Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, it’s time for day three of the Smart Bitches Hanukkah Festival!
Today’s prize is pretty awesome. But first, I’ve been asked for the Sweet Potato Latke recipe I mentioned yesterday. Ahoy, here it is, and the giveaway is below the fold. It’s a good thing to hold with one hand, while eating latkes with the other hand.
Sweet Potato Latkes
Makes about 24 latkes. Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine.
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar (I used Splenda bc I’m out of sugar. Worked fine.)
2 heaping tsp curry powder (MORE SPICE BABY YEAH)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 heaping tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (like hotter with slow burn as you take another bite? Add more.)
1/4 tsp pepper
scant 1/4 tsp dry mustard
scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs beaten (Kinky!)
1/2 cup milk or Lactaid or milkish product of your choice.
4 cups grated peeled sweet potatoes
oil for frying
Mix the dry ingredients (flour through mustard). Stir in eggs and milk until blended. Add sweet potatoes and fold with a spatula or your fingers to coat thoroughly. Keep scooping from the bottom of the bowl to make sure there is equal potato/goo distribution. The goo contains the flavor!
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. I used enough vegetable oil that it was probably between 1/3 and 1/2 inch deep in the skillet.
Drop heaping tablespoonfuls into oil. Let set for about 30 seconds, then press gently with the back of a spoon to flatten out. In my big honking skillet I could fry about 6 or 7 at a time.
Fry for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown. Add more oil if you need it.
Drain on rack covered with paper towels. Try to avoid eating while they’re piping hot (ow. Good luck with that).
NOTES:
I tried making bigger than heaping-tablespoon size, and they were soggy in the middle, so keep to the smaller size for browned, crispy latkes with chewy centers. The batter will get soggy at the bottom so stir every now and again to mix the potatoes with the wet stuff. Remember: the goo contains the flavor!
We’re serving with honey mustard, chipotle mayo, drizzled honey and whatever else I think will taste good.
Happy Hanukkah!
And now: Ahoy! Contest the third!
On the Third Night of Hanukkah, Smart Bitches Gave to Me: A Generation Two Kindle, and a $25 gift certificate to Amazon!
Just leave a comment below, and tell me your favorite traditional holiday food (Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa – Eid is over, but is there traditional food for Hijra? – and you’re entered to win. Comments close in 24 hours, but fear not, there’s another book – paper or digital – giveaway coming soon. Because Hanukkah lasts for eight crazy nights, and I have more latkes to eat. NOM.
Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Reading!
My parents have several pecan trees so every year I make pecan tassies for my employees. Think of these as small (1 1/2” in diameter) pecan pies. The crust is made with cream cheese and butter which has led to one co-worker referring to them as “Fat Laden Death Bombs.” But that sure doesn’t keep him from partaking. 🙂
Ok, I have to tell about my husband’s favorite holiday dish. We were approaching our first Christmas as newlyweds. Ross waxed rhapsodic about his late mother’s green beans-and-spaetzel, which had been the highlight of his childhood feasts.
Aha, think I. I am from a German background. I lived in Germany for many years as a child. We take German food very seriously in my family. I, his new bride, will recreate this wonderful memory.
So I bought fresh green beans and snapped them and blanched them. I made spaetzel dough and stood over a large pot of boiling water and half-blinded from the steam on my glasses scraped the dough through a colander for an hour to make the miniscule dumplings. I sauted the spaetzel with diced bacon and tossed it together with the green beans. Taa-Daa! It wasn’t just a side dish, it was Spousal Devotion in a Bowl.
Ross takes a bite. He pauses. “Mmm! Great,” he says in a thoroughly unconvincing manner. He forces himself to down a few more forkfuls.
“What’s the matter?” I wail. “Didn’t I do it right?”
He frowns. “I don’t know what it is. It’s just not like my mother used to make. I’m sorry, honey.”
A few days later, he comes home with a bag of groceries, beaming with triumphant happiness. “I found it,” he says, unloading boxes and cans on the kitchen table. “My mom’s Christmas specialty!” He pulls out two lumpy frozen rectangles.
Bird’s Eye Frozen Green Beans and Spaetzel in Special Bavarian Sauce.
No, I did not divorce him. And for each of the twenty-two Christmases we’ve shared since then, I’ve taken lumpy frozen rectangles, microwaved them, and, begging forgiveness from the ghosts of my great-grandmothers looking on in horror, I serve them to my husband, children, and guests. I use the family Spode, even.
It’s not just a side dish. It’s Spousal Devotion in a Bowl.
My grandmother’s egg noodles. I can make them, but they were just better when she did. I miss her.
My favorite thing at the holidays is a side dish called corn pudding. I don’t know why we only make it around the holidays, because it’s so very easy to make, but whenever I smell it cooking, it always brings back memories of Christmases past. That or gingerbread. There’s nothing like home-backed warm gingerbread right from the oven with a dollop of whipped cream on top to say, yep, Christmas is here.
My mother-in-law makes a wonderful peanut butter fudge. My sister makes great hershey kiss cookies. I can make both, but not as well as they do.
Sam
I don’t really have a favorite traditional holiday food, other than the spiral cut ham….but I DO LOVE eggnog that only comes around during the holidays!! I can drink myself silly with that eggnog…Mmm, now I need to go buy some more now that I’ve mentioned it 🙂
I know most people think it’s weird, but I love that Jello mold with the fruit and nuts in it.
My favorite Christmas tradition is driving around to look at all of the lights on Christmas Eve with my family.
My favorite holiday treat is a deep fried turkey. Yum!!!
