Many Similarities Between Christmas And Hanukkah Traditions

Christmas and Hanukkah both have their own sets of traditions, in which Christian and Jewish people, respectively, participate. According to the Jewish Hanukkah story, Maccabees and his people went to the temple and cleaned and repaired it.

The temple had been looted and destroyed during the Maccabees revolt. After the repairs and cleaning was done, the people wanted to rededicate the temple. They had to light the Hanukkah menorah for the rededication ceremony.

However, there was only a small flask of oil available that would only burn for one night. They decided to light the menorah. The oil kept burning for eight days, just enough time for them to get more oil.

This miracle is commemorated by the Jewish people by lighting candles on the Hanukkah Menorah for each day of Hanukkah, which is eight days. Christmas, on the other hand, is the Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus.

While holiday foods may be traditional, you do not have to participate in Christmas and Hanukkah to enjoy them. One Hanukkah traditional food is jelly doughnuts, which do not have a hole but are very popular in Israel.

The doughnuts are called sufganiyot and are sold over the month before Hanukkah begins. To make the doughnuts, one drops the dough into hot oil without shaping it. The result is a funny and odd shaped doughnut that is then covered in powdered cinnamon or sugar.

While these doughnuts are not traditional in the Christmas holiday, cookies can be found in great abundance during the Christian celebration.

For both Christmas and Hanukkah, people exchange gifts and cards as part of their celebrations. Many traditions are largely celebrated within both the Hanukkah and Christmas holidays.

Both are religious holidays, however Christmas is also celebrated by individuals who do not participate in the religious traditions. For many, Christmas is more of a cultural celebration.

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Surprise Your Friends And Family With Gift Baskets For Christmas

Gift baskets for Christmas are easy to arrange for the special people in your life. With gift baskets there are many options, allowing you to customize and create the ideal gift to please the receiver of your gift.

For example, you can find out their ideal gift by discreetly asking questions about their favourite foods, clothes and movies. For example, you may find out a friend loves to work in the garden, so you can buy a new set of garden tools to include in your gift basket, to replace their old worn out tools.

The biggest surprise is to receive a gift they will use every day, like garden tools in their garden. This is why you should make discreet enquiries, before you decide what to include in your gift baskets for Christmas.

If you know the receiver is a coffee aficionado, then discreetly find out their favourite choice of coffee and include it in your Christmas gift basket. You can include personalized coffee mugs and even a coffee maker, depending on your budget.

If you know your sweetheart loves chocolate covered strawberries, then place an order at the gourmet food store and surprise her on Christmas Day. It will look like a Valentine gift, but it will be much better. Adding a bunch of red and white roses, will add the icing on the cake.

There is no end of ideas for customized gift baskets for Christmas.

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Celebrating Christmas With The Holiday Feast

The holiday feast of winter solstice dates back roughly three centuries preceding Christ. In celebration of the harvest, people ate whatever was in abundance, while also taking a moment to pray to the gods for a good season coming up.

While we may not eat the same things, the communal meal on Christmas is still a focal point of our festive gatherings and one that borrows from many other cultural traditions.

Colonial America had a different sort of Christmas day meal. Culinary historians say the holiday feasts of 1769 included eggnog, Virginia ham, biscuits, corn pudding, chicken and oyster pie, pumpkin chips, cucumber pickles, mincemeat pie, Filbert pudding, honey flummery, plum pudding, coffee and walnuts.

In Williamsburg, feasters also ate cheese wafers, chilled crab gumbo, mushroom dressing, turkey, celery with pecans, ambrosia and drank wassail. In Mount Vernon, onion soups, half-shell oysters, broiled salt roe herring, boiled rockfish and baked acorn squash were readily available.

On the side, they had candied sweet potatoes, spiced peaches, Port wine, cranberries, cherry pie, apple pie, plums in wine jelly, roast turkey and hominy pudding too. Each table showcased a bountiful harvest from all the hard work America's earliest pioneers underwent.

The holiday feast just wouldn't be complete without Christmas candy! While today chocolate and candy are associated with everything from Christmas to Halloween, to Valentine's Day to Easter, these treats were reserved only for holiday season treats for the wealthy because sugar was very expensive.

