I also blog over at Red Room, the author's website. Last week we were asked to blog about a secret holiday ingredient, and I'm pleased and proud to say that my piece was one of three to be honored and receive a prize of a book. Here is the piece in its entirety. Most of the people in my family celebrate Hanukkah, and it had always been our tradition to give our nieces and nephews money Hanukkah gelt every year. The amount always varied depending on how wealthy or not we felt in a given year. However, as they grew up and married and had children of their own we felt our measly little check was insignificant and probably went to help pay for a half a bag of groceries. So we decided to look for something a little more meaningful and more in keeping with our tradition of giving to charity at year's end. Every year on December 31, my husband and I sit down and make a list of the non-profit asks we have amassed through the year. Then we first make a decision about which … [Read more...]