Have yourself a merry little Christmas

let it snow, snow, snow!

As my dear Pickle reminds me daily, Christmas is fast approaching! As of today, we’re T-minus seven days and counting till we celebrate Jesus’s big day and Santa Claus’s magical visit.

 

As the grocery stores get busier and busier with each passing day, I like to menu plan for the days preceding December 25, so I don’t have to battle the crowds and I can enjoy my holiday with my three boys to the fullest.

 

We want lots of memory-building moments that – of course, with me – involve sharing food together. Pizza dinners while watching holiday movies, hot chocolate with marshmallows after a snow-walk, comforting dinners to end a busy day with lots of homemade cookies in between the big meals.

 

As someone who wants to eat as healthfully and wholly as possible during these decadent days, I have the fridge and pantry filled with health snacks:

• Locally grown popcorn and extra virgin coconut oil for the best movie-watching snack
• Pumpkin puree for whole-wheat muffins and baked pumpkin-spiced steel-cut oats
• Dried fruit and toasted and caramelized nuts for impromptu trail mix
• Clementines and Satsuma tangerines for a refreshing snack
• Smoothie-making ingredients: almond milk, kefir, frozen OJ, frozen mango, blueberries and banana

Here's my favorite Christmas song to get you in the holiday spirit (if you're not there already).

p.s. Here’s what we’re eating from December 20^th on to the big day …
Friday, the 20^th: winter pizza margarita with apple-celery slaw
Saturday, the 21^st: A Family Christmas Party
Sunday, the 22^nd: Swedish meatballs with sautéed cabbage and apple-cranberry sauce
Monday the 23^rd: Slow-cooker chicken in milk with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli
Tuesday, the 24^th: Christmas Eve dinner after church — braised beef ragù with cavatelli, citrus salad with pickled red onions; cookies for dessert
Wednesday, the 25^th: Happy Christmas! Breakfast of Panetonne strata, roasted bacon and sausage, fresh-squeeze OJ … and lots of coffee for our early morning gift opening!

p.p.s. Here’s some of the cookies I made this year:
Buckeyes: sans rice krispies – the only way, in my opinion, to make them!
Classic gingerbread (a Bay Bakery classic from Milwaukee)
Cardamom-scented Mexican wedding cakes
Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy
Chewy ginger cookies

p.p.p.s. And, finally, to get you through the holidays, some VERY seasonal cocktails:

Can a cold cocktail be comforting? Here's one I think fits the bill ... milk punch:

Puerto Rican eggnog, anyone? Um, yes! The Coquito

The Midwestern classic: The Tom & Jerry

Anything with grapefruit this time of year, just tastes so, so good: the 522 North Pinckney Cocktail

 

Wishing you the merriest of Christmases!
Happy holidays, -s.

 

My favorite of holidays

 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving; my favorite. It's a wholly American holiday (who else would put marshmallows on sweet potatoes?) that is focused on the best of things: food and family.

 

Mr. Klein and I have spent two Thanksgivings in foreign lands — one in Prague visiting my brother, Mattie, and the other on the beach in Barbados. It feels a little odd to spend a national holiday in a place where — to everyone else — it is just another Thursday.  In Prague, we ate at the lovely, lovely Kampa Park just steps from the Charles Bridge. In Barbados, we ate The Sandpiper resort’s restaurant, where you could order a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but with it being 80 degrees outside and being steps from the ocean, fish was the way to go. And while, in either locale, there was no turkey, no pumpkin pie, we were sharing a meal together and that's what made it feel like Thanksgiving.

 

This year, our toes will not be dipping into warm Caribbean waters (although that would be nice), nor will we be drinking fine Czech beer; no, we’re keeping it traditional (in the best way) — turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes topped with sautéed apples and a spinach gratin. My mom’s amazing pies will round out the meal. And there will be, of course, that comforting feeling that only family can bring to the table.

