Welcome to Latkaville

December 21, 2014 – Welcome to Latkaville

‘Tis the season for latkes in the Thompson household.  I’m feeling very festive about the holidays this year.  Due to the timing of Hanukkah, I’ve had time to recover from Thanksgiving before gearing up for the Jewish festival of lights.  A long strand of twinkling blue lights, visible from inside and outside, adorns the living room window.  My dreidl painting is propped up on the piano’s music stand.  I’ve been exercising vigilantly, eating carefully, and limiting my subbing, so I have plenty of energy for cooking and entertaining.  

  

For well over a week, my kitchen has been a latke factory.  It started when I made 126 latkes in a single evening for last weekend’s Hadassah Hanukkah party.  A group of 30 Hadassah friends and (plus a few husbands) joined me at home for a latke brunch.  In addition to the traditional potato latkes with the requisite accompaniments, apple sauce and sour cream, we sampled curried sweet potato latkes; leek and potato latkes; spinach latkes, including a gluten-free variation made with ground walnuts; and finally Thai corn latkes, an example of culinary fusion if there ever was one.  This is what I imagine Jews living in Thailand after the year 1500 would have eaten.  They were one of the crowd favorites, and I can understand why.  Flavored with ginger, garlic, and cilantro – what’s not to like? 

For the second night of Hanukkah, Matt and some neighborhood friends came over for a special dinner.  The meal featured the afore-mentioned curried sweet potato latkes, which complemented the pot roast (for carnivores), roasted turkey breast (for non-red-meat eaters), and veggie-chickpea stew (for vegetarians).  Donuts, which are fried in oil, provided the Hanukkah-themed dessert.  And last night, I tried a new latke recipe that uses zucchini.  Shhh!  Don’t tell anyone that these are baked in the oven rather than fried in oil – a Hanukkah heresy. I wish I had more latke photos to share, but the yummy pancakes, regardless of variety, seem to vanish before I can put down my spatula and get out my phone.  

Zucchini latkes

Meanwhile, we’re busy planning for our Norwegian Jul celebration on December 24 with Marshall and Matt.  Elliott recalls Christmas Eve celebrations from his childhood when his mother would make a roast beef, string beans, and potatoes along with several varieties of Norwegian cookies.  This year, the boys will come over in the afternoon, and we’ll bake Julekake, a cardamom-scented Christmas bread, and Jødekager, Scandinavian “Jewish” cookies, together.  I will attempt to recreate the dinner with some trepidation since I’ve never cooked a roast beef before.  I’ll also make a few minor modifications, such as substituting potato latkes for boiled or mashed potatoes, and serving spiced cider rather than gløgg (mulled red wine).  Other possible Scandinavian-inspired additions to the menu include herring as a starter, braised red cabbage to accompany the meat, and pickled cucumber salad with fresh dill.  

Elliott got off to a head start on his Norwegian Jul celebration.  Thanks to the kindness of the very accommodating staff at the Nordic Deli in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn (where there was a thriving Norwegian immigrant community in the early years of the 20^th century), my 102-year old Viking husband is already enjoying nøkkelost, his favorite cheese and a reminder of his childhood.  It’s flavored with cumin seeds and cloves, and it’s very difficult to obtain nowadays in this country.  

That's one happy Viking!

Another event we’re celebrating this month is my mother’s 89^th birthday on December 23.  Elliott and I will take her out for lunch that day.  This is in addition to the birthday dinner party that Greenspring hosted for assisted living residents with December birthdays last Thursday, December 18.  December 18 also happens to be the date of our wedding anniversary.   Elliott and I managed to squeeze in a celebratory lunch that day at Villa Mozart, a lovely northern Italian restaurant in Fairfax City. 

Katie looks good for 89!

Anniversary lunch at Villa Mozart

Since Workhouse Arts Center glass studio is closed for a two-week winter break, Matt and I will be working on our fused glass at home.  We each have a piece in the student-faculty art exhibition, which runs from December 20 through January 11.  There’s a closing reception on January 10 from 6-9pm, so stop by if you have time.  For those of you who can’t make it to Lorton, I’m also hosting an in-home show/tea party on January 1^st or 2^nd – more details to follow.