.
Makes 2-3 dozen cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (90 g) icing sugar, sifted
2 large egg yolks
zest of 1 lime
1 ½ cups (225 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
1 tsp (5 g) fine sea salt
Royal Icing
1 ½ Tbsp (15 g) meringue powder
3 Tbsp (45 mL) warm water, plus extra as needed
2 cups (260 g) icing sugar, sifted
food coloring paste or powder, as desired
Directions
1. For the cookies, beat the butter and icing sugar until smooth and light using electric beaters or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed. Add the egg yolk and lime zest and beat in. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix in on low speed until the dough comes together (the dough will be very soft.) Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours before rolling.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 F (160 C) and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough slightly to soften (this prevents cracks when rolling the dough.) Roll the dough out until it is ¼-inch (6 mm) thick and use a cookie cutter of any desired shape to cut out the cookies (a 2 ¼-inch/6 cm round cutter yields about 30 cookies) and place them onto the trays. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until they barely start to brown at the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the trays before icing them.
4. For the royal icing, whip the meringue powder and water (or 1 egg white) with the icing sugar in a bowl using an electric beaters, or a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, until peaks form (approximately 8-10 minutes). This will make an icing that is the ideal consistency for piping precise lines. For a “flood” style of royal icing, add additions of water, a few droplets at a time, until the icing becomes more fluid and flows without being runny. If you wish to add color to the icing, divide the icing between a few bowls and tint as desired. If not using the icing immediately, cover the bowls so that the plastic wrap sits directly on the icing to prevent it from drying.
You will note the dreidels at the top of the plate in the above photo. The dreidel game is one of the most famous Hanukkah traditions. It was created as a way for Jews to study the Torah and learn Hebrew in secret after Greek King Antiochus IV had outlawed all Jewish religious worship in 175 BCE.
These sugar cookies are not only festive; they taste great! They are geshmak, which is Yiddish for delicious.
Rob, a former 6th grade chess champion, knows how to work the board. Shayna Maydele is glad Rob is done baking because she clearly thinks she can put Rob's chess skills to the test. She just might be able to hold her own. (If you think this pretty little girl is fun, check out her Instagram and be prepared to smile big.) Thank you for spending time with us. Chanukah Sameach! Happy Chanukah!
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