Chanukah Oh Chanukah: Latkes!

Happy Chanukah everyone!  This week I'm going to take a page from my dear friend Reid and share a different Chanukah song each day.   Last night was the first night of Chanukah.  And in honor of such, I've picked Chanukah Oh Chanukah as the song of the day:


I picked this song because it completely encompasses our holiday meal last night.  Chanukah is not one of those big feast holidays.  There's no big turkey and family dinner like at Christmas (turkey right?  Thatboy informs me that's tradition even though his family does steak and rice.)

Despite this fact, Thatmom came over for a very festive dinner. 

 While I got the table ready she played with the sevivon (dreidels) with Thatbaby.  And just like the song states, there were plenty of latkes to eat.

And after dinner, there were, of course, presents.  Thatbaby couldn't be torn away from his new train table.

(I was only after I took a photo of Thatbaby playing that I was able to snap this because he ran screaming from the room "don't take my picture!")

Thatbaby made us a present in preschool.  Let's just say it was...heavy.

 (yeah, that's a brick)

Given that we will be spending half of Chanukah with the inlaws, I prompted Thatboy to open his "I'm not an alcoholic" gift last night.

And  I didn't make out too poorly myself! 

Latkes are plenty easy to make, but incredibly time consuming.  When I was a kid, I was in charge of grating the potatoes and onions.  It's a great job for a kid, but Thatbaby isn't quite there yet.  Other than that it's pretty basic.

 Latkes

2 lbs potatoes (I used Yukon gold, but you can use any potatoes.  Even sweet potatoes.  Or a combination of varieties)

1 onion

2 eggs

1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper

oil for frying

1. Grate the potatoes and onions into a bowl of cold water.
2. Drain potatoes and onions, then place in a kitchen towel and wring out to remove any excess moisture.
3. Add eggs, flour, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet until hot and shiny.  Mound potatoes and onions in your hand to form small patties.  Place patties in hot oil and cook, about 5 minutes per side, until brown and crispy.
5. Drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and serve.