Wishing you the happiest of Thanksgivings!

p.s. a song for the day ahead.

p.p.s. just in case things go awry … Splendid Table’s Turkey Confidential 2013

p.p.p.s. my grandmother used to use lard in her pie crusts from time to time  — especially for her amazing meat pies. Here’s an interesting article that sheds a light on this once-abhorred fat.

p.p.p.p.s. what to drink with that bird? Look no further that this guide (it happens to highlight one of my favorite wines for drinking with food in general).

p.p.p.p.p.s. wow, now that's a turkey sandwich.

For cocktail hour: a festive and fizzy drink to cut the richness of the day.

Quote of the week: There are no strangers in here, just friends you haven’t met …” –Roald Dahl

 

Happy eating, -s.  

happy, happy weekend

gorgeous ceiling of the Irish Barn at Whistling Straights

Hello, November. Your first day on the books is cold and grey and dreary. Aching for sun. Can you help us out a little in that regard? Thanks much.

With November just starting, you have 28 days left to plan your thanksgiving menu. Here are some recipes for stunning side dishes that have caught my eye:   1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/

And, since we may be turkey-ed out by month’s end, Bon Appetit has put together a brilliant guide of Chicken- and Turkey-Free Meals for November.

p.s. here's a song to start off the weekend; and a cocktail (named after a killer Neil Young song, no less) to start it off right.

p.p.s. I’ve been over the adoration (or rather, obsession) of quinoa for quite a while, but these look like a great way to start the day.

p.p.p.s. now here’s a food to adore: I bought some wheat berries here last weekend. So many things to make with this glorious, protein-packed grain! Cuccia for breakfast, a roasted sweet potato and wheat berry salad for lunch, and five (!) dinners out of one batch of wheat berries from the geniuses at Food52 … and we can’t forget dessert … a lovely wheat berry fool with Grand Marnier-soaked figs.

Quote of the week: Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.

 happy eating, -s.

boo!

halloween last year

We're pretty jazzed for Halloween at our house. The pumpkins have been carved, spooky decorations have been hung from tree branches, skulls and spiders adorn many surfaces in our house. We all love candy and two out of the four of us like dressing up for Halloween (Chris is a dress-up hater and James is currently on the fence about the whole costume thing). Rhys is going as a SWAT team member this year; James as a dalmation (or maybe a drug-sniffing dog to go with his Bro?) Good guys seem to prevail at our home - last year we had a strong showing of the Light Side of the Force with Luke Skywalker and Yoda making an appearance (see photo above of cutie 1 and 2).

The weather forecast is for rain, so if trick or treating is a total bust, we'll watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown while eating pizza margarita on the floor of our den. Candy will definitely be eaten for dessert.

p.s. here's a spooky song to set the mood tonight.

Happy Halloween, -s.

friday: dance party u.s.a

Mr. Klein has been sick with a terrible cold for a few days; poor thing. It's been cold and damp all week and everyone seems a little Eeyore-ish this week with the gloomy weather. Hopefully the weekend will refresh us.

 

here's a song to kick-off the weekend ... and a cocktail to start it off right.

 

p.s. making this for dinner tomorrow night.

 

p.p.s. pretty funny.

 

p.p.p.s. so pretty and useful, too.

 

p.p.p.p.s. the sweet and savory side of pumpkin (and winter squash) that must be made this fall:

 

herbed pumpkin-seed mole



pan-seared salmon with pumpkin seed-cilantro pesto

baked pumpkin and sour cream puddings

roasted butternut penne with pistachio pesto

pumpkin stuffed with everything good

And finally, the quote of the week: The secret to getting ahead is getting started ... -Mark Twain

happy eating, -s.

friday: dance party u.s.a.

As much as I love summer, fall is my favorite season. With so much texture, color and coziness all around - our house always feels more like home in the fall; probably because we're inside more. Woolen blankets are at easy reach, a bowl of winter squash has become the centerpiece of our dining room table and soups and stews are working their way into the weekly menu.

Pumpkin picking is in our future and lots of apples (eating, cooking, baking) and maybe some homemade cinnamon ice cream. We're going to tackle some furniture rearranging this weekend to better establish a landing zone in our house now that coat season has arrived. Pickle wants to make caramel apples, to which I cannot say no.

p.s. here's a song to start the weekend. Get your dance party going! 

p.p.s. seven lovely ideas for au natural halloween decor.

p.p.p.s. As a former Dairy Queen, I loved Amy Poehler's essay on her first summer job.

p.p.p.p.s. oh my goodness.

