Chanukah Cookies

Mix flour, sugar, friends and family for a scrumptious holiday tradition.

BY LYNNE KONSTANTIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN

obin Rubenstein works hard to make the Jewish holi-
days engaging for her children. Even at Chanukah, with
all of its traditional trappings for children, she and her
husband, Steven, who is the rabbi at Congregation Beth
Ahm in West Bloomfield, work overtime to create fun yet inspiring
memories for Ari, 5 1/2, and Tali, 2 1/2.
"We want to take the focus away from gifts and onto the gift of
being together," says Rubenstein. "So every year, on each night, we
try to celebrate Chanukah by doing things with family and friends,
things that bring us together." Last year, for example, they had movie
night. "I made a gift box with a new movie, popcorn and a cozy
blanket and we all watched the movie together," she says. They also
went as a family to Yad Ezra, a kosher food pantry in Berkley, "to do
something for somebody else."
One of their more delectable traditions? Welcoming the holiday
with fresh-baked Chanukah cookies. This year, Robin, Ari and Tali
invited into their kitchen Marni Foster and her daughters Dahvi and
Hanna Lupovitch of West Bloomfield for an afternoon of artistic
liberation — moments after the rookie cooks sat down, the frosting
started to fly. No worries, though—frosting's easy to lick up.

THE TOOLS
• Chanukah cookie cutters
• Vanilla frosting
• Wilton White Cookie Icing: this quick-setting
microwavable icing is good for little fingers
to squeeze onto cookies—and it's kosher!
Available at Michaels (michaels.com ).
• Blue and yellow decorating icing
• An assortment of decorations in individual
bowls: sprinkles and pastel sanding sugar in
assorted colors, M&Ms and whatever else
your kids are keen on.
• Lollipop sticks for making lollipop cookies
and lollipop Rice Krispy Treats.

28 •

DECEMBER 2006 •

JNPLATINUM

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