The candy canes we so commonly chomp on today were originally manufactured as lozenges, and as medicine to treat coughs, colds and infections. Today, down the aisles of supermarkets, there are Christmas-themed chocolates, Peeps, M&Ms, Snickers bars, foil wrapped Santas, suckers and candies of all types marketed as Christmas gifts.

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The Many Different Traditions Of Hanukkah And Christmas

Two popular holidays, Hanukkah and Christmas are observed very differently. The Hanukkah holiday is observed for eight days by the Jewish people in commemoration of the victory of Maccabees and the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem.

The Christmas holiday, however, is observed for one day, December 25th. Hanukkah comes on the 25th day of Kislev, or in the third month on the Hebraic calendar, which is usually in late December according to the Gregorian calendar.

Other names that depict this festival include: Feast of Maccabees, Festival of Lights and Feast of Dedication. The word "Hanukkah" means dedication in Hebrew. Friends and families partake in Hanukkah gift giving on every day of the eight-day celebration.

During the Hanukkah holiday, there are many traditions that are followed. One of them is the dreidel, which is a four-sided spinning top. The spinning top was a popular decoy for Jews during the religious persecutions when Antiochus was ruling.

When they assembled to study the Torah, they had to be very careful. If a soldier appeared, they would pretend that they were playing with it in order to avoid persecution.

Hanukkah and Christmas share a lot in their history, celebrations and traditions. Traditional religious celebrations are an important part of the Christmas holiday and participated in by many.

Hanukkah gift giving and exchanging cards are part of this holiday. Parents give their children gifts as an incentive to study the Torah, while adults give each other gifts and cards to strengthen their relationships.

Christmas cards, like Hanukkah cards, are also a very popular way to spread the holiday spirit. Both Hanukkah and Christmas are steeped in tradition.

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Planning A Christmas Party For Kids

Everyone knows that kids absolutely love Christmas, as there are lots of presents, visits with Santa Claus and no school. There are some really great ideas for a Christmas party for kids that work perfectly if you have a neighborhood full of children, and the grown-ups will probably have just as much fun as the children.

After running around having all that fun in the cold they will probably appreciate going to the next Christmas party house where they can have their fill of hot chocolate and other goodies.

At this house you may also want to include some type of craft making, perhaps they can make their own Christmas party decorations and ornaments. Have several different materials laid out so that they have plenty to choose from. You may also want to consider having a small tree here so that everyone can add their decorations to the tree.

By the time the scavenger hunt is over everyone will probably need a pit stop at yet another house, where there could be more hot chocolate and some musical fun. A home with a piano would be great, yet it is not necessary.

Just have a bunch of sheet music and start a Christmas party for kids sing-a-long. Perhaps a nice fire in the fireplace for some serious marshmallow roasting would be in order as well. This gives everyone a chance to talk about what a great time they have had.

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Planning For Your Christmas Holiday Party

The holidays are a time to remember the joys of Christmas past, while dreaming up great ideas for Christmas present; just like you would do as a kid, except then those new ideas were usually on a much larger scale.

Actually, maybe not, as party ideas allow you to think about the many different Christmas party themes that you can come up with and then start planning your holiday party, using any one of a dozen different ideas.

Utilizing this kind of Christmas party idea makes it viable for either an at home party or one at a rented hall or ballroom.

The Christmas party theme should include some great decorations, such as some all white Christmas trees, twinkling white lights everywhere and possibly one of the outlined carriage yard ornaments with white lights on it, making any site a great place for a holiday party.

You can incorporate what you plan on serving for food into the Christmas party decorations by choosing white foods, such as rice pudding and white chocolate mousse or fondue. You can serve white wine and punch along with different types of white sodas for those who don't drink.

To make your holiday party more special, use white poinsettias on white table cloths, with white napkins, white plates and white serving dishes, and anything else that goes along with your festive party theme.

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Party Ideas For Christmas Day

During the holidays, one of the most popular items on many people's "to-do" list includes planning a Christmas family party, which can be a great deal of fun. There are so many different party ideas that you can explore for this particular holiday; the possibilities are endless.

