falling in love

... with The Nephew, who after 5 wonderful weeks here, flew back home (sob) to California with The Sister.

He is just 10 months old and so we were able to see a few "firsts"— climbing stairs, pulling up and squatting down, speed crawling... and perhaps funnest of all, eating real people food.

One item he particularly enjoyed was the potato latke.

"YEAH!! FINALLY! Big Boy Food!
Get me out of Stage 2!"

"What? Is this all you're giving me????"

"Gotta make sure it's not too hot."

"I'd be two-fisting this, if the portions weren't so stingy."

"MMM, more, please?"

Potato Latkes are a traditional Jewish dish served at Hanukkah.  The Family loves potatoes any which way all through the year, and they especially love crispy potato pancakes.  We are so glad The Big Boy does too. This is our go-to recipe.  

Latkes

from Celebrating America by Phillip Stephen Schulz

1½ pounds baking potatoes (russet or yukon gold)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 small onion, finely grated

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 250ºF.  Peel the potatoes and roughy grate them into a large bowl of cold water.  Add the lemon juice.  Let stand for 30 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and squeeze them dry with your hands.  Place them in a food processor.  Process, using the pulse switch, until finely grated, but not wet.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add the onion, egg, flour, baking powder, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir until smooth.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot.  Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Using a large tablespoon, spoon the batter into the pan and let cook until brown and puffed, about 1 minute. Turn over and brown the other sides.  Place the cooked latkes on a rack over a cookie sheet and keep warm in the oven until all the batter has been used.  (I had to drain the batter periodically, as I wanted to minimize the oil splatter.)