Potato-Apple Latkes

I’ve spent several of the last Christmases in Evanston, Illinois with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. When it comes to Christmas dinner, we don’t really have anything traditional, usually lasagna or sandwiches, whatever we feel like. But, when it comes to Christmas breakfast, my uncle is always in the kitchen scrambling up eggs, baking biscuits, and whipping up a warm batch of latkes. This Christmas I stayed home and didn’t care about what I did or ate on Christmas day except for what I ate for breakfast. So, I decided to make the latkes myself and ended up making Potato-Apple Latkes. I don’t know what my uncle puts in his latkes but these are nothing more than potato, apple, flour, salt, and pepper. I used Granny Smith apples because I already had some on hand and they added the slightest hint of sweetness without taking away from the traditional latke taste. Latkes are a great alternative to regular breakfast potatoes or hashbrowns and although I think my uncle’s latkes are better, these were still pretty darn good.

The ingredients:

Peel the potatoes and shred them with a kitchen grater. Repeat the same procedure with the apples and place in a strainer or colander over a bowl to drain for 20 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to press down the potatoes and apples to get as much liquid out as possible. With clean hands, squeeze excess water by hand if necessary.

Place dried potato-apple mixture in a bowl and add flour, salt, and pepper and mix.

Add oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, place mixture into the pan, flattening with your hands or the back of the measuring cup. Cook on both sides until brown.

Serve with sour cream, crème fraîche, or applesauce.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Jingle Juice

It’s only two days until Christmas – how did that happen?  There are no hints of cookies left in my house as I shipped most of them away to family and took the rest in to my coworkers.  So, I don’t have a cookie recipe for you today but instead have a festive little cocktail, Jingle Juice.  This drink has orange juice, lemon juice, vodka, orange liqueur, and cherry juice and packs a punch!  My lips puckered a bit when I first tried this because it’s pretty acidic so if I make this again, I’ll swap out some of the orange juice for sparkling water.  Substituting lemon-lime soda for the vodka and orange liqueur would make this a fun mocktail for any kiddos running around also so if you need something festive for a Holiday party, a weekend get-together or just for sitting by the fire watching Home Alone (again), check this out!

Happy Holidays and best wishes, everyone!

The ingredients:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a pitcher or bowl and pour into a glass over ice.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Southern Living Magazine

Ginger-Lemon Pinwheel Cookies

Gingerbread cookies are perfect for the holiday season but they can be a bit much in my opinion. I think I like looking at gingerbread men more than I like eating them. These Ginger-Lemon Pinwheel Cookies provide that festive gingerbread taste but are mixed with fresh lemon which keep the cookies lighter in flavor. Two different doughs are made – a ginger dough and a lemon dough – and they are rolled out thin, layered, and rolled up and sliced to make the pinwheel effect. Of course, my pinwheels aren’t nearly as fancy or tight as the picture from Cooking Light’s website but they turned out good enough for me! These do take a little bit of time because the doughs need to be chilled in three different stages but they aren’t as hard to make as I thought they would be. The hardest part is rolling the dough into a log but I used plastic wrap to help me keep the dough from splitting and I worked slowly. These cookies are as visually pleasing as they are tasty. Give these a try if you just don’t feel like making gingerbread men…again.

The ginger dough ingredients:

Beat together brown sugar and butter. Add in molasses and egg yolk and mix well.

Add all of the spices to the flour and mix together. Slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl and mix well.

Turn dough onto plastic wrap and form into a disk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

The lemon dough ingredients:

Mix together butter and sugar until creamy. Add in egg white and mix.

Add in vanilla and lemon zest.

Slowly mix in the flour until combined. Like the ginger dough, form dough into a disk in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

After doughs have chilled, roll both out until thin. Chill for another 10 minutes.

Layer ginger dough on top of lemon dough and carefully roll (from the long end) into a log as tightly as you can without tearing the dough. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Remove plastic wrap and slice the dough. Bake cookies on a baking sheet for 8-9 minutes in a 350°F oven.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • Light brown sugar for dark brown sugar

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

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