I am so sorry I have neglected to write these last few weeks! It has been crazy in the office trying to get ready for the end of the semester! Although the end of the semester is always SUPER busy with finals and major papers, it is also one of the most fun times of year! The winter season has finally arrived!

The winter season to me means hot chocolate, wool socks, holiday lights, ice skating escapades, snow angels, wrapping paper, holiday songs in the department stores, and gingerbread cookies. The winter season also means extensive together time with your friends and family. It is during these get-togethers that families and friends create annual holiday traditions. Some of these traditions that I have been a part of have been “ugly sweater” parties, secret snowflake (Santa) gift exchanges, seeing the Holidazzle Parade, cookie bake-offs, and dreidel tournaments. While I may do all of these things annually, nothing gets me more excited than my family’s Hannukah tradition. Every year since Hannukah in 2002 my family has had its annual “Carneol Latke Cook-off Competition.”

My father is one of five children and there has always been a lot of competition between the Carneol siblings, so it is only natural that they would get competitive when it comes to their cooking. So how do the Carneols solve this issue? By having a cook-off and of course eating!

The entire day is dedicated to the event. For weeks prior to the event, the Carneol siblings search far and wide for the perfect latke recipe. On the day of the competition, no one is allowed to prepare anything prior to the start of the competition. The contestants set up stations in my family’s kitchen, put on personalized aprons and chef hats, and at the same time, madness ensues. Potatoes and onions start flying, secret ingredients are brought out in unmarked containers, and the temperature in the kitchen goes up a few degrees.

After every latke has been fried, everyone relaxes for a few minutes while my mother prepares the latkes for the blind taste test. We are given all of the different latkes labeled by numbers. We are instructed to taste each latke and then vote on our favorite. The winner gets the coveted Latke Ladle award, chef hats with the words Latke Winner and the year on it (to be worn at the next years competition), and bragging rights. There is always so much tension, but everyone enjoys the thrill of competition.

I of course do not participate in the cooking part of the competition. Since its start in 2002 I have been the dedicated historian of the event. I am in charge of pictures and videos of the competition. This year I even brought our family tradition to the social media scene by tweeting updates (you can see my updates on my twitter account . Below are some pictures of my family’s crazy antics!

This crazy tradition has brought me so many fond memories. Because it is the winter/holiday season, I would love to blog about more fun family and friend traditions that people do around this time. If you have a fun tradition that you would like to share email me at debcarneol@gmail.com.

Deb Carneol

Hillel UMN

PR Intern

the correct clothing for the competition

4 batches of latkes being cooked at once!

Latkes waiting to be tasted!

Latke Cook-off Winners 2009