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Thank you. Potato starch. Brilliant. I actually stepped up for this because in the past couple of years they've been doing the boxed version, and that's just so so so very wrong. Am pleased to go with apple sauce and sour cream. Yay! Cheers!

My Unitarian Society put an ex-Catholic in charge of latke making this year for the kids about the miracle of the oil and light. My Irish grandmother served them with apple sauce and sour cream, but I am thinking this is not right for Sunday's purposes. Isn't there something called haroset? Chopped apples, raisins, walnuts? I am under the impression one doesn't serve latkes with sour cream at Hanukkah, is this correct? Or do they just not share the same dish? See? I'm a dope. Also, there are few kids who are vegan. Any suggestion for a binder other than egg for one small batch? (I know, I know.) Thank you in advance for your help. And I'm just cooking, not teaching. The teachers will be better prepared than I am for educating the children, I just make good latkes, if I do say so myself. ;~D PS.. We are not trying to keep it kosher, obviously. The kitchens are not set up for it. I'm just trying to do a fair approximation.

I have that exact butter dish, Not-as-Fat-guy, and I use it the other way, the butter in the deep part and the part you have your butter in as the lid.

My kid eats them off the plant. Sometimes I can't get within 3 feet of her.

The difference between straw and hay is pretty big. Hay is one of many grasses (timothy, orchard grass, alfalfa) that are cut green and dried. Straw is harvested when it's fruit (oats, etc) is dry and is basically just a stalk. It doesn't have much in the way of anything in terms of aroma or taste. Please be careful buying hay. Depending on your location, hay is weird. It can be chemically treated, it can be baled damp and mold BADLY, it can be mixed in with a lot of other plants which you will not recognize because they are all dried out. Also, alfalfa has a spore which causes miscarriage if you get infected hay.

I would just like to add my congratulations and encouragement. I have watched my weight all my life (rode horses for a living) and I know that sometimes it can be very, very tough. Good on you, mate.

Glass "crock" w/ top lives on the counter all the time, unless it's so hot it gets melty instead of just soft. Doesn't happen much in Central NY. It fits a 1 lb block or four sticks, although I don't usually put more than two in there. There is always chaos the morning after I've put the thing in the dishwasher and no one can find the butter. : ) I keep diced butter in the freezer in zip locks for baking in 1/2 c. quantities.

My Mom nukes the McDonalds she brings home on a regular basis. That's as close to home cooking as it gets.

I had the best Welsh Rarebit EVEH at Moosewood on St. Patrick's Day. I guess someone forgot to explain to them that Wales is not actually Ireland, but it was an excellent lunch. They put toasted walnuts on top, delishiousness! For dinner, with soup, I do it in a cast iron pan. Melt butter, add bottom slice, dress as you like, top with another slice, when halfway melted, flip. I love rosemary bread rubbed with raw garlic, with sharp cheddar for taste and a gooey cheese for..gooeyness. Usually fontina. At lunch time for a quickie, I toast the bread long and low, butter it, add thinly sliced cheeses as above, and put it open faced in the microwave for just a few seconds, to melt the cheese. Top with other piece of toast. If you do it on a bacon tray instead of a plate, the underside doesn't get soggy 'cause it's in and out so fast. Two minutes and it shuts my kid up, which is pretty much the goal at lunch time. Butter makes everything taste better. : )

Hot food, hot plates, on whatever is going to do the job and is already running. Top of the cooker, in the nuker with a damp towel, whatever. I hate food that is supposed to be hot and isn't.

Yup, if I could steal from Blaise I'd be a better chef too.

For those interested, he's the guest on NPR's "Fresh Air" tomorrow.

Amen.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall when Mike eventually gets what's coming to him for that theft. Rock on, Karma Fairy!

I love that I can get a loaded grilled cheese, and they toast the bun if I ask. The french fries are good, and so much better than anything I can buy (although I could make better) that I like them for a quickie lunch on the go. Hi, Mrs. Adm...I'm in Ithaca, too.