Kosher Thanksgiving Recipe Tweaks for Jewish Hanukkah Holiday

Hanukkah always begins on 25 Kislev in the Jewish lunisolar calendar. Ergo it's a "movable feast" on the western calendar. This year it starts early, on Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.

Metro Detroit has a large Hebrew population. AP shares ways local Jews are approaching the Thanksgiving-Chanukah overlap. Hillel Day School in Farmington has special activities. Detroit bakeries are making Challurky. Yep, you guessed it: turkey shaped challah.

We aren't Jewish, but our son is dating an Ashkenazi girl. We believe it's part of our Catholic duty to understand and respect all faiths. So we're exploring ways to blend national holidays, Catholic holy days and Jewish traditions. Example: Thanksgiving. I won't make it completely kosher, but here are tweaks. Many fit Muslim halal requirements, too.   Kosher Thanksgiving Recipes for Hanukkah Holiday

Po Boy with Debris Gravy and Remoulade Recipe Leftover Use Up

When you clean the fridge, you're faced with a dilemma--what to do with leftovers. With some, it'll be obvious by the inch layer of grey kitty fur mold. Toss. Others still have life left in them, with a little repurposing. Chef Jacques Pepin showed how to make an awesome bouillabaisse with leftovers from his daughter's fridge. Here's my fridge clean out leftover use up Po Boy with debris gravy and remoulade. Leftover Use Up Recipes for Clean Your Fridge Day

Panko Breaded Chicken with Spicy Soul Hush Puppies

I hate throwing food away. When I make breaded fish or chicken or wiener schnitzel, I usually have too much breading mix. And I can't save and use later as it has meat juice in it. That's just not healthy. I promised in my bubble on panko crumb chicken, a recipe for bread crumbs use up.

I make hush puppies. I realize that this might be how hush puppies originated. It had to be a leftover use-up. It couldn't be for the taste (blech). But my recipe is different from the doughy, bland blobs I've had. I got it after having jalapeno hush puppies with honey butter sauce at Squeal soul food BBQ in New Orleans.  Use Up Leftover Bread Crumbs, Make Hush Puppies

Ghostly Skeleton Scream Cookies for Halloween

I'm not big into Halloween and definitely not the spooky parts. But I had to make a treat for daughter's orchestra concert tonight. High school students dress in costume, pass out candy to local kids and sell post-concert baked goods to raise money for music programs. Michigan schools are slashing arts budgets another 25 percent, so we parents have to make up the difference. So I thought I'd get into the Halloween spirit (pun intended). Here's a spooky recipe I invented that should scare up some funds.   Ghostly Skeleton Scream Cookies