Happy eating, -s.

coveting ... buca boot

Covet: to want (something that you do not have) very much. While I don't even own a bike (I know; I live in Madison, WI, Bike City of the Midwest ... shameful), I want a Buca Boot nonetheless.

The Buca Boot is the super-stylish and genius invention of my gorgeous, smart, fun and utterly charming friend, Kathryn, who indeed owns a bike and rides it EVERYWHERE in her adopted home of Boston. Like a postman, Kathryn rides her bike no matter the weather, but as a successful economist, she cannot schlep into work soaking wet or covered in snow ... enter the Buca Boot. Place those Louboutins in the Buca Boot and they arrive safely and soundly - with a stop at the cafe for coffee - to their final destination.

What's great about the Buca Boot is that it has the flexibility and ease of a bike basket with the security and weather-proofing of a car trunk. Plus it's just plain beautiful with wood and brass and lacquered finishes.

So, while you can't have instant gratification ... you can have a Buca Boot if you head over to kickstarter and pledge a buck or a cold $200 to make this really smart and stylish accessory a reality.

Happy wanting, -s.

 

just desserts ... plus dance party USA

This past Monday, I hosted our book club’s September session on my screened porch. Since I was starting a new role at my current agency that same day, I really didn’t have a lot of time for the whole dinner-and-dessert thing this time. Instead, I started the party a bit later and served desserts only.

While I am not a baker, I really enjoyed researching and pulling this menu together. It was a perfect fall evening on the porch and I knew we were going to get a little chilly out there as the evening progressed, so I wanted the dishes to be hearty, warming and diverse in flavors and textures. I wanted some hints of savory in the dishes, because wine-drinking isn’t always the perfect match with sweets. I also knew my dear friend, Sara, was bringing one of her amazing baked confections to wish me a happy birthday - which turned out to be one decadent, gorgeous chocolate-chocolate, triple-layered cake. What good friends I have - I'm so lucky!

It was a really lovely evening, full of laughter, candle-light, cozy blankets and great conversation (as always). Thanks to all the lovelies that helped send my porch off into autumn in style.

And, without further ado, here’s my book-club, desserts-only menu (with links to recipes):

To drink: prosecco and red wine

Fig and blue-cheese crostata with a walnut-crumble topping (recipe coming soon)

—
Honey-whipped goat cheese with oatcakes and red grapes
—
Triple-cream cheese with dried apricots and buttery crackers
—                                                                                                      
To end the evening: my hott chocolate with cinnamon-sugar palmiers

Happy eating, -s.  

p.s. here's a song to start your weekend. hope you get lucky, too.
 

happy birthday ... to me!

Tomorrow is my birthday. And while I don't really dread getting older per se, I don't like the fact that I run a lot and I still have some extra junk in the trunk no matter how much I run. I'm sure it's the wine-drinking, but I am not giving that up. Maybe I need Gwyneth's trainer to whip me into shape ... that would be nice. Last-minute gift, anyone?! Wink, wink.

I love cooking for my family when it's their turn to celebrate, but when it's my birthday, I want no fuss - but I do want yummy food - so we'll be ordering Indian takeout from my favorite place. I am also not a big cake fan, so a warm apple crisp with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream will wear a candle for my birthday wishing. 

Oh, and there will be wine drinking ... red, of course. 


p.s. happy birthday to me. dance, dance, dance.

p.p.s. Bill Murray (love him!) and Leonard Cohen share my birthday. Happy birthday, fellas!

p.p.p.s. Tomorrow is also the official last day of summer ... autumn starts on Sunday. Time for wood-burning fires, long walks in crunchy leaves, hot-chocolate sipping and apple picking.

p.p.p.p.s. If you live in the Madison-area, head to REAP Food Group's annual Food for Thought festival just off the Capital Square this Saturday. It's a great event that celebrates our amazing, local, sustainable food scene.

quote of the week: Remember food is precious. Good food can only come from good ingredients. Its proper price includes the cost of preserving the environment and paying fairly for the labor of the people who produce it. Food should never be taken for granted. - Alice Waters, from her wonderful cookbook, The Art of Simple Food.

