It is now cold, dark and wet outside. How wonderful! Clear signs of winter.
So winter is finally here, after we desperately hoped and waited for it by the window and began thinking we might be walking around in short t-shirts forever. It arrived in all it's glory and all at once, bringing with it a whole month's worth of rain – like an aunt who arrived late to a family gathering and compensates all the children with a huge sack of toys, filled enough for all the holidays of the year. The plants are happy (just politely requesting the right amount of rain to come, which will not drown them – and that it will not be too cold, they do not have blankets) and when the plants are happy – we are happy too. Outside, there are kids playing around with umbrellas and testing the water resistance of their new boots, which is a joy in itself.
The second sign that winter is actually here is the Sufganiyot. They typically arrive long before Chanukah, perhaps because the variety grows every year, and it takes time to taste all the various flavors (and then think, and return to taste again, because it's really hard to remember all the flavors and decide what's most delicious). When you return to your warm home from the chilly, wet outside, you frequently want something hot, and maybe sweet too (and if it is soaked in oil and jam – even better!). Not only the plants change between seasons, but also the food we crave (and is most suitable for our bodies to eat) – in the summer there are fruits with plenty of water and available sugar, and in winter, when you just want to snuggle and curl up under the blankets, there are high-calorie foods that will pad our bodies and provide good energy for internal combustion and self-heating (although some people consume calories, and still prefer to warm up in front of the radiator).
The other (and very favorite) food that comes with Chanukah and the oil ritual (remembering the oil miracle, of course) is the Latke. Proper disclosure – I love latkes year round, at all quantities and of all kinds and varieties – broccoli, cauliflower and leeks, lentil (I write this and my stomach is yearning for me to go prepare some), and even the more traditional latkes, with potatoes. Here, too, I love a rich culinary variety – latkes made with mashed potatoes (with a surprise in the center!) or grated potatoes, with salty cheese inside the batter, with other vegetables or without… Even my kids consume latkes faster than I can fry them. Maybe I should ask for Belarusian citizenship, as latkes are their national food.
Latkes, or patties, by definition – are simply a dish made of vegetables fried in sizzling oil. I guess whoever defined this didn't exactly think of daikon in Panko as latkes, and what most comes to mind – are, of course, the classic potato pattiesthat make the house smell so cozy… However, this is a modern description, since latkes are mentioned in the Bible: “וַיֹּאמֶר אַמְנוֹן אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ תָּבוֹא-נָא תָּמָר אֲחֹתִי וּתְלַבֵּב לְעֵינַי שְתֵּי לְבִבוֹת, וְאֶבְרֶה, מִיָּדָהּ…וַתֵּלֶךְ תָּמָר, בֵּית אַמְנוֹן אָחִיהָ. וְהוּא שֹכֵב; וַתִּקַּח אֶת-הַבָּצֵק ותלוש וַתְּלַבֵּב לְעֵינָיו, וַתְּבַשֵּל אֶת-הַלְּבִבוֹת.”In Rashi's opinion, they contained semolina. If we remember the story "A Tale of a Leviva", also it talks about a dish made from oil, water and sugar (sounds more like a sufganiya).
The modern dish made of potatoes, onions and oil – similar to what is common in the cold European countries, both in Eastern Europe and in the West, where it is very commonto eat latkes, "Reibekuchen", and also "Kartoffelpuffer" – whether salty or sweet, with sour-cream or jam, they all go well. In our store (and if you order, in your boxes as well) you will find everything you need for preparing latkes: excellent frying oil, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, eggs, as well as broccoli, cauliflower, leek (again I feel like getting up and frying – by the way, you don't have to, you can also bake them!), lentils, corn, zucchini, eggplant… All ingredients can be turned into delicious latkes. For those who want to experiment with all kinds of letkes recipes, you can find morehere (and if they get eaten before cooling down, you probably did a good job).
Yours,
Maggie's Garden Team
Forecast:
In the ORGANIC vegetable baskets we expect (draft only):
Cucumber
Tomato
Lettuce
Potato
Kohlrabi
Eggplant
Parsley
Pumpkin
Celery
The Large organic vegetable baskets also include:
Kale
Coriander
Pepper
In the ORGANIC fruit baskets:
Sweetie
Orange
Banana
The large ORGANIC fruit baskets also include:
Pomelo
Clementine
New! New! The ORGANIC Green Basket:
Swiss chard
Green Onion
Argula
Dill
A kind of lettuce
Mint
Sprouts
Spinach
