Alayne’s Hanukkah Kugel Recipe

When you live in Bristol, RI, and you are a faith different from one that celebrates Christmas, it is a little harder to raise your child in his or her religion. Christmas is everywhere in Bristol, but this is how it is in most of the country and for me and the way I chose to bring my son up my husband at the time required some extra work.

No Christmas tree? Borderline child abuse when you are surrounded by festivals, tree lightings, Santa everywhere. But yet we managed and had a lovely experience in one of the most welcoming and happy authentic towns. We got to teach our friends about our holidays, our customs, food, celebrations and for this I thank my mother who did the same for my brother and me as we were growing up Jewish in small Jamestown, RI.

Hanukkah is actually a very minor holiday. It is the festival of lights, it means dedication, it is about overcoming darkness and appreciating the light when it avails itself. We light the candles for 8 nights and enjoy the company of our family and friends as we eat and eat and play the dreidel, sing songs and open a present each night. There are special foods, too, foods cooked in oil to symbolize the oil found in the temple that lasted eight days. We eat foods rich in sweetness and sustenance to fill our lucky bellies for the upcoming winter. Hanukkah always falls on the same day though to our Gregorian calendars, it doesn't seem so. We follow the Hebrew calendars. The Hebrew month of KISLEV - Hanukkah falls on the 25th of Kislev every year. Here is AI explanation in a nutshell:

Hanukkah changes dates every year because it is based on the Hebrew calendar, which is lunisolar, meaning it follows the cycles of both the moon and the sun, unlike the Gregorian calendar we commonly use, so the same date on the Hebrew calendar will fall on a different date on the Gregorian calendar each year; Hanukkah always begins on the 25th day of Kislev (the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar) which can fall anywhere from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar.

So this year, Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day, and continues through January 2. Unusual but when you understand it, makes sense, right?

I share one of my many favorites and a total fan favorite. Maybe you will find yourself trying to bring to your Christmas tables this year a different dish to celebrate the differences in some of our neighbors in all of our Christmas festing sometimes forget they may be doing something different.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah too and whatever else you may or may not celebrate!

Alayne’s Kugel Recipe

Preheat Oven to 350

Generously butter your favorite casserole deep dish. I love my Grandmother’s 3.5 Quart Blue Cornflower Corning Ware dish. (The deep dish holds the creaminess so it doesn’t get dry because a dry kugel is a crappy kugel).

Noodles
1 12 oz package of extra wide egg noodles cooked and drained (I use Pennsylvania Dutch brand) Cooked for three minutes less than the package says as they will cook more in the oven and you don’t want a mush fest.

Drain and set aside.

The Main Ingredients
1 16 oz container cottage cheese (I use Breakstones)
1 16 oz container sour cream (I use Breakstones)
1 8oz tub of whipped cream cheese
5 eggs beaten
1/2 cup half and half (or whole milk is fine too)
1 stick of melted salted butter
½ cup sugar
A few good shakes of cinnamon
1 t. vanilla extract
2 apples (I usually use Honey Crisp or Macintosh) peeled and chopped Raisins- optional. (Most people don’t like the raisins, but I like 1/2 cup just for some extra color and texture and picking them out slows people down from inhaling it too fast:)

Topping
3/4 cup cornflakes crushed
2 T sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix first 9 ingredients until well blended, beat lightly with a mixer for 1-2 minutes on low just to break up the chunks of everything  

Blend drained noodles and cheese mixture and place in a big buttered casserole dish.

Spread the top of the Kugel with Topping.

Bake uncovered until set about 40 minutes. (if making ahead of time, bake for less time, cover and put back in oven for about 20 minutes or until set and slightly golden before serving.)

I serve with unsweetened applesauce on the side, too