I made potato pancakes for New Year’s Eve. I read that potato pancakes and latkes are the exact same thing, but I have always called them potato pancakes and will continue to do so.
I grated the potatoes mid-afternoon, so they would have plenty of time to drain. I put a colander in a big pot and brought the potatoes into the living room so I could continue to watch a movie while I grated. Normally I do my cooking chores in the kitchen. However, the first time I ever made potato pancakes, I grated the potatoes while watching Psycho with Steven. We were just dating at the time. It was romantic. Since then, I like to grate potatoes in front of the television. Saturday it was The Blair Witch Project, in case anyone is wondering. I do like to watch Halloween movies all year long.
I grated three large-ish potatoes and half a yellow onion. It is good to let the potatoes set for at least a couple of hours to let some of the potato juice drain off. When I was ready to start frying, I emptied the shredded potato and onion into a bowl, added an egg and some flour, then kept stirring it and adding flour till I liked the consistency. I thought about adding garlic but decided for once to cook without.
It was at this point I realized my cast iron frying pan was dirty. I bought this frying pan for $8.99 at Whites Hardware in Potsdam, NY in the late ’80s. I use it all the time and not to hit people with. Come to think of it, I could do a whole other blog post about what I had cooked in the pan that it was dirty from. Perhaps another day.
Anyways, I scrubbed the pan and fried the pancakes. I used canola cooking spray instead of actual oil, dropped the pancakes on by the spoonful, flattened them with a spatula, flipped them a couple of times and declared them done when I liked the way they looked. We put sour cream on them, which we had remembered to purchase. We had forgotten to purchase applesauce, so had to do without.
Steven and I discussed homemade applesauce, which his mother used to make and my mother made at least once and a niece of his made in a crock pot recently. It was nice to talk about but hardly practical for my New Year’s Eve menu. Perhaps at some future date. That would probably make a good blog post, especially if I used Mohawk Valley apples. I’ll have to check out area orchards. Stay tuned.
Mohawk Valley Girl 