In our family, although we were not observant we did celebrate Hanukkah especially when my grandparents were still with us. From the moment I tasted my first latke (potato pancake) when I was about 3 I think, I was hooked. Both my Nanas--Fannie and Becky-- made them, and they were masters. A great latke is crispy, thin, not gummy, melt-in-the-mouth sublime. Some like 'em with applesauce, but I like to pile on the sour cream. Both fried them in schmaltz (rendered chicken fat--I know, carbs galore...but my Nanas, originally from Russia, where they didn't get nearly enough to eat, served up banquets of high fat, delicious, who cares about calories yumfests.
As she entered her 80's Fannie, with her painfully arthritic gnarled fingers spent hours trying to teach me her latke and challah-making technique. We had such a good time, but I never was able to recreate the sublime perfection of her recipes. I say recipes, but of course there was nothing written down. it was in the hands and in the heart and in the love.
- Bobbie Steinbach
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