Festival of Lights

This season of Latkepalooza ends tonight with last night of Chanukah.

Last Friday, my parents came over for Shabbat dinner and to light Chanukah candles with us. We surprised my Mom with a special treat for dessert. Her birthday was at the beginning of December. E spent three days putting together her birthday extravagance. He made Baked Alaska for the first time. It is a dessert made of ice cream, cake and topped with meringue. Wednesday he made a white cake from scratch. He let it cool and then froze it. On Thursday, he softened chocolate ice cream and then spread it as a layer on top of the cake and put it back into the freezer. Friday he made the meringue and then covered the cake and ice cream with it. The entire dessert is then placed in a hot oven just long enough to firm the meringue. It is quite an indulgence.