Pam R

With the right combination of pot, oil and temperature, there should be no burning at the bottom of the pot (and very few unpopped kernels). If I can muster up the resources to do some photography next time I pop popcorn I'll demonstrate. ← But I like it when it burns a little . . . just hate cleaning it. With the machine I don't get the charred pieces, but I get really easy clean-up.

I've always used a pot, but I was walking through a local store on Friday, and ended up leaving with a popcorn maker -- they had just lowered the price to $19.95. This machine has a non-stick base with a plastic, bowl/dome. The dome has holes in the top that allows the steam to escape as it cooks. You can also place butter cubes above the holes and I guess the popcorn gets a nice shower of butter by the time it's all popped. I've used it once, following the instructions. It called for 3 tbsp. of oil and 1 cup of kernels -- way too much. By the time all of the popcorn had popped, there was a lot of moisture inside the bowl/dome so some of the popcorn was soggy. But I don't think that will be an issue if I use 1/2 cup of kernels or less. I don't think I like the popcorn as much out of the machine as the pot, but I'm sick of cleaning the burned popcorn out of the bottom of the pot. And it's still a huge improvement over the microwave version.

Toufas -- what makes it your choice for braising? Does it have a beefier flavour? I'm planning on making a batch of beet borscht next week and I think a few cheeks would be a good addition.

It burns. Which some of us might enjoy. I usually use canola, but I'll have to try peanut oil.

Am I the only one who likes a little char on some of the popped corn? Just a hint of it . .

Schav is a sorrel soup - like a borscht. I've never made it, but it was a very popular soup in the Jewish community a generation back. Something my grandmother used to make 50 years ago. More on it, including a recipe, at The Food Maven:

I wish I could tell you, but they never last long enough to try keeping them. Too hard to stop noshing on them . .

Thin as you can get them - I use the mandolin. Oil at about 350 -- stir the vegetables as soon as you add them to keep them separate and they should only take 1-3 minutes (depending on the vegetable). I'm very boring and like salt, but how about some smoked paprika? Or doing a 'sweet' version of sweet potatoes and adding a little cinnamon and sugar to the salt? Haven't cooked taro, but I've bought them. Should work fine.

Not Lior, but nana = mint. I think it's actually closer to spearmint, rather than peppermint. I drink an Israeli brand of Nana tea - Wissotzky. It's a black tea with nana added. I drink it black, with sweetener or sugar. A Moroccan/Israeli friend always adds some fresh spearmint leaves to the pot after dinner. It's really lovely.

Usually, I don't eat anything with the cabbage rolls - they're the star and the sides all rolled into one. But growing up, my grandmother would make smaller ones and serve them as a side dish themselves. I think that's common around here, actually.

Not a nut, I realize, but when I was a kid I was a fan of sunflower seed butter. I've seen it in stores recently, but have yet to buy a jar.

Again, the process will vary depending on where you are and who supervises you. We were under va'ad supervision for over 20 years, but had to have other supervision if we worked in different synagogues. Lior, do you find it hard to find the ingredients you need with a hechsher? Is it easier or harder because you're in Israel?

I always calculate 1 lb. raw turkey for each adult.

And some synagogues will have an in-house mashgiach to work with - others will still require a mashgiach from the local authority, usually paid by the hour on top of your monthly fee. This kosher business can be quite complicated.

I'd think an ounce of coulis per slice would be more than enough. It's been a long time since we catered weddings and used coulis on the plates, but if we used more than 1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp. per plate, I'd be shocked. Two tablespoons will give you a good pool on the plate.

All I've tried so far are the sea-salt caramels and I agree with you -- the salt is too big. Having said that, I wonder if it's because of the chocolate. If the salt was on the caramel itself (with no chocolate?) I think it would be better. Not terrible, but not great.

A Rabbi isn't required to supervise kosher production, a mashgiach is. And a mashgiach may or may not be a rabbi. Second, it depends on where you are and who you want your market to be. Different supervising boards will have different rules about where you can produce them and what you can use. You could ask a local rabbi, or you could ask the local hashgacha (supervising board). Where are you located? The basics are: Everything you use must be kosher -- have a kosher hechsher or marking on it The facility you work in must be supervised by a mashgiach -- or a mashgiach must be willing to work with you in a non-kosher facility Working in a non-kosher facility, you will need separate equipment, and depending on what goes on there, the mashgiach may have to 'kasher' things like the stove or worktops (using a blow-torch or boiling water) If you work in a non-kosher facility, you will most likely not be able to do any production without the mashgiach being on hand Again, depending on who is supervising, you might have to make a choice between dairy or non-dairy chocolate -- if you choose dairy, all items, even those containing no dairy may be considered dairy - and if you go parve, then you are limited to all non-dairy Not all items deemed kosher by one organization is considered kosher by all of them I'm sure I'll think of more things. But if you let us know where you are, I can put you in touch with the right organization.

Dave, I'd do the foil method (which I will try to photograph soon). Reduce everything until you have a cup or so of liquid, add it and the brisket to the foil package and into the oven for 3 hours or so (maybe more). The meat should release more liquid as it cooks.

Your chips sound and look better than mine. What kind of oil do you use? ← Canola, almost always.

I have had great success with root vegetable chips. Beets are particularly good. You have to slice them very thin, and hit them with salt right out of the oil.

Lazy-man's cheese kugel, I guess. It is very simple, good and potentially dinner tomorrow.

I couldn't agree more. Don't sign up for something that will hurt you down the line -- or that won't have you seeing a profit now. More sales = good, but if you're killing yourself to fill more orders but you're not making anything from it, there's no point. As a retailer in a good-size city (650,000) I can't double the price of most of the products I sell, but I always feel that it's my issue. If something is offered to me at a certain price, I have to decide if I can make it work in my store. Sometimes that means doubling the price, sometimes only marking it up 30% and sometimes choosing not to stock it. And as for packaging -- you could spend less on your packaging to make more money. But you have to consider that if your packaging doesn't look as 'high-end', some of the 'high-end' retailers may no longer want to carry it. (Though you may be able to find some really neat, inexpensive packaging.) Good luck!

What about freezing them raw and sending bake-off instructions with them? It's been a long time since I'm made a pumpkin pie, but it should freeze OK -- I think I've seen commercial un-baked frozen pies . .

It's hard to take all the meat off the chicken necks . . But that's a good point.

I often recommend using chicken bones to make broth (as in Chicken Soup), rather than using mature soup chickens. After telling people to do that for a couple of years, I decided to do a side-by-side comparison. I used a 5 lb. soup chicken in one pot and 5 lbs. of necks, backs and a few wings in the other pot. I added the same quantities of water and vegetables and cooked for the same time. The end result was that the two pots were virtually indistinguishable. So in this case, the bones-only batch is broth. Or stock? Both? I've never tried using meat alone.