Anything that can make the holidays a little calmer is a great help. If you would normally bake cookies or other goodies, either as desserts or gifts, then you can send out a Christmas party invitation to each of your friends inviting them to your house for a cookie baking and decorating party.

This is one of those really great and fun party ideas where the guests can bring their favorite Christmas cookie recipe and the necessary ingredients to your house to get a head start on their holiday baking. Be sure to include the kids by having them decorate one batch of cookies while you and your friends get another one ready to bake.

Party ideas do not have to be centered on one particular religion or event on Christmas. Perhaps last year everyone was reluctant to invite a neighbor over because their religion was different; maybe they celebrate Hanukkah instead.

So this year your Christmas party invitations could include those neighbors by adding a few things that may make it more comfortable for everyone.

It does not have to be much, just a few simple touches such as goodie bags for the kids that include dreidels and gelt (gold wrapped chocolate coins); or even serving one traditional food such as potato latkes.

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Victorian Themes For Christmas Parties

This year when you are celebrating the Christmas holidays with your friends and families, you should ponder the beginnings of our customs. Did you know that the Victorians started the many traditions of the season?

The Victorian Christmas parties focused on the church and their children, as well as on big family dinners and celebrating with friends. For a fun and different Christmas party theme, perhaps you should step back in time with truly Victorian festivities.

The Victorian Christmas decorations were not complete without decorating the fireplace mantels with boughs of holly that also included clusters of different fruits, such as pineapples, pomegranates, oranges, apples and berries. Staircases were wrapped with garland and lots of burgundy ribbon and bows would complete the Christmas parties theme.

Of course it wouldn't be complete without a Christmas meal authentic to the Victorian era; for this you will need to include food such as pheasant, venison or roast goose.

Sugarplums, made with butter, cream, sugar, candied cherries, dates, prunes and vanilla were a favorite at Victorian Christmas parties. They were also partial to oysters and mincemeat with mulled wine, and for dessert fruit and plum pudding would finish up the feast.

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Celebrating With Christmas Party Games

Party games can be a fun addition to any party; you can even tie them in with Christmas party themes. Of course, it is not necessary to have a particular theme in mind when coming up with game ideas, as there are many different holiday games around that are great fun for kids and adults, or both.

If you need another idea for adult party games, then consider one called "ice breakers." You can write down a bunch of generic Christmas related questions or statements such as, (blank) has gone Christmas caroling, or (blank) has made Snow Angels, or something along those lines.

The guests take the list around to other guests and try to get someone's name next to each statement. This is a great game for a group of people who really do not know each other that well. Check the Internet for other adult related holiday party game ideas, as there are many sites that have this information.

For a kids Christmas party consider having something similar to pin the tail on the donkey, but change it to pin the nose on Rudolph or pin the star to the top of the Christmas tree.

Party games for kids can also include taking a small decorative jar and filling it with Christmas candy (that you have already counted) and have the kids write down their guess as to the number of pieces in the jar. The child who guesses closest to the correct amount gets the jar full of candy.

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Ideas For Christmas Holiday Parties

Planning any type of a party can be time consuming and stressful, yet planning holiday parties can be even more so.

When you are making it a Christmas family get-together, with the in-laws thrown into the mix, it can seem even more frustrating and intimidating. However, keep the faith, as there are some things that you can do that should keep the stress levels down.

With Christmas family holiday parties it can be a little tricky when it comes to serving alcohol, as it may prompt someone to mention things better left unsaid.

In order to avoid this consider serving something like an eggnog or setting up a fancy coffee bar; complete with different flavored creams and a few liqueurs. This adds to the festiveness of a party but will limit the intake of alcohol, which may help to avoid any unnecessary unpleasantness.

Holiday parties can also be a little difficult when you have to come up with a gift for Christmas party attendees that includes family. Sometimes people may feel that someone else got a better present, etc.

There are a few ways around this, as you can just pass out gifts for the children and let them open them and give small, similar presents for all of the adults to take home and open, perhaps something that you have made yourself, or perhaps a goodie plate with cookies and candy or similar type items.

