I have never bought already made latkes and didn't even know trader joe had them. I have always made them...very easy but they take a bit of prep time.

They look perfect!
Assuming they're similar to making hash browns, I agree the prep is a lot of work. I just bought frozen hash browns today for our Christmas brunch. For a minute I thought about making them from scratch and figured that's the last thing I want to do on Christmas morning.

Tonight - oven roasted bratwurst, sauerkraut, and crispy skillet potatoes. A beer would go so well, but I'm going to have too many of those Belgian suckers tomorrow at a friend's house. So either wine or perhaps I'll make Wisconsin-style old fashioneds.

A friend suggested using frozen hash browns. I think that would work as long as you squeezed all of the water out of them like I would do after shredding potatoes ( put them in a dish towel and squeeze the liquid out). I also add some grated onion and sometimes a little dill. When my parents were alive I would always make them for Christmas dinner to go along with the prime rib. We are a big carb family so we would have yorkshire pudding too. And pierogies.

That's exactly how I prep homemade hash browns. And I put onions in my hash browns as well. Interesting how similar they are. That sounds like a wonderful Christmas dinner! Prime rib was my Dad's Christmas day specialty when he was still alive. My wife's grandparents immigrated from Latvia, so they still carry many of those traditions. One is a Latvian pierogi, which differs from the Polish kind in that instead of a wonton-like wrapper it has a real bread wrapper, and they're baked of course. They're apparently a pain to make, but make an appearance at every holiday get-together or celebration. Funny enough though, they had no idea what Yorkshire pudding was until about a week ago when I described it to them.

I'm really looking forward to keeping an eye on this thread from the 24th - Jan 1!

Mmmm...pierogies and Yorkshire pudding!

We're getting Chinese takeout tonight -- egg rolls, cumin lamb, fish filets with ginger and green onions, hot & sour soup and Singapore mai fun noodles.

Yummy chinese - Bon app!!
rice?

Rice is a given!

I�ve tried brown so much but ultimately I�m most jolly with cooking white. I guess I�ve gotten brown at restaurants while my spouse prefers white.

Mexican chicken soup and fajitas.

A day late. Last night's dinner, Lamprais.

As described by Bill Addison, the Los Angeles Times food critic: "[A] Sri Lankan feast designed for portability. In the center of a banana leaf, Hashim bundles boneless chicken or beef curry; melted rounds of eggplant; fried green bananas; seeni sambol, a tangled of fiercely spiced and caramelized onions; a squishy fish croquette; and a bed of short-grained rice. The steam when you unwrap this parcel releases a perfumed cloud of sweet spice and coconut palms."

That sounds so good.

How does a Wisconsin style old fashioned differ to a regular one?

If you are a connoisseur of old fashions you do not want to know! Among other things they ask if you want it sour or sweet and you have the option of having pickled items in it.

Another another way of thinking about it, Brandy may be a fine girl, but do you want her in your old fashioned?

I'm sorry. I can live with a splash of sweet and sour, Sprite or 7Up, or even grapefruit soda in my Old Fashioned, but the garnish is just weird:

Wow. Those are some things I would never consider adding to my drink.