Happy eating, -s. xoxo

dance party friday

pink lady. so pretty.

Fall is in the air. I think I'm ready.

p.s. here's a song to start the weekend.

p.p.s. September 29 cannot come soon enough. Get your fix here and here.

p.p.p.s. weekend cooking: making this for dinner; this for lunch; this breakfast and this for a snack.

p.p.p.p.s. Mr. Klein and I are seeing his FAVE band, The National, at the Orpheum this weekend. Here's an extra song (one of my favorites) from their new album, Trouble Will Find Me.

quote of the week: The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little. - FDR

Happy eating, dancing and living, -s.

recipe: corn custard and tomato tart

 

For those that know me well, I tend to be inspired by recipes, but go off the rails in the execution. In the kitchen, I'm a bit of a rebel ... I like to do my own thing, add my own spin, etc. Inspired by the corn-and-tomato-pie recipe I linked to a couple of weeks ago, I took its essence and flipped it on its head. Instead of a chunky, hearty filling, I made a simple corn custard that was poured over caramelized onions that covered the bottom of a pre-baked tart shell. Then I added some unadorned, but glorious-in-their-own-right, sungold and candy tomatoes to the pool of custard. Baked for 40 minutes, the pie came out of the oven slightly puffed and golden. We ate it at room temperature with super-sweet muskmelon, but it would be great served warm as well. After an afternoon at the pool, it definitely hit the spot.

Corn Custard and Tomato Tart
serves 2 hungry bambini and mom and pop, too

Ingredients:
1 basic pie or tart crust recipe; I used the 9-inch pie crust recipe from Cook's Illustrated
1 large sweet onion, sliced into half moons
1 bunch of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ears sweet corn,
1/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1/2 cup creme fraiche
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pint assorted cherry/grape tomatoes -- I used sungold and baby candy, but feel free to use any grape or cherry tomatoes you have!

Directions
Pre-bake the tart shell according to your recipe. Set aside to cool.
Adjust the heat of your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large saute pan over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil and thyme until fragrant. Add the onions, with a large pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper and cook low and slow until the onions are caramelized and sweet -- about 20-30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

While the onions are cooking, make the corn custard. Cut the kernels from the cob and place ikernels in a blender with the 1/4 cup milk or cream. Puree until smooth. Pour the puree through a fine mesh sieve or chinois. To the strained puree, whisk the creme fraiche, egg yolks, salt and pepper until incorporated. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Layer the cool onions on the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the custard over the onions (don't pour the custard to the rim of the tart; leave about a 1/4 gap). Nestle the tomatoes in the custard and carefully transfer the tart to the oven (I place on a baking sheet first). Bake for 40 minutes, until golden and puffed adn the custard to set, but still wobbly.

Cool until warm or leave at room temperature.

Happy eating, -s.

shake your booty friday

tomato caprese salad with sherry vinegar and olive oil

Hello, September! You're looking good.

With Rhys starting kindergarten and James starting preschool, it's been a busy, emotional week. Comfort food has been in order: I slow-cooked a pork shoulder in salsa verde on Tuesday for tacos and later for Cuban sandwiches. Sweet corn got sauteed with basil, red onion, poblanos and sungold tomatoes (and a healthy dose of heavy cream) for a pasta dish on Thursday. Salmon burgers rounded out the week, highlighted with a smoky paprika mayo and a thick slice of tomato. It may not cure every bump, bruise or blue moment, but food is a powerful curative when you need that little something to ease you through a tough day.

p.s. here's a song to start the weekend. kick your heels up!

p.p.s. to prep for fall cooking, here's a wish-list of cookbooks I want to read and cook from:

 

Plenty

Ottolenghi

Home Made  

Home Made Winter

Tender

Ripe

 

p.p.p.s. Quote of the week:  A good heavy book holds you down. It's an anchor that keeps you from getting up and having another gin and tonic. -Roy Blount, Jr.

p.p.p.p.s for breakfast this weekend, make my "breakfast crisp" - apricots, peaches or blueberries work great and are in season.



