Latke Party

Meet Ramona, co-host of our first party--a latke party that I attended with Stella the other day. Ramona is the wife of one of my former teachers, a teacher who enjoys his anonymity. Suffice it to say that I was flattered to be invited to this teacher's latke party (I didn't even know this teacher was Jewish) and I was fascinated at how his wife, Ramona, prepared her latkes.

Preparing latkes at the latke party was a communal process. Party-goers signed up on a latke-making list and then, when their name was called, the party-goer would be asked to grate potatoes on a box grater:

This gave the party-goer a physical connection to the latkes the party-goer was about to eat. Then the grated potatoes would go in a colander where they were salted and left to drain. Once drained of moisture, the shredded potato was mixed with egg and matzoh meal:

And then it was fry time. Ramona made them into balls and then flattened them on to her seasoned griddle pan (that's a griddle pan, right?)

Look how beautiful and golden brown they get!

This party-goer thoroughly enjoyed his latkes and his participation in the latke making process. And that concludes our visit to our first party, a latke party. Thanks Ramona and anonymous teacher! It was fun!