Follow Up Friday: Festival of Lights Edition

Hey It’s Jet Here.

We’re participating in the Channukah Crawl this year, whoo hoo! Today, Catself along with PerPetually Speaking are up.  Tomorrow, share the last Hannukah (I know, I spell it differently!) post with Cat Wisdom 101.

Our friend, Miss Jodi, Heart Like a Dog, initiated this great idea to update readers on previous posts.  She created a lovely badge to go with her idea and has successfully turned her wonderful idea into a robust blog hop!

We ordered our Dogs of Blogville Calendar this week.  Miss Jodi, Sampson and Delilah worked their fingers/paws to the bone creating this fabulous project.  The proceeds will divide evenly between two of our fellow bloggers who suffered severe damage in Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy.

Saturday: A+ Customer Service 

Thanks to all of you who admired the color of JJ’s new leash/harness.  You appreciated the less than frequent experience of great customer service.  Update: Mom does not feel secure with the handle of the EZYdog Cujo leash and wrote to Mr. Brady again.  She told him she read the return instructions AFTER throwing the tags away.  He said we could send that segment of the leash back and exchange it for the Mutley, which has a handle Mom feels confident with.  Double A+ EZYdog!

Black & White Sunday: Hannukah with Friends 

We enjoyed receiving so many comments appreciating the Channukah Crawl, since many blogpals were curious about our holiday’s history and customs.   You expressed how fun it was to have Miss Mary Ann and Dixie celebrate with us.  They generously gave us two gifts: super yummy (dried sweet potato) treats and super fun toys.  Mom’s still holding out because she knows Little Miss Chewminator will extinguish their sweet lives in less than 3 minutes!

Mischief Monday: Borrowed Mischief

Oh did we receive fun captions and comments about Sonoma’s antics in the dishwasher!  Mom shared with Miss Jennifer, since she thoughtfully shared Sonoma’s mischief anticipating (I’m sure of it!) that Little Miss Festival of Lights and I would be on our best behavior!  OH! OH!  The paperback of Snoopy’s Master Mischief Class arrived… our copy crossed the Casa Jet threshold on Wednesday night!  Yippee, Yahoo… a MUST READ (BIAS ADMITTED!)  Great for the holidays, remember half of the proceeds helps Therapy Dog Programs!

Tasty Tuesday: Latkes for K9s or Lassie Latkes 

For those unfamiliar with latkes, you enjoyed learning about the history and modern interpretations.  Many of you shared your family’s preferences regarding toppings: applesauce (Casa Jetty) and/or sour cream!  Little Miss Latke and I did the major happy dance when Mom prepared such beautiful samples for us.  She barely had time to snap pictures!  Mom posted step-by-step photos on her Kitchen Counselor FB page for your review!

Wordless Wednesday: Bandannas and Babushkas 

Thank you for admiring the pawesome Hannukah bandannas made by Mollie, Alfie and Miss Stella and gifted to us by Savannah and Miss Linda.  You complimented our modeling style and got a kick out of our Mom’s goofing around changing the bandannas to babushkas!  Yes, I rocked a babushka… I’m just manly man enough to do it!

Wednesday and a Half: Knotted (An Adaptation of Rapunzel Starring Princess Zena)

When preparing our Thursday post, we popped over to our pal PZ (Princess Zena) and coincidentally found one of our favorite styles of her posts – her story posts… as we read on… it featured… ME as the Handsome Prince!  Wowee wow wow… we just HAD to reblog it… if you didn’t have a chance to read it… besides having a starring role, yippee yahoo… PZ and her Producer created an amazing rendition of the timeless tale.  Thank you ever so much, PZ… you gave us a wonderfully unexpected gift.

Thankful Thursday: Awards and Appreciation 

We felt deeply fortunate to receive the Blog of the Year Award from Miss Ann of My Pawsitvely Pets.  Thanks for understanding we could only share the award with a few of the endlessly deserving blogs.  We explained what made us choose each blog we bestowed the award on.

Glad you thought the toys Mom gave to Austin for Hannukah rocked as much as Austin did.  Mr. Andy reports that Austin continues to tote the two new toys all over the house!  When Miss Judy mentioned that Austin likes all the toys Mom picks out, Mom replied that’s because they’re JJ tested and approved!

Another great Festival of Lights week.

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Hannukah Bandannas & Babushkas

Hey It’s Jet Here.

We’re participating in the Channukah Crawl this year, whoo hoo! Today, felines Pumpkinpuddy and Spike are up.  Tomorrow, our fellow Florida pal, Gizmo along with Chazz share more cool Hannukah (I know, I spell it differently!) info.

