TIME TO GATHER ROUND.

The act of sharing a recipe can feel trivial compared to some of the bigger things going on in the world. Then again: no, wrong.

There is nothing trivial about the things that move us, feed us and make us feel part of a bigger world.

Especially at this time of the year, when we gather round, gather in, enjoy each other, sit too long at the table, wrap up the year and, gently, make plans for the new year.

My plans are gentle enough. I’m keeping with this newsletter, because I love doing it; it’s a part of my life. I love the connections it brings; the rabbit holes it sends me down, and the ability it gives me to google my own recipe when I’m in the kitchen and can’t quite remember how it goes. So handy!

But, going gently into the new year, I’m moving it from once a week to once a month for six months, so that I can be a little less frazzled and a little more present for the other work I do, for the Australian Financial Review - another joy in my life - and a little more absent (as in ‘away’) for the travelling I want to do.

Mind you, this comes with a disclaimer. If I get excited about something I’m cooking, I’m just going to send it to you anyway whether you like it or not, because a good recipe is bossy and demands to be shared.

As I have learned, over the last five years (almost exactly!) and 263 (precisely!) newsletters.

And just because I’m going monthly, don’t expect I’m going to build it into anything more rigorous, researched or comprehensive. It will still be a bit random, scrappy and within the available limits of my intelligence. Sorry.

In the meantime, I gently offer you a recipe for potato latkes.

Latkes are easy enough. All you have to do is grate, toss, form into patties and fry in a pan. But they’re also rather nice because people aren’t necessarily expecting them.

Do them as an entrée and pile blue cheese and rocket leaves on top.

Serve a piled-high heap of them with the Christmas turkey, duck or chook (they’d be magnificent soaking up the gravy) or the leg of ham.

Or go meat-free with a spoonful of sauerkraut or a melty cheese on top.

Here they are with some New Zealand smoked salmon and a green, fresh, velvety green goddess sauce. Tasmanian salmon continues to be a problem in terms of environmental impact and animal welfare, so l always look for New Zealand salmon, which comes at a premium price, for good reason. The cold-smoked Aoraki from the glacial waters of Mount Cook is delicious ( at Harris Farm outlets in NSW). Bellarine Smokehouse uses NZ’s Ora Salmon exclusively, and will be at farmer’s markets this weekend at Albert Park (20 Dec) and Alphington (21 Dec).

The full recipe for the green goddess sauce is here on Good Food, but you don’t actually need it. Just whiz half an avocado with half a cup of buttermilk or yoghurt, parsley, spring onion greens, maybe some rocket, a little grated garlic, a spoonful of whole-egg mayo to enrich, and lemon juice and honey to taste.

If you prefer a cream cheese topping, mix 200 g cream cheese with 100 g sour cream to plop on top, then scatter with black poppy seeds. Here’s some cocktail-sized latkes I did earlier, for delicious magazine. I like their straggliness - don’t try for neat.

Grate the potatoes, etc, on a sturdy box grater, aiming for long actions rather than short ones, to get a bit of length on the gratings.

Potatoes and onions are watery, and water is the enemy of crispness. Once you’ve grated them, pile them into a clean tea-towel and wring it over the sink. (I got 50 ml out of mine!)

Latkes and their close cousins potato roesti are wonderful when crisp and crunchy, but don’t kill yourself; they’re also wonderful when they’re not. I use as little oil for frying as possible – about 4 tbsp for the lot – which isn’t ever going to get me a knock-knock-hard crunch on the outside as deeper oil or deep-frying would, but I’m happy with the compromise.

This makes twelve latkes. If you’re sitting down to four people for brunch, consider dividing the mixture in four, doing one bigger one for each person (use two frypans for efficiency) and serve with a fried egg and cold ham off the bone.

Yes, you can make them ahead. I cooked these during the day so I could shoot them, then threw them into a hot pan with a little oil to reheat for dinner, and they browned and crisped beautifully. (Not shown, because - eaten).

Makes 12

• 500 g red-skin potatoes, peeled

• 200 g carrot or sweet potato, peeled

• 1 small onion, peeled

• 1 large egg, whisked

• 2 tbsp plain flour

• half tsp sea salt

• 1 tbsp chopped dill or parsley

• 4 tbsp vegetable or olive oil for frying

Coarsely grate the potatoes, carrot and onion.

Squeeze out excess moisture (best done in a clean tea towel you can wring over the sink), then return the mixture to the bowl.

Pour the beaten egg over the mixture and scatter with flour, sea salt and dill, mixing well with your hands.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a good heavy frypan until hot.

Take a tablespoonful of the mixture and again, squeeze out any excess juices into a small bowl, then place in the oil and lightly press flat, leaving the edges rough.

Repeat with another three latkes and fry each one for 2 minutes or until well-browned on one side.

Flip and cook for another two minutes on the other side (you may have to reduce the heat).

Lift with an egg flipper and drain on paper towel. Keep warm.

Heat the remaining oil and make the remaining latkes.

Scatter with extra sea salt and extra dill and serve immediately.

Thanks for dropping by! Special thanks to Terry for the grating, and for ALL the things he’s done to support this newsletter (and me) for the last five years of never-missed weekly posts. And VERY special thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey until now and wants to still hang out in the future. We’re family now, so that’s it, you’re stuck with me, on the first Thursday of every month.

Thank you also (this is a later edit) for those of you who quietly acknowledged and understood my choice of a recipe for latkes, after the atrocities on Bondi Beach last weekend targeting our local Jewish community. They have played a long, strong, continuous role in Jewish culinary tradition, which is something that enriches all our lives, that we love dearly, and that we should never take for granted. Especially now.

Have a lovely festive season, one and all. xxxx thanks, Jill.

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Thank you for sharing your culture, traditions, knowledge, spirit, art, music, humour and food traditions, allowing us all to experience a sense of belonging in this ancient land.