peach breakfast crisp ... ready to eat

Breakfast Crisp a.k.a dessert for breakfast
serves many hungry bambini

Ingredients
For crisp topping
6 tablespoons whole-wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (white sugar works too)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1 stick of butter, cubed and kept very cold

For fruit
2 lbs ripe fruit - blueberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines (peel and cut the stone fruit into 1-inch cubes)
1/4 cup sugar
juice of half of a lemon
zest from whole lemon (I use a microplane)
1 tablespoon for cornstarch

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor, place the first seven ingredients for the crisp. Pulse a few times to incorporate. Add nuts and butter and pulse until the crisp topping starts coming together, with most of the dry ingredients incorporated into the butter. Place in the refrigertator to chill for at least 15 minutes.

While the topping is chilling, prep the fruit. For stone fruit, you will need to blanch the fruit to remove the peel.  Once that is done, remove the stone and cut the fruit into roughly 1-inch pieces - these do not need to be exact. Berried need just a rinse and drain before proceeding.

Once the fruit is prepped, place in a large bowl with the sugar, lemon juice and zest, and cornstarch. Stir until combine and let macerate for at least 5 minutes before pouring into a large glass or ceramic baking dish (I used a 7"x 12" pyrex dish). Top with the crisp topping and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 30-40 minutes.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes on a rack. Serve with big dollops of Greek yogurt (or ice cream later in the day).

Happy eating, -s.

birthday boy

sweet james: a few days old / 1 year / 2 years

Well, I cannot believe our little Lumpy turned two years old on Sunday. That sweet bird of a baby has really grown into such a special little guy. And while adding another child to the mix has been a practice in controlling chaos, James is such a bright spot in all of our lives that I'll take the constant home-destruction, 5:45 a.m. wake-up calls and super-duper noisiness for all of his kisses, hugs and belly laughs. His joy, enthusiasm and happiness are tightly crammed into that little body and they burst forth with such vigor. He is excited to wake up in the morning and start his day and that exuberance doesn't stop until his head hits the pillow at night. He adores his big brother "RRRHY" as he calls him and always copies what Rhys is doing (for better or worse). So, happy birthday sweet James. You fill our hearts to the brim and we love you so, so much ...

Here's what we had for James's birthday dinner:

Creamy sweet corn soup -- for the boy who eats several bowls of soup at one sitting
-
Grilled flatiron steaks with rosemary and pink-peppercorns
Heirloom tomato salad
-
Cupcakes for candle-blowing, birthday wishing and, of course, dessert

shake your booty friday

Well, I got what I asked for ... it looks like the end of August will be sticky and hot. Lots of ice cream eating is in order. Time to put the ice maker in the freezer. Here are some delicious-looking ice cream recipes just begging to be made:
 


Dan Barber's corn ice cream



Merrill from Food52 made this super simple and surely just as refreshing lime ice cream

Yum: Sweet Cream and Sugar Cone's brown sugar ice cream with ginger-caramel swirl

 
p.s. for the hot weekend ahead, here's a song to get your sweating
 
p.p.s. making this delicious-looking, summer-in-pie-form for dinner this weekend

p.p.p.s. Joy the Baker's fig and almond cake is definitely the way to start a weekend morning.

happy eating, -s.

coveting ... brookfarm general store

I know it's a sin to covet things, but everything (and I mean everything) at Brookfarm General Store is covetable. The calm and cool aesthetic speaks to me and the entire kitchen section I want ... like NOW. And don't get me started on the linens ... or the foutas ... or the whole section of brushes.

happy shopping, -s.

shake your booty friday

Oh, August, you're moving too quickly to the end of the month! Let's go out with a bang: lots of hot days, cool treats, long swims and cocktails on the patio, okay?

p.s. here's a song to start off the weekend. Such a good one that always (creepily) reminds me of Silence of the Lambs.

p.p.s. My dear friend Sara made us this amazing pizza last summer ... I'm making it tonight. Hungry already.

p.p.p.s. I bought a lot of blueberries this week ... what a good excuse to make Cook's Illustrated's blueberry crisp for dessert with over-the-top scoops of vanilla ice cream. Heaven.

