Our Favorite Christmas Cookies! One of the sweetest parts of celebrating the holiday season is baking cookies with family and friends. At Price Chopper and Market 32, we love these treats as much as you do and have many different favorites of our own. Whether they’re family traditions or simply the most satisfying to our sweet tooth, we are pleased to share some our holiday favorites with you! Our teammates are big fans of peanut butter, especially when it comes to Christmas cookies. In the words of teammate Kelly K., from our Sutton, MA store; “My favorite holiday cookie is peanut butter blossoms.” Her response was backed by teammate Celina R. from our Storrs, CT who said “my favorite holiday cookies are peanut butter cookies, because who doesn’t love peanut butter?” Peanut Butter Blossoms are a holiday classic and easily one of our favorite Christmas cookies, check out the recipe in the link below to try them for yourself! https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/classic-peanut-butter-blossom-cookies/a3563f6e-96b0-443f-ae0a-53cef4be6db6 We asked June M., Floral Team Leader in our Chenango, NY store about her favorite Christmas cookie, she said, “Poppy Seed Kolache. My mother made them for years. Brings me back. It was always a tradition and they are so good!” Poppy Seed Kolache is a Czechoslovakian pastry with a poppy seed filling. If you’ve never tried Kolache it is a delicious treat perfect for the holiday season! Give this recipe a try by following the link below! http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/poppy_seed_kolache/ In our main office, Sarah M. of our Business Intelligence team added “Although it is not technically a Christmas cookie, Baklava is a Middle Eastern dessert that is somewhat labor intensive to bake, so my family tends to only make it during the holidays. Baklava is very sweet, has lots of sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts – and it reminds me of my grandmother!” Check out the recipe below! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-symon/baklava-recipe-1972768 Teammate Mike M. in our Palatine Bridge, NY store: “Chocolate jumbos with green and red icing. They are delicious, smell good while baking, and taste like the holidays!” Chocolate jumbos make a fantastic addition to any Christmas baking lists. They are truly a perfect sweet for the season! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10399/chocolate-jumbo/ Finally, teammate Allison P. at our Storrs, CT store gave perhaps the most festive response; “Sugar cookies that look like candy canes. They’re fun to eat!” From their look to their taste these Candy Cane Cookies are a staple of the Christmas season. How could you not enjoy baking such a fun cookie? https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/candy-cane-cookies/93832e29-3b4f-4977-ae5a-9820053b254c Baking Christmas cookies is one of our favorite parts of the holiday season. We hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do, and maybe find a new Christmas favorite to share with family and friends! From all of us at Price Chopper and Market 32, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!   Written by Sara Lilkas, Marketing Intern  One of my favorite holidays to celebrate growing up was Hanukkah. It may be because I am obsessed with potato latkes or the ridiculous amount of chocolate gelt I would get from my grandmother, but the eight night Festival of Lights remains one of my favorite holidays. Now I will get to the potato latkes later, but first let me tell you what Hanukkah is all about. This year Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 24^th, 2016. Hanukkah is an eight day celebration of the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt. During the rededication there was only enough oil to light the menorah for a single day, the oil burned for eight days, which is why a candle is lit for every night of Hanukkah until all eight days are represented (as well as the shamash which is used to light the candles each night.)   Even though Hanukkah is a minor holiday in the Jewish religion it is widely celebrated in the United States and in Jewish communities around the world. Unlike some holidays there is no need to take off from work or to refrain from various activities. The Hanukkah celebration begins at sundown with the lighting of the candles in the menorah, with an additional candle being light for each night of the holiday. During the eight nights of Hanukkah some families exchange small gifts and play dreidel. The dreidel is a four sided top with a different Hebrew letter on each side. The letters stand for nes gadol hayah sham, a great miracle happened here. Even though the dreidel game may appear to be only a fun game (that has an awesome song that goes with it), it is actually a tribute to the Jewish people who had to study the Torah in private as a result of a series of laws making it illegal in the 2^nd Century BC. When patrolmen came by they would hide their