However you spell it...

...Chanukkah, Hanukkah, Chanuka...

Have a happy one.

I love the story of Hanukkah. A small group of people, committed to their vision, their faith, overcoming the oppressive masses. Every year, we stop and think about our vision and hope for our community, and how we can take small steps to make a difference. There are so many places that the commitment of the few is needed now to overwhelm the strength of the many. I hope we all can find ways to kindle the flame of courage and righteousness in ourselves in order to work toward justice and equality in our world. Volunteering with a political advocacy group, tutoring at a local school, serving meals at a soup kitchen, spending a morning on a Habitat for Humanity building site, writing letters to your elected officials, cleaning up litter at the park near your house, posting your unwanted clothing and household items on Freecycle, whatever your heart and vision lead you to do, just get out there and do it. Our families depend on us to make the world the place we want to live.

One a side note, a word of caution to the allergy world. If you decide to make egg-free latkes, Ener-g egg replacer is not the best choice of egg like substitute. Its main ingredient, after all, is potato starch. Adding potato starch to grated potatoes makes a wallpaper pastelike substance that then turns into a gelatinous mass when placed in hot oil. Adding some baking powder to the batter makes it edible, but still not particularly enjoyable. Bigfella turned up his allergic nose to them, so the next batch will have eggs in them. He, did, however, enjoy the applesauce.