Remember the pawesome gifts from my BFF Savannah made expertly by Mollie, Alfie and Miss Stella?  Well, as promised, here we are modeling our bandannas.  Mom and Miss Mary Ann goofed around and changed them to babushkas (VBP – vocab builder project) to show the item’s flexibility and our cuteness!  Remember, you can click on the photo to bigify, as Savannah says!

Little Miss Festival of Lights and the supergirl pose…

Little Miss Latke sitting pretty…

Little Miss Babushka still campaigning…

Oh so suave, so debonair (VBP)… I can’t help myself!

I’m such a secure manly man, I let the ladies have their fun… I can rock a babushka, just like I rocked a crown last year!

Another great babushka  Hannukah bandanna day!

Thanks to BlogPaws for sponsoring the Wordless Wednesday Hop.

Tasty Tuesday: Latkes for K9s or Lassie Latkes*

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Have you enjoyed the Channukah Crawl as much as we have?  Boy oh boy, every post is so informative, interesting and uplifting.  Bet you’re not surprised that we selected to post on Tasty Tuesday!  Have to keep the cred as Mom’s Kitchen K9s you know.  Visit Meandering Moodys for another super Hannukah post.  Head over to Pumpkinpuddy and Spike the Cat tomorrow for more Hannukah celebrations.

We’re sending you to our feline pals Ateret, Livia and Abbi who posted the historical background of Hannukah so beautifully, including the detailed version of why we make latkes or potato pancakes.  (Speed version: the oil was expected to last one night and lasted eight, so, culturally, potato pancakes and donuts are featured.)

Health concerns have entered the picture over the years, so, now, you can find baked latke recipes in place of fried.  Foodies, chefs and creative cooks have put their spin on ingredients, so, now, you can find: sweet potato latkes, parsnip latkes, spaghetti squash latkes, celery root latkes, beet and carrot latkes, zucchini latkes and Lassie Latkes*! (click here to see the varieties offered at this year’s Latke Festival.)

Since traditional potato latkes contain onions, Mom knew she would make onion free sweet potato latkes.  Knowing that we enjoy parsnips, too, she thought she would search for a combo recipe.  When she found one that also included a chunky applesauce component, she printed and headed for the grocery store! (fever and all… gotta love Mom!)  Mom will share the recipe below, post photos on her Kitchen Counselor Facebook tomorrow with step-by-step pics and show you the experience from our eyes below.

Sweet Potato and Parsnip Latkes with Chunky 5-Spice Applesauce

For the Chunky 5-spice Applesauce:

• 6 MacIntosh or Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks (Mom used Fujis! See us testing below!)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon apple cider
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder (Mom loved including this!)
• 1 tablespoon sugar

For the Latkes:

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1/2 pound parsnips, peeled
• Salt
• 1/4 cup flour (Mom used whole wheat pastry flour, because she couldn’t find the spelt!)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

To finish:

• Sour cream
• 1/4 cup green onions, sliced thinly on the bias

Directions

For the applesauce: In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the apples, lemon juice, apple cider,lemon zest, 5-spice powder and sugar and stir to mix well. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until apples begin to break down, but are still chunky. Remove from heat and cool.

For the latkes: On a box grater, grate the sweet potatoes and the parsnips. Combine potatoes and parsnip in a large bowl. Season with salt and toss to combine. Add flour and stir to distribute evenly. Add eggs and stir well. In a large saute pan over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil (Mom used about 1/4 inch in her cast iron pan). Form the potato mixture into 3-inch latkes that are about 1/2-inch thick. Add to oil and fry until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate and season with salt. Repeat this procedure with all of the potato/parsnip mixture, adding more oil as necessary.

Serve with applesauce, sour cream and green onions.

As my BFF, Savannah, says… click on my pics to bigify!

Among and within Jewish families, there can be a customs debate… do you eat applesauce or sour cream with your latkes?  Mom’s family was STRICTLY an applesauce family, although after asking her Aunt and my  Nana, they could not tell her why.  Mom’s heritage is predominantly (VBP) Lithuanian, although she’s not sure that contributes any insight.  After some research, Mom came up with two thoughts:

• The history may be one of whether a family following Kosher Dietary rules wanted a dairy meal (sour cream) or a meat meal (applesauce).
• Does the family prefer savory (sour cream) or sweet (applesauce)?

We agree and echo all the wishes written by our pals so far and wish to add that Little Miss Festival of Lights, Mom and I hope that all creatures have enough safe food and water to keep them healthy.

Another great sweet potato parsnip with chunky applesauce day!