Torah’s and spin tops to give the appearance that they were only gambling or playing a game and not participating in an illegal activity. The dreidel game is not only a lot of fun, but is also very easy to play. To play the dreidel game, each player starts with 10 or 15 coins (even though most people now play with chocolate gelt or another similar candy item and who doesn’t love winning candy?), depending on which symbol the dreidel lands on, you will lose or win more coins or candy. The game is played in rounds and at the beginning of each round each player puts a coin or piece of candy into the pot. Every time the pot is empty all players put in one coin or piece of candy. On your turn, you spin the dreidel and follow the instructions associated with each symbol. The symbols mean:

• Nun- nisht, nothing- nothing happens and it is the next person’s turn
• Gimel-gantz, “all” – the player takes the entire pot
• Hey-halb, “half”- the player takes half the pot
• Shin-shtel, “put in”- the player puts one coin in the pot

If you have no game pieces left you can either ask your fellow players for a loan or you are out of the game. When one player has won everything in the pot, the round is over. The number of rounds can vary depending on how many people are playing or family traditions, it is up to you to decide! The dreidel game can have slightly different rules depending on how they were handed down throughout the years, so it’s a good idea to establish the rules and number of rounds you will be playing with before you begin.   As with many Jewish holidays, the food served has significant meaning, and it also happens to be delicious. Since Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days in the menorah oily foods are made to represent the miracle. The two most popular food items prepared for Hanukkah are potato latkes and Sufganiot, which are deep fried doughnuts. The latkes are usually topped with applesauce or sour cream. Personally I think applesauce is the only option you need, but you can put whatever you like on your potato latkes. There is not always a large holiday meal during the eight nights of Hanukkah, but many families make an effort to spend time together. Whether it’s playing dreidel,  or singing Hanukkah songs the emphasis, is about celebrating together.   Check out our Pinterest Board for Hanukkah recipes and crafts! Have a Happy Hanukkah!       Written by Sara Lilkas, Marketing Intern  Rosh Hashanah, which means “Head of the Year” in Hebrew, is the beginning of the Jewish year will be observed September 13^th through September 15^th. Rosh Hashanah is one of the two High Holy Days in the Jewish religion (the other being Yom Kippur) and there are many traditions and rituals that take place during the holiday. As with every major Jewish holiday, women and girls light candles on each evening of Rosh Hashanah and recite the Jewish blessing Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” One Rosh Hashanah tradition involving food is to eat apples dipped in honey to represent a sweet New Year and round challah bread to represent the cyclical nature of a year. Raisins or apples are also sometimes added to the challah bread to represent the sweetness of a new year in addition to the apples dipped in honey. Different families have different traditions surrounding the holiday that have been passed down throughout the years. After the traditional apples dipped in honey and challah bread are shared there are many different foods prepared for the Rosh Hashanah celebration. Main dishes can vary depending on what your guests enjoy. Some families enjoy chicken dishes, while others may have a more traditional brisket. Side dishes can vary from matzo balls and other traditional foods (Gefilte Fish anyone?), to other dishes that complement your main dish. There’s often roasted vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, but tart foods are generally avoided on this holiday with an emphasis on sweet flavors. As with the apples dipped in honey, sweet flavors are represented throughout the dinner to symbolize the desire for good things in the upcoming year.  One of those sweet side dishes you will see featured in most Rosh Hashanah dinners are tzimmes. There are many different variations of this dish, but they are all delicious! If you aren’t sure where to start with your tzimmes here is an easy recipe to follow! Apples often appear on the dessert menu during the Rosh Hashanah holiday both because of their symbolic significance and because apples often taste sweeter in the fall. There can be everything from apple cakes, pies, or tarts! It ultimately depends on what your family likes to eat. A fun idea is to have people bring different deserts so there is variety, but it also relieves some of the pressure off the host or hostess to prepare a fabulous meal. For more Rosh Hashanah dinner inspiration check out our Pinterest board! We wish all of our customers observing Rosh Hashanah a Happy New Year! L’shanah Tovah!