Latkes and fixin’s

In honor of Chanukah, and the traditions of my mother’s family, I make latkes once a year. I do not make latkes in honor of my mother’s latkes, since hers never stuck together. I don’t know what the secret is (though thorough draining may be it), but mine seem to work fine and my guests (and PMM) were pleased. Serve with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt and applesauce; I went with fruit and salad to balance out the sheer fried potato-ness of the meal.

Chanukah feast

I also made a beautiful kugel for dessert, courtesy of my friend at Savory Simple. Her recipe is here (my picture is below, half-eaten, but her pictures are beautiful). My only suggested alterations to her recipe are to

This looked so good we couldn't wait for photography before dessert.

1) add 1/2 tsp nutmeg or 1/4 tsp cardamom when you add the cinnamon; 2) if, when you add the eggs and noodles the liquid does not cover all of the noodles, beat up another 2 eggs and pour on top; 3) cover pan with tinfoil while baking. These last two things will keep the top noodles (which will eventually be the bottom noodles) from drying out and crisping.

Red lentil curry

Lentils are great for fast cooking; you don’t have to soak overnight, you don’t have to cook for hours, and lentils get a beautiful consistency- most fall apart into a thick soup, while some hold up for heterogeneous texture.

You can add any flavors you want and lentils will soak them in. This is a pretty standard curry, which I love to have around for a simple dinner and easy leftovers.