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Planning With Beach Ideas For Christmas Parties

It is only natural to think about cold weather when you think about Christmas; after all Santa lives at the North Pole. However, if you are looking for some good ideas for Christmas parties, then why consider a tropical Christmas party?

You know, think beach! For your party invitations you can do something like sending a message in a bottle with all of the party details. For the party decorations consider a tree skirt with a Hawaiian or Polynesian print. If you are unable to find one, then use plain white felt and decorate it with palm trees or shells.

If you need ideas for Christmas parties for kids, then consider having a Candy Land Christmas with candy cane and lollipop party decorations. The lollipops can be made by cutting out large circles and covering them with colored plastic wrap, attaching them to dowels and placing them around the yard and house.

Consider taking gumdrops and stringing them together to use as garland on the tree or other decorations for the party. A cute idea for each party invitation is to write the details on a piece of paper, roll it up like a scroll, cover it with colored plastic wrap, twist the ends and tie them with colorful ribbon or yarn.

Naturally, there are many other ideas for Christmas parties, such as a Winter Wonderland theme with white twinkling lights and fake snow as part of your decorations.

Another festive party theme could be decorating with Gingerbread people; with a little imagination you are sure to come up with many more ideas.

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Entertaining Your Family With Christmas Ideas

For those people who live in a warm climate, new and unique Christmas ideas may be difficult to come up with. In that case, there are some Christmas holiday party ideas that may work well to shake things up a bit if you want to try something different.

For instance, snow in the warmer climates is not a possibility, so you may want to consider creating a kind of snowy and cold Christmas.

A few Christmas ideas for making snow include taking a big piece of styrofoam and using a sharp paring knife to shave off some fluffy "bits" that you can put on your tree. Or you can combine 2/3 cups of liquid starch, 2 cups of soap flakes (you can make your own using a cheese grater and bar soap) and 3 tablespoons of water.

Combine the starch and the flakes, then add the water while blending with a beater. Once totally blended, you simply paint the mixture onto the tree branches.

One Christmas party game idea is to have snowball fights. Of course since it can't be real ones you can make your snowballs by wrapping several marshmallows together in plastic wrap and tying it closed or something similar.

There are many other Christmas ideas that you can use in a warm weather climate, just use your imagination.

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A Well Planned Festive Christmas Party

The smell of warm apple-cinnamon cider permeates the air, mingling with fresh pine as you traverse from the kitchen to the living room with your tray of hors d'oeuvres, including cheeses, fruits and breads. The soft sounds of Frank Sinatra, the laughter of children and the dull roar of a snowplow fill the background. The soft glow of the Christmas lights emanate from the tree, illuminating the smiles of your family patriarchs and matriarchs. Is anything more glorious than a well-planned Christmas party?

Don't forget the festive Christmas party drinks! The big bowl of holiday punch is always an easy answer, but there are so many other wintry libations to serve. For instance, you can make eggnog that will get grandma run over by adding some rum, brandy, whiskey or bourbon to the cream, eggs, sugar and nutmeg concoction.

For a boozy take on apple cider, why not throw a little rum, butterscotch schnapps, apple pucker or cinnamon schnapps in the mix? There are many festive wines to choose from as well. Red wine glögg is a fancy hot Swedish wine drink with aquavit or brandy. Generally, well-liked wines at Christmas parties include Pinot Noirs and Cabernet Sauvignons for reds, Pinot Grigios and Rieslings for whites, or a Zinfandel Blush.

Other mixers should be available too: cola, tonic water, ginger ale, tomato juice, and coffee and tea. Be sure your guests know what to expect for the drink situation when they receive their invites so they know if they need to bring anything.

Whether you're organizing a Christmas party for your friends, your family, your coworkers or for your own personal gratification, you'll have a great time if you remain organized and give yourself enough time to plan out all the details. Since the Christmas season is all about giving, it makes sense that you would host a party aimed at creating memories that are as warm as that rum-and-cider.

Just make sure you don't get too drunk, and that your mistletoe corner doesn't result in an over-abundance of debauchery!