Happy eating, -s.

shake your booty friday

Jumping James

Our little James has mastered the art of jumping and has been constantly trying out his mad skills - especially during our post-dinner dance sessions. So, kiddo, here's a song just for you.

 

p.s. a perfect August weekend is upon us. Here's what I'm cooking up:

Friday: chicken cutlet po'boys with shredded romaine, heirloom tomatoes, pickles and homemade mayo.

Saturday: shredded zucchini and Italian sausage pizza with fresh ricotta and thyme

Sunday: skirt steak tacos with homemade roasted tomato salsa; rice and beans

desserts/treats: peach crisp with vanilla ice cream; blueberry muffins; banana milkshakes.

 

p.p.s. as someone who deals daily with human resources and personnel issues (among other exciting things), this video sent from a friend made me laugh a little too hard. I'm sure there are videos along the same lines for Gen-Xers, Baby Boomers, etc., but since millenials are the newest members of our workforce, they are easy targets.

 

p.p.p.s. my addiction to coffee is well-known (honestly, how do you have two kids and work full time without coffee?). For everyone who has had Mr. Klein's expertly brewed Joe, I think his coffee lands somewhere between Peet's and Starbuck's on this pictograph of caffeine levels. If you want to spend a chunk of your next paycheck, here's Mr. Klein's coffeemaker of choice.

 

Happy eating, -s.

shake your booty friday

harmony valley farm stand @ dane county farmers market

Hello, lovelies! How did we get to Friday already? Summer is moving fast. There doesn't seem to be enough time to cook everything I want to cook! And we're not even to corn or tomato season yet. Yikes. What's a girl to do?  

p.s. here's a little song that makes me happy... hope it does the same for you.

p.p.s. Mr. Klein is BBQing ribs on Saturday. I think some corn pudding is a must along with some vinegary cucumber salad ... and maybe some sour-cherry sorbetto for dessert -- we still have a lot of cherries to use (and pit by hand!)

p.p.p.s. Goodness, don't these look too good for words?

p.p.p.p.s. as a lover of food-based literature, I must read this book!

Happy eating, -s.

shake your booty friday

sweet (for the moment) klein boys

Holy hotness. It seems the whole country is under a heatwave. All I want to eat are ice-cold green beans, watermelon and ice cream sandwiches. That's a balanced meal, right? (wink.)

p.s. In honor of our former neighbor (lead guitarist of the Go-Gos, Jane Wiedlin), here's one of my favorite songs EVER.

p.p.s. We're hosting my fabulous sister, Heather, and two of her kiddos this weekend. On Saturday, we will be heading downtown to the Dane County Farmers Market, then to the pool for a swim and lunch.  Here's our menu for the weekend:

Friday Dinner:
slow-cooker BBQ'd pulled chicken sandwiches with romaine slaw on buns

potato chips

watermelon

limeaid

ice cream sandwiches for dessert

 

Saturday Breakfast:

berry smoothies

scrambled eggs

toasted and buttered bagels

roasted breakfast sausages or bacon

 

Saturday Lunch @ the pool:

Turkey caesar sandwiches

chips and salsa

carrot sticks/snap peas/green beans

p.p.p.s. With both blueberries and raspberries in season right now, I NEED to make this post haste. How delicious does that look?!

Happy eating, -s.

recipe: zucchini pancakes with chive sour cream

summer on a plate

I am utterly in love with latkes, but come summer, potatoes get replaced by zucchini. With six, plump beauties waiting their turn in the crisper, I knew what I was making for dinner: zucchini pancakes. As with most recipes from Marc Bittman, I modified things a bit. Using his recipes as a spring board, I changed up a few things, like squeezing the grated zucchini of its moisture, cutting out the minced onion and adding chopped basil to the mixture. Be forewarned, these are delicate little fritters; I used my All-Clad saute pan with success (a.k.a. no sticking), but if you have a non-stick pan, I would use it. I use this small scoop to make bite-size cakes, but feel free to make this bigger too -- just cook them a bit longer to cook off the raw egg. A dollop of chive sour cream adorned each latke. 

Happy eating, -s.