Chanukah Hostess channeling Maccabees

Chanukah Hostess channeling Maccabees
Originally uploaded by deepfry.

My brother is, gasp!, dating a non-Jew, as we both, for whatever reason, have always done. Except for that Rachael girl he dated for a few weeks his sophomore year of college...oh, and I once dated a 1/2 Jew who was culturally about as WASPy as they come. At any rate, my mother has accepted, albeit with reservation, our dating patterns until this year when my brother's girlfriend ordered him a Christmas stocking!!! My mom responded in kind, sending heaps of Chanukah decorations to Laura, to put up with the Christmas stocking. Lucky me, I benefit from this holiday decorating one -ups-manship. I found this beautiful Chanukah Hostess Set waiting for me when I came home last Thursday. The Hostess Set, including a hot mit, a pot holder and a (non-pictured) towel, also came with a sparkly strand of stars and a slightly stale frosted Star of David cookie from Sunset, the grocery store that caters to the largely Jewish suburbs from which I hail.

I think it's all quite lovely, though the screen print on the towel suggests a lack of truly absorbent powers. And yet, didn't the Jews doubt that the oil found when they reclaimed the Temple would burn for more than one night? Perhaps this screen print towel will be my modern day miracle of, um, absorption. Yes, just as the oil burned for eight days, so will my Chanukah Hostess towel persevere (much like the Maccabees), wiping up all liquids that come before it.

Anyways, here I am, drawing upon the combined powers of the Maccabees and the cornbeef bagel sandwich from Manny's. Intimidating, aren't I?