Eight Crazy Nights

A wrap on Hanukkah 2018, plus your favorite edible gifts

Hi friends,

Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce, a weekly newsletter about cooking, dining out, and making the most of it. This week, we celebrated Hanukkah at a massive Latkes and Vodkas party. Also where is the full version of this Haim Hanukkah song? It also feels like 2018 will be over in the blink of an eye but we’ve still got time.

Let’s dive in:

Something to cook:

Last week, I ate leftover shakshuka for lunch a few times. The yolks don’t stay runny but I still enjoy it.

I also made a version of this kale mushroom sauté (without the dairy stuff or the toast) and it reminded me that I should buy mushrooms more often.

This week, I want to make “the stew,” Alison Roman’s latest viral recipe. Will report back.

Now, on to the Latkes and Vodkas. My family has this party every year (you can read about last year’s here) and it’s always a great mix of family and friends from different points in our lives. Plus, the theme is really fun and we go all out with toppings.

Making the latkes is definitely the hardest part (there are make ahead methods, but we never really try them) and my mom is a superstar who makes so many batches.

We do a potato version and a zucchini one. Grating the potatoes takes forever, even in a food processor. This year, my mom pre-measured the dry ingredients by batch, so you could just add the eggs and potatoes and get them in the oil. Delegate as much as you can and get everyone to help with the flipping.

Toppings:

Applesauce (homemade with brown sugar instead of white sugar)

Horseradish Yogurt (horseradish + yogurt + salt + pepper, kick up the spice as you like)

Chive Lemon Garlic Yogurt (chives, lemon zest and juice, grated garlic, salt and pepper)

Whipped feta with pomegranate (a new very popular addition from this article)

Caramelized onions

Lox

We also served this kale salad which ran out extremely quickly, hummus and crudite, party nuts with pretzels and sesame sticks. For the party nuts, I always use coconut oil instead of butter so everyone can eat them.

For drinks, we put out chilled vodka with tons of mixers: cranberry syrup, Fever Tree ginger beer, soda, tonic water, milk and kahlua (we had oat and regular, because 2018). My dad made a menu with some drink suggestions and opened red and sparkling wine as well.

People brought desserts including babka from Breads and Moishe’s, homemade biscuit doughnuts (bonuts) by our neighbor Rory, and so many cookies.

Julia made these peanut butter cookies and topped them with gelt (you could use a hershey kiss). They were so good and gone in a flash.

Yesterday was the last night of Hanukkah so lighting the full menorahs all together was really special. It’s a powerful thing to see a room full of people you love all lit up by candlelight.

Something to Order:

It’s always ice cream season in my book so I was thrilled to visit Eddie’s Sweet Shop while Teal was in town last week. It’s been open since the 20s and all the sauces and ice creams are made in house. I always get coffee chip with whipped cream and hot fudge, Leah loves an ice cream soda, and Dale is still talking about his milkshake.

Story coming soon but I had the chance to visit Fine and Raw’s chocolate factory in Bushwick and sample some of their chocolates. Everything is made so slowly and carefully and you can taste that in the final product. Their cashew butter filled chocolate bar is like a gourmet Reese’s and they have a hot chocolate bar for a warm treat near the Morgan L.

I also visited Hartbreakers, an adorable new vegan spot in Bushwick, for lunch and was very impressed. I don’t eat a lot of meat substitutes, but the food was so good and it’s almost all made in house (minus the bread). They have a great kale salad with crispy chickpeas and I really enjoyed the waffle fries, which are naturally vegan.

Kaitlin and Hayley came to visit!!! We got to see them a bunch and started with breakfast at Gotan in Williamsburg. I got the oatmeal but also love their shakshuka. It’s got tahini sauce and chimichurri and lots of pita for scooping.

We all got dinner at Malaparte in the West Village (pretty good pasta but not a must visit) and then drinks at the Jane Hotel. It was my first time there and the space is beautiful, with cool art and chandeliers. I know it gets crazy late at night, but around 9 we easily got a couch and were able to lounge in peace and style.

Per last week’s question, I also got some new East Village/LES suggestions: Lil Frankies, Love Mamak, Veselka (this is not a particularly original take but their pierogies are so good), Spaghetti Incident, Gaia Italian Cafe. Thank you!!

Something to Read:

Our girl Delia has so many oatmeal hacks.

Should parents eat lunch with their kids at school? (This is a crazy read and I can’t believe it’s a thing)

After many high profile efforts to eliminate tipping, it seems to be back for good.

How fine wine became the NBA’s new status symbol.

So sad to see that Capogiro is closing all of its restaurants and gelato shops in Philly. I used to get their ice cream a lot and found my favorite water glasses there.

Another bummer of a closing: The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory in Brooklyn Bridge Park will become an Ample Hills. The owners are not happy about it.

Amy Poehler is opening a wine shop in Park Slope with some friends.

Anthony Bourdain, according to those who knew him best.

Claire came back for more BA videos and this instant ramen one is an entertaining meditation on perseverance.

Now, on to Edible Gifts. You guys had some great memories that speak to the power of giving (and the power of food.) Thoughtful gifts are the best.

Hillary: One year for my office's secret santa exchange, my coworker got me a "mac and cheese kit", which had everything I needed to make homemade mac and cheese, including really nice cheese from Campbell Cheese & Grocery in Williamsburg. It not only was incredibly thoughtful but also introduced me to a new store!

Janey: The best edible gift I received was from a college friend who made a pumpkin cheesecake with Bourbon roasted pecans on top. Here's his blog post with the recipe (it's pretty entertaining)…

Hilary: The best edible gifts I get come from my friends in Maine and have included loads of bulbs of garlic from the farmer's market (so fresh, so real!) and Frontier Coop cinnamon (swoon-worthy cinnamon right there!!). I love giving salts, including various large-flake, grey salt, and smoked salt. Most food needs salt, now you can elevate it!

Julianne: Sweet edible gifting - when I came home from Asia to find muffins awaiting us from my two favorite people!!!! Definitely my favorite and worthy of sharing gratitude 5 months later. 

Alicia: I give Dan's parents a trio of salamis from Parma, a butcher shop in Pittsburgh's Strip District each year. They love it. Actually, recommendation for readers who visit Pittsburgh - the Strip District is a foodie heaven. My dad and I go before Christmas each year (to get 7 types of fish for our traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner). It's so special to me. :) I have a belated soup recommendation too.

Teal shared this mulled wine recipe all the way from Bumpkins in London. You could gift the ingredients and recipe for a cozy evening:

* 3 bottles of medium-bodied red wine (like a Tempranillo)

* 200ml port

* 150g sugar

* 2 oranges, sliced

* 2 whole cloves

* 2 star anise

* 2 cinnamon sticks

* 1 sprig of rosemary (our secret ingredient!)

Brielle: The best “edible” gift I’ve ever received was when my boss sent me a really nice coffee grinder out of the blue! I had just moved to New York a few months before so I still wasn’t totally settled. He knew I had been really stressed at work for the past several weeks (and that I love coffee!) and we were chatting one day about beans and grind consistently and two days later the grinder showed up at my house! It was so thoughtful and I still use it every day! 

This week, I’m curious about holiday cookies. Do you have a specific treat you bake around the holidays? My family used to make hanukkah sugar cookies, but I’m definitely in the mood to try something new (that doesn’t require an electric mixer). Reply to this email and let me know!

Although there’s no This Needs Hot Sauce event in December, I’m cohosting this Cojolya sample sale on December 23rd. If you’d like to shop for gorgeous gifts and support indigenous women in Guatemala, come on by.

Happy eating and thanks for reading.

xo, Abigail

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