Scrape potato starch out of the bowl and add it to your latke mixture along with your eggs. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to your taste. (I don’t recommend using fresh garlic in your latkes because the temperature you’ll be frying them at is hot enough that it’ll burn the garlic on the outside.)

Heat some oil in a pan on medium-high. You want enough oil to come halfway up a latke, but you’ll be flipping them, so this isn’t a deep-frying situation. It’s the right temp when a little bit of potato starts to sizzle immediately when dropped in.

Shape your latkes by taking a palmful of potato mixture and squeezing it into a patty. More liquid will probably come out, which is great—you want the latkes to go into the pan as dry as possible.

Fry your latkes until browned and crispy, then flip and do the same on the other side. I go by color, but it’s about 2–5 minutes on each side, depending on oil temp and size.

Putting hot latkes on a plate will make condensation, which leaves latkes soggy. I recommend taking them from the pan and putting them directly on a cookie cooling rack, so air can circulate around them. Hit them with a good sprinkle of salt when they’re still wet with oil, and you’re ready to eat!

NOTE: If you’re making a large batch, you can keep latkes warm out of the pan by putting them on a cookie sheet in a 200-degree oven.

Now comes the most important question: How do you like to eat your latkes best—with applesauce, sour cream, or ketchup? Enjoy!

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to my mom and sister, for letting me ramble endlessly about my ideas for this book. To my kickass agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan, for your excitement and encouragement about this project. To my brilliant editor, Mary Altman, for your belief in this book and for making it better in all the right ways. To the amazing team at Sourcebooks, for all your hard work and support in bringing the book to life and getting it into readers’ hands. To Jasper Pyewackett and Dorian Gray, for being my constant furry companions (and sometimes sitting on my hands so I couldn’t type—I’m sure you were right and we were supposed to just cuddle on those days). To artist Kristen Solecki, for the gorgeous cover. Most of all, to Timmi, for your endless support, your boundless excitement about my work, and for not laughing at me (at least not to my face) when I cribbed things from real life for this book. Having you in my life is better and more fun than even the swooniest romance comedy.

Finally, my deepest thanks to everyone reading The Holiday Trap—without you, none of this would be possible. <3

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