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Better Christmas Gift Food Baskets For Your Friends And Family

Christmas gift food baskets are ideal Christmas presents you can give to your friends and family. You may need to take into account their dietary needs, especially if there are allergies. For example, you do not give a sugar loaded chocolate gift basket to a diabetic. Once you take into account all the needs and requirements of the gift recipients, you will be able to make your own ideal Christmas gift baskets.

You can save time by buying ready made Christmas gift baskets with custom made food ingredients to suit specific requirements. If you know a friend of the family likes a specific wine and loves to have delicious cheese with his wine, then you can arrange for the perfect wine and cheese Christmas gift food basket.

You do not need to stress out, about the specific gifts to buy every year. During the year, you can talk to your friends and family and find out discreetly, what they would consider an ideal gift. Just like when you find a couple needs a new cutlery set.

If you already know some of the gifts you should buy for some of the friends and family members, then you may include them as part of your Christmas gift. For example, you may have a newly married couple coming over to the Christmas party and you know they need a new television set for the living room, then you can include a gift card for a new television set. The couple can go to the store and buy a new television set with the latest features.

You always want people to be surprised with the contents of your gifts. If you give the same gifts every year, then there is no element of surprise. During the year, you should listen to the people you want to give a gift and find out what they need and then surprise them on Christmas Day.

If you are still not sure what to give, a Christmas gift food basket is often the ideal gift.

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The Ideal Christmas Gift Is A Cookie Gift Basket

Cookie gift basket can be given to lovers of cookies, especially children. If you are scratching your head, wondering what to buy your children this Christmas, you cannot go wrong with a cookie gift basket. The only decision you will need to make is the type of cookies included in the gift basket.

You may know your children like chocolate and sugar decorated cookies. Then you can go to your favorite gourmet store and ensure their favorite cookies are in the cookie gift basket. You can also buy cookie gift baskets online and have the basket delivered to your door.

Especially now that Christmas is around the corner. Every Christmas all the children want is to eat the cookies. So I purchase a cookie gift basket for each one and they eat them all by the end of the day. They seem to look forward to the cookies every year. Even some of the children are no longer little children, some are teenagers and one or two are married, they still look forward to the cookies every Christmas Day.

It is the time of the year where I do not need to spend too much time at the gift shop, trying to work out what I can buy them, as I know they will be satisfied with the cookie gift basket. I know some of the children have different tastes, so I order the cookies they specifically like to eat.

Making the children happy, is one of my greatest achievements on Christmas Day. Especially when they all sit around the Christmas tree, looking at the wrapped presents with their name on the cookie gift basket.

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Christmas Gift Idea For A Whole Family

Christmas gift idea for family can be the most useful gift for the entire family. Most people buy shirts, after shaves, alcohol and other gifts for individual family members. These gifts are not used by an entire family. You need to buy a gift that will please the whole family.

For example, a gift certificate for online groceries, will benefit the whole family. They do not need to travel all the way to the grocery store to buy the groceries anymore when they can order their groceries online, morning, noon or night, 24/7.

You may notice some of the family kitchen appliances are playing up, the cutlery may be worn out and need replacing. There may be a need for a new dishwasher, a new cutlery set, a crock pot, new pans. All these practical gifts make an ideal Christmas gift idea for family.

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Italian Food Is The Best Authentic Home Style Cooking

Italian food is one of the more popular styles of food around the world. There is Italian pasta, pizza, cheese, ice cream and Italian wines.

The variety of Italian food is so complete. You can go to an Italian restaurant, have some Italian pasta, with Italian bread and Italian wine. Finish your main meal with some Italian dessert.

We enjoy our home cooked Italian food, as our family has Italian origins. My mother is Italian and has taught me how to cook authentic Italian food. Although I try to cook the way mum taught me, nothing and no one can beat her Italian cooking. It is beyond compare.

This is why we have a lot of family occasions in her family home, giving us an excuse to eat her authentic Italian food. Every Christmas she invites all the family, including husbands, wives, grandchildren, to spend Christmas in her home.

I usually go to her home before everyone else has arrived, so I can help her prepare the meals. I am always the helper and she is the boss. She tells me the ingredients of her own Italian recipes and I have tried to use some of her recipes to cook for my own family.

But nothing beats her cooking of authentic home style Italian food.

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