My Mother's Mother's Potato Pancakes

(by Melanie Chartoff)

4 large potatoes 1/2 white onion 2 eggs, well beaten 1/2 t. salt 1/2 t. baking powder 4 T. all-purpose flour Crisco or cooking oil

sour cream or applesauce for serving

Peel potatoes, and grate finely into a bowl of cold water. Grate onion in another bowl.

Mix onion with eggs, salt, baking powder, and flour. Drain potatoes, and press out the liquid with the bottom of a cup. Stir potatoes into batter, and mix well. Heat 1/2 inch Crisco or oil in a 10-inch skillet over a low flame for a minute.

Put a drop of water in, and when it bounces, the oil is hot enough.

Drop batter by tablespoons into hot oil, from a distance. Flatten into 3-inch pancakes, and fry slowly until golden brown and crisp.

Turn and brown on the other side. Arrange on paper on a plate to blot.

Serve with sour cream or applesauce.

Serves 4.

(Read The Cannery Cookery, the story that accompanies this recipe.)