You might not be able to buy happiness, but you sure can bake it! In fact, you can fry it, roast it, simmer it and saute it, too. Your family’s favorite holiday foods will always bring a smile to the table. Today, I’m sharing two of my family’s faves. One savory and one sweet. One just in the Saint Nick of time for the beginning of Hanukkah; and the other one of my favorite bar cookies, delicious any time of year, but particularly at the holidays.

Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays with these recipes and all the recipes that have become traditions for your family as well!

Pistachio Bar cookies, lightly dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a fresh raspberry are sure to become one of your family’s holiday favorite foods.

For Hanukkah, Holiday Favorite Foods begin and end with Potato Latkes

Ok, so there is Hanukkah gelt but somehow those foil covered chocolate coins just can’t compare to the taste of hot fried potato pancakes.

Potato Latkes are delicious served topped with applesauce, sour cream and yes, although not as traditional, with ketchup, too!

I simply LOVE potato latkes. My childhood memories of the first night of Hanukkah are filled with the smell of hot oil and the taste of these crispy potato pancakes. I suggest going in for the deep dive and make a meal out of them. A latke dinner is a delicious way to kick off any one of the eight nights of your family’s Hanukkah celebrations. If you don’t celebrate Hanukkah, you can still enjoy – serve these latkes as a side with soup, steak, chicken and yes, even pork.

There are lots of variations on the theme – during the year, try making these root veggies pancakes with sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots or butternut squash alone or in a colorful combination – are all good. But, for me, when it comes to Hanukkah latkes, simple white baking potatoes are the star ingredient.

I share this family recipe with you with the memory of how I used to stand around the counter adjacent to the stovetop in our kitchen with Daddy and my brother Jaimie eating latkes as fast as Mom could get them browned and flip them out of the pan. It was our little Hanukkah tradition. And then after our “appetizer course” , Mom made more to serve for dinner.

Use a Food Processor to Grate the Potatoes and Mince the Onion

When I was little, I can remember my mom and grandma deftly grating the potatoes and onions for latkes on a box grater; but today a food processor with a shredding disc makes short work of the task at hand.

I actually like the onion in my latkes finely minced, rather than shredded. To that end, I start by mincing the onion first. Set up your processor with the steel knife fitted in the bowl. Then, with the machine running, drop the quartered onion through the feed tube and onto the sharp spinning blade. Centrifugal force takes charge and the onions are minced faster than you can sing, “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel”.

Then after the onion is minced, switch out the steel knife for the shredding blade – you can keep the minced onions in the bowl of the processor – and start to shred your peeled potatoes.

Once all the ingredients are blended together, drop the potato mixture into hot oil for frying.

Don’t forget my Pro Tip for getting the temp of the frying oil just right…
As the oil is heating, place a clean dry wooden spoon in the pan. When tiny bubbles form around the tip of the spoon, the oil is hot enough to fry your latkes to a crispy golden brown.
Heidi Billotto

Heidi’s Potato Latkes

Ingredients

6-8 Russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 small yellow or white onion or one large shallot
1/2 – 3/4 cip Matzoh Meal or cracker crumbs
2 local chicken or duck eggs
salt and peper to taste
oil for frying

Instructions

Mince the onion and then peel and shred the potatoes. This works best in a food processor.
Turn the potato and onion into a mixing bowl. Add the flour and eggs.
Blend together until the potatoes are coated with the egg and flour mix and then season with salt and pepper. I find it easiest to do this mixing with my hands. It's about proportion here, so you really have to get a feel for it. If the potatoes are too wet, you may need more flour, if they are dry, you may not need quite as much.
Heat a 1/4 inch or so of oil in a large skillet. Any blended or unflavored oil works well. When the oil is ready, add the potatoes
Take a small handful of the shredded potato mix (yes, use your hands – this is how I remember my mom doing it) and carefully drop it into the pan. Then, press it flat with a spatula. Repeat the process for 3-4 more latkes. Don't overcrowd the pan.
Depending on the size of the pan, I suggest only frying 3-4 latkes at a time. Fry the latkes until browned and crisp and then flip to brown the other side.
Remove the browned latkes from the pan and onto a cake cooling rach sitting over a paper towel lined cookie sheet. This way the latkes can drain slightly, so they won't be oily, and the excess oil can get soaked up by the paper towels.
As you continue to cook the remaining latkes, add more oil to the pan as needed.
Once they are all cooked, remove them from the layers of paper towels and stack them up on your plate to enjoy!