'Chrismukkah' celebration combines foods of Christmas and Hanukkah
California chef shares grandmother's 'best-ever' latkes recipe
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2024, for the first time in 19 years, the first night of Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day, meaning many families will be observing both holidays in a combined "Chrismukkah" celebration.
For Erica Holland-Toll, culinary director at the Culinary Edge, that means combining the best of both worlds when it comes to holiday dinner.
The Culinary Edge is a San Francisco-based culinary innovation agency, its website notes.
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"The holidays are always an amazing time to come together to share food and traditions around the table," Holland-Toll told Fox News Digital. "Cross-cultural families like mine can spin the dreidel while they feast on latkes and applesauce, while the prime rib roasts away in the oven."
Holland-Toll grew up in a mixed-faith family, she said, and "always loved Hanukkah" celebrations. This Hanukkah is the fourth time in her life that the two holidays have occurred on the same day or on Christmas Eve, she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This year, the first night of Hanukkah is the same day as Christmas. (iStock)
"Now, my split-faith family has crossed a few generations – and our food traditions have melted into the proverbial pot, combining my husband's traditions with mine," she said.
"A favorite holiday food memory is holding our 3-year-old's hand, in 2016, to light the menorah, followed by cooking my grammie's latkes and opening stockings in the candlelight while eating my mother-in-law's pepperoni toasts – then spinning the dreidel, using her famous toffee as gelt, while watching the candles burn down on Christmas Eve."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Holland-Toll and her husband are both chefs — "so any holiday is a time to go big and try something new, while always holding onto a piece of the past."
"Chrismukkah" is when mixed-faith families celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. (Bodo Marks/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)
This year, Holland-Toll will be cooking Italian classics on Christmas Day – and serving them with her grandmother's latkes.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You could call them potatoes rosti, though, if you want to. They will be delicious either way," Holland-Toll said.
'Grammie's Best-Ever Latkes' recipe
Ingredients
5 pounds Russet potatoes, washed
1 large yellow onion
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
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1 teaspoon ground black pepper
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}3 eggs
"Just enough" all-purpose flour (which usually means about ¼ cup)
Olive oil, for frying
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Erica Holland-Toll's grandmother developed this recipe for latkes, she told Fox News Digital. (Erica Holland-Toll)
Directions
1. Grate the potatoes and the onion with a box grater.
2. Gently mix the eggs, salt, pepper and flour into the potatoes and onion mixture.
3. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When shimmering, test oil temperature with a small amount of latke mixture.
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3. Once the oil is hot enough, fry dollops about the size of two tablespoons until crispy and golden brown.
4. Eat immediately, with sour cream and applesauce.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This recipe is owned by Erica Holland-Toll and was shared with Fox News Digital.