Happy Holidays!
I hope everyone is having an amazing holiday break. This time of year is always a great break from all of the hullabaloo of Caltech. As engaging as classes and extracurriculars are, being able to lounge around at home (and see snow!) is always great.Specifically, celebrating holidays with my family is always fun. My mom is Jewish and my dad is Catholic, so we celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas.
This year, Chanukah came first and started on my birthday. Instead of the traditional latkes (potato pancakes) and homemade applesauce on the first night, we went to one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Though I missed having latkes (couldn’t complain about my artichoke ravioli, though), we didn’t miss out on the celebrations–we just pushed everything back a few days! My mom and I grated what seemed like a ton of potatoes and onions, poured nearly a bottle of oil into a pan, and fried up stacks of potato pancakes. The menorah twinkled as we celebrated the festival of lights with a few gifts and great company.
We spent Christmas at home. Though everything was pretty low key, my favorite part was giving my dog his present; a toy pickle with a Christmas hat on it! He loved it!! My cat loved the stuffed fish I got her, but unfortunately, so did my dog. When she wasn’t looking, he took it, hid away, and tore all of its feathers off!! I will have to get her a replacement, but maybe only give it to her when I get back to California. For dinner, I baked a limoncello cheesecake (inspired in part by the limoncello I learned to cook with in the Caltech Cooking Class!), made butternut squash soup, and boiled some ravioli.
I am looking forward to ringing in the new year with friends and family next week and then getting back to the Caltech grind (we start only two days after the first!) Please enjoy some of these pictures from the holidays!
