Latkes Extravaganza

One For The Table, 01.18.2009

www.oneforthetable.com

Sunday is the first day of Hannukah and we know you can buy latkes at the deli, but we always like to make our own.

Have Yourself A Tacky Little Xmas: 50 Ways To Be Totally Tasteless This Holiday Season

Pamela Redmond Satran, 01.18.2009

Best-selling Author, How Not To Act Old

Looking to have a tacky Christmas season? At the office party, grind with the cute intern. Write and perform your own holiday rap. Or, hire a dwarf to dress as an elf at your party.

Thoughts on a Green Chanukah

Jessica Jensen, 01.18.2009

Co-founder of Low Impact Living.com

Chanukah starts Sunday December 21 this year. Just as we encourage everyone to incorporate eco-smart ideas and green gifts into their Christmas plans,...

New Year's Cards Are the New Christmas Cards

Samara O'Shea, 01.18.2009

Author, Professional Letter Writer

Christmas is all about faith, love, and joy -- not bad entities at all but a tall order to express -- whereas the New Year encompasses fresh beginnings and hope.

If You Don't Celebrate Christmas ....

Lea Lane, 01.17.2009

Author, six books; editor, sololady.com

Even though I'm Jewish, when I was a kid my family double-dipped. We had a miniature plastic tree hidden in a corner with blue and red balls and a few presents below.

Hanukkah: How to Celebrate (And Clean Up After) the Festival of Lights

Michael DeJong, 01.17.2009

Environmentalist, artist and author

Yes, Hanukkah candles drip. There are always distractions from every family ritual, but try to "be in the moment." Don't slip into "freak-out" mode just because something isn't going as planned.

Five Last-Minute Hannukah Gift Ideas from a Real Live Jew: Helping the Chosen People Choose A Little More Wisely

David Wild, 01.17.2009

TV Writer, Rolling Stone Contributing Editor and author of "He Is . . . I Say"

Gelt: In many ways, cash remains the perfect guilt-inducing gift item -- especially in this post-Madoff era.

Where Is the Jewish Martha Stewart?

Danielle Crittenden, 01.16.2009

Author, "What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us" and "Amanda.Bright@Home"

Who says Jews can't adapt the customs of their surrounding communities without surrendering their Jewish identities? After all, we've been doing it for thousands of years.

The Spirit of Chanukah

Eric Lurio, 01.14.2009

Artist, writer, adventurer!

I guess it was inevitable that Chanukah would become "Christmas Lite," and did so years ago. For much of the last century, Chanukah is a festival that exists out of envy, like Kwanzaa.

The War Against Getting Along

Lisa and Michael Littman, 01.12.2009

Separation of church and state is what allows us to live together. It is not anti-religious -- it is pro-getting along and pro-protecting all religious groups.

Guilt, Gelt, and The Gift of Giving

Joel Schwartzberg, 01.08.2009

Essayist, Author of "The 40-Year-Old Version"

Holiday compassion, which most of us value but seldom practice, is the opposite of holiday commercialism, which most of us practice but never value.

Six Ways to Cut down on Waste During the Holidays (and Avoid the Ugly Sweater)

Mairi Beautyman, 01.03.2009

Features Editor at TreeHugger.com, Design Journalist

Recycling wrapping paper and cards can drastically reduce your holiday waste and generate a big dose of nostalgia.

Holiday Food Faux Pas -- And How to Avoid Them

Laura Weiss, 01.02.2009

While over-the-top foods may be out this year, there are some simple culinary steps you can take to avoid striking the wrong note during the upcoming holidays.

Don't get crushed at the mall - Create Jobs

Jack Hidary, 01.01.2009

Entrepreneur

Think your are helping the economy by buying some holiday gifts? Instead of giving more stuff to your relatives and friends that they don't need, d...

Four Christmases: The Humiliation of Explaining Your Unemployment Around the Holiday Table

Stephen Viscusi, 01.01.2009

America's Workplace Guru

Can you imagine having to explain that you're unemployed to the people you see only once a year?

Merry Hanukkah, George. Happy Thanksgiving. Now, Would You Please Leave?

Art Brodsky, 12.28.2008

communications dir., Public Knowledge

The White House put a picture of a sled bringing in the Christmas Tree on the cover of a card to Joe Lieberman that was supposed to celebrate Hanukkah. Do you suppose they could all just leave early?

Life Cycle: Burn, Baby, Burn (The Eco Impact of Candles)

Simran Sethi, 10.23.2009

Most candles are made from paraffin wax, which is derived from crude oil. Demand for these products plays into our reliance on fossil fuels.

Who Won The War On Christmas? At My School, It Was The Druids

Tony Sachs, 07.08.2009

Pop music know-it-all, spirits enthusiast, baseball obsessive, bon vivant

I'm amazed that none of our parents complained that the school was trying to turn their children into godless, fire-worshiping heathens. I suppose bowing down to the gods of flame one day a year didn't adversely affect a Harvard application.

Intelligent Giving

Vivian Norris de Montaigu, 03.28.2008

Based in Paris and holds a PhD in Cinema Studies

Teaching one's children early on about giving intelligently is at least as important as what one learns at school. Social Entrepreneurship programs around the world have helped create a snow-ball effect.

Is Hanukkah Causing Global Warming?

Bruce Feiler, 03.28.2008

Bestselling author of Walking the Bible, Abraham, and America's Prophet

Come on, people, where is the anger!?! Hanukkah is destroying our planet.

Merry Mail

Giulia Rozzi, 03.28.2008

Do I or don't I send out Holiday cards? I know, I know, it's a difficult decision. I mean, all that writing. All those stamps. All that envelope licking.