A silly trophy

For the second year in a row, I was asked to create a 'Golden Latke' trophy for my Temple's 'LatkeFest' - a lighthearted celebration of potato pancakes traditionally eaten on Chanukah, fried in oil and dipped in applesauce or sour cream.  Like most traditional holiday foods, they are fattening, and delicious!  The LatkeFest will include a competition for the best latke, klezmer music and Israeli dancing, activities for kids, and of course food to sample.

When I made least year's 'Golden Latke' trophy, the idea was that it would be passed on to the winner each year, kind of like the Calder Cup.  But the winner didn't want to give it back, which really cracked me up, since it was made from junk.  (By the way, his latkes were AWESOME, served with a fabulous cucumber wasabi sauce.  Definitely original!)  Anyhow, I swore I wouldn't be making a trophy again this year, but as you can see by the photos, I gave in.  To tell the truth, making silly trophies is kind of fun!  Though without my classroom or a proper art studio, it was a challenge.  I built it in the kitchen.

The potato pancakes (and the #1) are made from shredded paper, mixed with papier-mache goo and Elmer's glue, to simulate shredded potatoes.  It's hard to tell from the photos, but the latkes ook real (except for the top latke, which is painted a shimmering glittery gold, as is the #1).  This is the same process I previously used with my students to make hunks of 'rock' for cave paintings, as I posted about here and in several other posts.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the pan has what looks like a puddle of oil in it, and there's more of the 'oil' dripping off all the latkes.  The oil is actually a hardened clear transparent goo called Pour-On, which I originally sought out for my husband who was going to use it as a pond in a train layout.  The stuff is amazing.

I wish I had a photo of last year's trophy that I could show you, since it was very different than this one.

Anyhow, I'm glad it's done, and I'm glad I actually remembered to photograph it this year!