Jewish children play the dreidel game for Hanukkah. Dreidels are tops with four Hebrew letters on them – one each side of the dreidel. The letters are nun, gimel, hay, and shin. Legend has it that dreidels originated from a time when the Jewish people were forbidden to practice their religion.  The game was invented...

Here are some simple instructions to create a handprint ornament.  It can be used as a Christmas decoration or for Chanukah or Mother’s Day or any time you want to hang something cute!   1.  Cut out a circle using a thick piece of paper of the color of your choosing (about 6...

A lot of people are still having a tough time financially.  Even if you’re not, who can’t use ways to spend less money for Christmas, but still give nice, fun gifts?   One great idea is to trade in old electronic games and equipment to GameStop for credit towards new toys.  You won’t get the...

What a great idea to make candy dreidels for Hanukkah!  They’re dreidels made out of marshmallows, with candy kisses attached using Nutella as "glue". Then dipped in chocolate with a mini pretzel stick as the handle.  Check out the recipe at The Shiksa in the Kitchen Blog. Many thanks to Corrine Lewack for pointing out...

Every December, our town puts up little Christmas trees throughout the village.  Then they let different local organizations decorate them.  The organizations are things like Girl Scout and Boy Scout Troops, the town stores, etc. Then, during the first week of the month, there’s a Menorah lighting and a Christmas Tree lighting.  Above you...

Yesterday, Todd Bornfriend told me how he absolutely loves his sister’s Sweet Potato Latkes!  He loves them so much that he has her make him an extra batch to take home every year.  So does his nephew. Luckily for us, Todd was nice enough to share her recipe!  Here it is… Jodi Maisel’s Sweet Potato...

Sometimes it’s hard to come up with gift ideas.  If the person you’re shopping for loves to cook, here are some simple suggestions.  These are items I love to have in my kitchen.  You can give them for the holidays, for a housewarming, a wedding shower or even a birthday.  There’s a range of items...

Latkes (potato pancakes) are the food of choice for Hanukkah.  That’s because they’re typically cooked in oil and oil is an important symbol for Hanukkah.  The problem is that cooking latkes in all that oil is very unhealthy.  It’s also time consuming to deep-fry them individually.  This year I was determined to come up...

Hanukkah is coming soon. Here are links to some Hanukkah songs, videos, recipes and gift ideas we’ve posted in the past… Happy Chanukah! Mama Lisa Original Photo: Wikipedia (edited by Mama Lisa)

We celebrate many holidays in our house! That’s why I was just checking when Hanukkah is this year. I found out it’s December 11 to December 19. (You can tell I’m behind with my holiday planning!) I have tons of sweet potatoes from the CSA we belong to (where we get veggies...

I asked my children to tell me what they’d consider to be their favorite video games. In case there are people out there still looking for last minute gift ideas, below are some recommendations. I recommend going to Game Stop to buy video games since they’re small stores that you can find anywhere. If...

Furreal Friends is the big thing this year. They’re robotic pets that act like real animals. They feel like stuffed animals – though sometimes, they’re hard underneath. There’s a horse that kids can “ride” on. Actually, it’s the head that moves – making real-looking movements – and you can “feed” it....

I think a digital photo frame is a great gift idea that you could give to many different people – for many different holidays and celebrations. However, I’ve been looking into the possibility of buying one, as a gift, and I’ve come to the conclusion that, if you’re the type of person who cares about image...