Latkes & Cookies

This year, my sister and I made latkes by ourselves for the first time for her Hanukkah party. We somehow pulled it off and they turned out almost as good as my mom's latkes. The recipe looks simple but the frying is messy and time consuming and pretty easy to mess up. It's hard to keep the potato mixture from falling apart when it goes in the oil, the oil needs to be just the right temperature, and they burn pretty easily so you have to flip them at just the right time.

I don't think we've tried making these vegan but egg replacer powder should work instead of the eggs.

6 russet potatoes
1 onion
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt, optional
canola oil for frying (you'll need like half a bottle)

Grate the potatoes and onion in a food processor and place each batch of grated potatoes in cold water until they're all grated. Drain them and squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the potatoes and onion. Mix the grated potatoes and onions with the flour and eggs (and salt) in a large bowl. Pour about 1/4 cup of oil in a large skillet (or 2) over medium-high heat until it's hot but not smoking. Spoon in about 2 tablespoons of potato mixture and flatten into a pancake (but not too thin). Brown on both sides, about 5 minutes on each side. Drain them on baking sheets lined with paper towels and then keep them warm in the oven at around 250F. Serve with applesauce and sour cream or yogurt.

My sister's lucky guests were also treated to some of these delicious cookies that we helped my cousin make the night before the party. I think this was the recipe we used.