I’m a big fan of sweet potatoes with the marshmellos on top. That would probably be my favorite.
oh so hard to pick just one! I love latkes for hanukkah and bacon cookies for xmas and oysters on new years (or any old time). Oh, and buche de noel is my favorite thing to make, because a life-sized malevolent squirrel of homemade marzipan is always a crowd pleaser. Although honestly I like fruitcake better, but I’m strange like that. But I think the secret to holiday success, the thing I truly crave, is glogg. I suppose a drink is not technically a food, but the alcohol impregnated almonds and sultanas in the bottom of the glass cover that issue. The key is not to let the spiced port/wine get too hot so the alcohol doesn’t boil off, but even if it does, that’s remedied by a shot of vodka in each glass. Don’t forget the vodka. Then everyone is happy, and soon to be dreaming of sugarplums (which I’ve never actually had).
December is the Month of Candy in my family, I particularly like the homemade almond roca, delicious and dangerous.
The one I enjoy making the most is also the one that is a PITA to make – German Rock Cookies. They’re actually “anise cookies” but became known as the GRC in our family because the first time my dad made them (from a recipe his mom got by catching the ingredients before her mother threw them in the bowl or guessing if she missed), the star shapes could have doubled as ninja weaponry. Now that it has been tweaked, they’re still delicious in coffee or straight up. My 8mo will likely use one as a teething cookie this season, but I’m so looking forward to rolling them out and playing with cookie cutters – some that have been in the family for generations and others that are brand spankin’ new
For the Christmas holidays I’d have to say our holiday snack is Chex party mix. I only make it at Christmas time, beginning right after Thanksgiving and I make countless batches. I encourage everyone to eat, because otherwise I’ll eat copious amounts, which my hips do not need. Thankfully, my family is eager to help out 🙂
We don’t a traditional holiday food in our family, but I love gingerbread.
The traditional Portuguese Christmas eve meal of codfish (the 4 to 5 cm thick variety) with potatoes and broccoli wallowing in olive oil and garlic. yummy, yummy, yummy
I love Christmas Pudding, but only with fresh cream (no custard or brandy butter/sauce) and a little brandy or rum and only on Christmas Day – picky aren’t I?
Dressing, dressing, dressing! I don’t care about the turkey.
Gingerbread houses!
And not those packages, faked ones . . . I mean the REAL ones made from scratch where you can cut out doors & windows, add chimneys, etc. And the decorations, whoa baby, the list is endless!
My favorite dish is from a festival I don’t celebrate. But it’s oh so good!
It’s called Kheer. Made during Eid.
My favorite Christmas treat is not one I like to eat, but one that makes my children squee with joy. My sister makes wee mice from chocolate covered cherry(with stem for a tail), Hershey kiss for head, & almond slices for ears. Every Christmas Eve, that’s their favorite thing! 🙂
What a great giveaway! I wait in anticipation for each day. Thanks so much for running this.
~Jen
Yams & Apples. FAVORITE FOOD EVER. I can only convince my family to make it for big occasions and once contemplated giving my Aunt a lump of coal for changing the recipe one year (she has since learned the wrath of denying me my sweet potato fix). Even though there are usually only four of us for Christmas dinner, we make enough for twelve so that there are leftovers for everyone. YUM. I’m salivating just thinking of it.
Gingerbread. I love gingerbread.
Eggnog with a little nutmeg and cinnamon. And a WHOLE lot of brandy.
Eggnog! (I know you drink it, but its made with eggs and there’s always a possibility that you will end up sick as a dog from the rawness, which is why I always add a metric ton of brandy or bourbon to it prior to drinking because, hey! Alcohol sterilizes stuff!)
I’m also a sucker for mashed potatoes 😛
My family recipe for Viennese Crescents. They are my absolute favorite. The almond slivers and all the powdered sugar go so well with a cup of coffee. Yummy!!
Cookies and Candies! Snickerdoodles, spritz cookies sprinkled with sprinkles, peanut butter with Reese’s in the middle, snickerdoodles, chocoloate chip with loads of walnuts. FUDGE and Peanut Brittle.
I stay in a sugar haze until Mid-January.
None of the foods we eat are for holidays only but its the only time we really eat all the good foods together-potato salad, rice dressing (aka dirty rice), turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, etc. Mmmmm….soooo good!
Rugelach and gingerbread men! Well, really, cookies of all kinds.
My favorite holiday food is the green bean casserole with mushroom soup, garnished with french fried onion rings. Yum!
(security word is “put87”—Yes, please put 87 of those green beans on my plate!)
My favorite is my mom’s homemade peanut butter pie, which we only get on special occasions, including Christmas.
I love to make and eat pies. Pumpkin, pecan, apple, any kind of pie will do. I usually don’t like to eat sweets but at the holidays, I splurge!
I make a ginormous batch of kolacky cookies every Christmas – mainly because so many people request it as a holiday gift from me – my personal favorite is the kind with apricot feeling and a steaming cup of tea!
My nana’s giant ginger molasses cookies. *drool*
I haven’t had them in a few years, I will have to whip up a batch this Christmas!!
I’m simple- my favorite is holiday cookies.
Stuffing! But none of that store bought crap. Proper homemade stuffing is moist and delicious.
Mashed potatoes! Or maybe my uncle’s Tuscan spaghetti sauce…
Hands down it’s the mashed potatoes on Christmas Day at Grandma’s house. And it’s not just any ol’ potato recipe – I believe this is the “Big Martha” recipe from Martha Stewart – yukon gold potatoes, cream cheese, heavy cream, butter, and more….I think they’re more dangerous to the waistline than the candy tray.
I always liked those peanut butter kisses my grandma used to make.