Subject: Miracle Oil (A Hanukkah party invite, not spam)
Tue. Dec 8, 2015, 7:27 PM
Dear friends,
Saturday December 12th is:
a) one of the eight available Chanukkah nights
b) the night before I leave the country (and two nights before my passport expiration..)
c) like, tautologically, a Saturday night, man
d) an opportunity to see you before 20MF16
So, if you’re free, come over! Mat and I will make the Jewishiyest snacks that I can think of (the common ingredient being the worry that it won’t ever be enough). Most specifically, I want to promise you latkes, though, having so far in life managed to get away with eating other people’s potato pancakes (OPPPs), and as I make this delayed transition to adulthood, I am preemptively nervous about my latke performance.. Like anything Jewish, there are thousands of opinions on how (and why. And why not), and they all conflict. Depending on which expert’s advice (and they’re all experts) I choose to follow, the result could be wispy, crispy, and golden, or, cold, soggy, and bitter. So, to give you the full cultural experience, please join me in assuming the worst. Then we can, together, either be pleasantly surprised, or hopeful that bitter latkes should be the least of our troubles.
If you want to bring food/drink, please feel free, but not obliged. I am a fan of both festivity AND transgressivity, so blintzes are a bonus, and bacon would be badass. No rules. Plus, who wants to drink Manischewitz? Nobody. (Except my dad. Who sadly doesn’t live here, because he is a fabulous addition to any Hannukah party).
Anyhoo, I realize this is short notice, and I already know a couple of you will be away, but given that this is a holiday of miracles, and a culture of guilt, I still hope to see each of you, and, is that so wrong?
Jasmine (and Mat)
ps I saw Star of David shaped pasta at the Indian grocery! I got it for us.