Two Pleasures...

"Great food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want."

-Gale Green

Pleasure #1: Latkas

As you know, Hanukkah is celebrated this week, and so I have been trying out different recipes to fit the occasion. This year, I am cooking as a diabetic, so I am trying recipes in the "lighter version" format to keep my blood sugar under control, while still enjoying the holidays. I was very pleasantly surprised to find a lot of diabetic friendly recipes for Latkas, as it is one of my favorite things to eat any day of the year. I looked here and there, and finally just put on my own creative thinking cap, and came up with what you see here. Yum. And it is so simple and quick to make. All I did was eliminate the egg, and add a package of mashed potatoes to help things hold together. :) I had 4 Latkas, and a nice bowl of mixed fruit for dinner the other night, and my blood sugar was a respectable 127 mg/dl, two hours after dinner. That made it all the more delicious. Yum.

Carly's Easy Potato Pancakes (Latkas)

1 pkg. Idahoan Mashed Potatoes (Buttery Homestyle)
8 cups Shredded Ore Ida Hash Brown Potatoes
2 apples, peeled, cored and shredded
1 sm - med. yellow onion, peeled and shredded
3 tbs oil
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Put the Ore Ida hash browns in a large mixing bowl, and set aside to warm to room temperature. Meanwhile, shred the apple and onion and mix into the bowl with the hash brown potatoes, blend well. Next, prepare the mashed potatoes according to the package directions, except use just under 2 cups boiling water, rather then the full 2 cups recommended. The potatoes should be very stiff. Add the mashed potatoes into the bowl with the hash browns, apple and onion, and stir until well mixed.

In a large nonstick pan, heat oil on medium to high heat until hot, then gently add scoops of the potato mixture. Cook until golden brown on each side. Serve with Sour Cream or Applesauce.

Makes 2 Servings (About 4 small pancakes each)

Pleasures #2: Green Ice Roses In December

This week has certainly had moments that literally put me on my last nerve. I have been having trouble with the comments on this blog, especially in the last couple weeks, so I have decided to activate the Comment Moderation feature, for at least the near future. I want folks I want to hear from to be able to leave me comments, and so far this has been working, so we will see how it goes. If you are still unable to leave me a comment, please send me an email with "Comment" in the subject line. Although this seems to have fixed the bug just fine. Now about the roses.

Well, with the stress of the week, both on the net, and off, I have needed little moments of happiness, and well being. It's important for me to do what I can to take care of myself, so rather then sit around and ruminate about the difficulties I have had, I got out with the camera. I found some neat things to photograph, but one of the things that made me the most happy, was that my Green Ice Rose has decided to bloom, and December be damned! :) I guess I have been a good girl, because the Krampas didn't trample my roses, in fact, if I didn't know better I would swear that there is a guardian garden angle somewhere giving me a hand. My roses are doing really well, despite the very cold days we have been having, and it looks like I will have several more blooms before the end of the month. I might even have fresh roses on the table for Christmas dinner! A definite pleasure indeed! :)

-OndineMonet
"Latkas"
Berkeley, California
December 7, 2007
Early Evening