Hanukkah? The Friday after Thanksgiving? After stuffing the turkey and topping the sweet potatoes with marshmallows, I'll certainly not be ready to grate all those potatoes for my latkes.

Faced with this dilemma, I asked a cantor friend why Hanukkah was so early this year. "Because the Jewish calendar is lunar, each month has 29 or 30 days," explained Maurice Singer of Adas Israel Congregation in Washington. "The solar, or Gregorian, calendar has 30 or 31 days." So, in order to catch up, the cantor continued, instead of a leap year with one extra day, we have a leap month every few years.

Although this year Hanukkah is near Thanksgiving, next year it will be closer to Christmas. If the Jewish calendar didn't adjust, eventually we'd be lighting the menorah while watching Fourth of July fireworks!

What does this festival of lights really celebrate? Legend has it that during a festival commemorating the rededication of the temple, won back by the Hebrew Maccabees after they defeated the Syrian General Antiochus and his vast army, a lamp with a one-day supply of oil miraculously remained lit for eight days. During Hanukkah (Hebrew for dedication), Jewish families celebrate this miracle by lighting a candle on each of the holiday's eight days.

For those of us faced with many mouths to feed this Thanksgiving, a new miracle is needed. Thanksgiving's leftovers must be made into a feast worthy of that long-ago festival. But it's a minor miracle. With plenty of already cooked potatoes or sweet potatoes on hand (you can always make extra at Thanksgiving if you're worried about not having enough), those of us who are tired of cooking and not quite ready for grating potato pancakes will have little to do.

Just mold the leftover tubers into pancake-thin patties and fry them in oil until crispy brown; you may never grate potatoes again. Add a little curry to your sweet potatoes if you like, and don't worry about the marshmallows. Everyone will have nibbled them off already. Serve these pancakes with a robust turkey soup filled with fresh vegetables.

And if you want something a little different that still celebrates the miracle of the oil, try this variation on latkes. Recently, I tried Madeleine Winkelmann's delicious zucchini tart with olive oil that is baked and sliced into little slivers and served as an hors d'oeuvre. Although this Tuscan Zucchini Tart can be made any time, it is perfect at Hanukkah, when using olive oil is such a tradition.

However, if your family insists on latkes and you know you will be simply too worn out to fry them on Friday, here's a favorite old recipe that I have been making at Hanukkah for years: delicious carrot pancakes in tomato sauce, which I learned from the late Anna Siegel of Brooklyn. Her daughter-in-law Judy serves these pancakes only at Rosh Hashanah and Passover. For her, Hanukkah is for potato latkes, no matter how close the holiday is to Thanksgiving. "Grating potatoes and the aroma of them frying," says Judy, a purist when it comes to latkes, "that is Hanukkah for me."

To respond to those latke lovers who want freshly grated potatoes at Hanukkah, I insist that the holiday lasts for eight days, so there is plenty of time to make the real thing; perhaps the next weekend, when Hanukkah stands alone, and when brisket and latkes will finally replace turkey and sweet potatoes.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services International.

Tuscan Zucchini Tart

Makes 4 main-course servings or about 12 appetizer servings

5 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus sea salt for sprinkling (about 1 teaspoon)

1 pound zucchini, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 cup flour

1 1/4 cups milk

1 large egg

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease 4 (8-inch) round pans or pie plates with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Metal, glass or disposable aluminum pans work fine.

Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon salt over zucchini and onion. Place in a colander to "sweat" or draw out the moisture from the vegetables.

Sift flour and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt into large bowl. Whisk in milk and remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Finally, whisk in the egg and fold in the vegetables. (Batter can be made in advance up to this point and refrigerated up to 2 days.)

Pour about 1/4 inch batter into each pan and sprinkle with black pepper.

Bake tarts 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 425 degrees and bake an additional 6 to 12 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Remove tarts from oven and allow them to cool 5 minutes. With spatula, remove to serving plates or set aside to cut into smaller pie-shaped wedges.

Anna Siegel's Carrot Pancakes With Tomato Sauce

This dish tastes better the second day and freezes well.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

2 green peppers, diced

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus oil for frying

6 medium carrots, peeled and quartered

6 eggs

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/2 to 1 cup matzo meal

2 cups tomato sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup water

Saute green peppers in 1/4 cup oil. Drain and set aside.

Place half the carrots in food processor and pulse, grating until medium-fine. Remove and repeat with remaining carrots. Mix in eggs and salt. Add enough matzo meal until mixture is consistency of potato pancake batter.

Heat skillet with thin film of oil. Add 1 heaping tablespoonful of batter. Fry a few pancakes at a time until they are light golden on both sides. Repeat with rest of batter to make about 20 pancakes. Drain pancakes well on paper towels.

Place pancakes in two layers in casserole large enough to hold them. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix tomato sauce with sugar. Add green peppers and at least 1/4 cup water. Pour sauce over pancakes and bake, uncovered, in oven 30 minutes.