Hannukah

Latka? Latke? Well, whichever way you like to say it, I made latkas last night! Every Wednesday, I attend a "Girls' Night" with some of the ladies who live near me.  My friend Whitney graciously hosts and we usually cook dinner, drink wine, and relax.  Last week, I was discussing Hannukah and I discovered that nobody else celebrated it nor had tried latkas.  So came my mission: make latkas.

After three supermarket trips, looking for the perfect recipe on-line, gathering tips from family and friends, peeling many potatoes, two hours of cooking, and a couple burns from hot oil, I had delicious latkas.  Every year, I partake in the cooking of latkas, but this was my first time spearheading the operation.  I was nervous, but lucky for me nobody had eaten them before so nothing to compare them to.  But, I was very happy that others enjoyed them because I definitely did not want to mess up their first latka experience.

Now to the toppings- applesauce and sour cream.  After going to three supermarkets I only discovered that applesauce does not exist in South Korea.  The closest I came to it was a $5 jar of apple flavored baby food mush or "desert" apple cinnamon yogurt.  You should have seen me trying to act out the word applesauce like a game of charades to the supermarket employees, did not work.  Neither of those things were going to cut it, applesauce is essential.  Solution?  I made my own applesauce with the help of the other ladies.  It is actually really easy to do and really really delicious.  It ended up working out perfectly.  As for the sour cream, my friend bought it in the imported section of a supermarket here.  Toppings were success numero dos.

Sides- We made a salad and had donuts (more fried food) for desert.  It was all delicious!

All and all I was very proud and hopefully made whatever Jewish ancestry is in me proud as well.  I got home and immediately called my Jewish grandmother and told her about my cooking.  She was happy and that made this experience even better.  One of the funniest parts was me trying to tell the girls the story of Hannukah.  I was actually able to produce more than I had imagined and I did not make any of it up (surprisingly, because they would have believed anything I said).  Who knew that me out of all people would be conveying knowledge about the Jewish religion.  But, I quickly forget that not everybody grows up around such a diversity of religions.

The best part is that after 24 hours, a shower, changing clothes, and washing my hands a zillion times, I still smell like a latka.  Mazel tov :)