Angelaid, I love potato pancakes but I would say that is is my favourite version. There is no secret to making these pancakes. I've made them with mashed potatoes that I made specifically for making these pancakes and I've also made extra mashed potatoes for dinner and saved the leftovers for these pancakes. When I make them with the leftover mashed potatoes there is also butter in the mix. This is not a stiff or thick batter. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop up the batter. Mere Blanc's Potato Pancakes From:www.thedailyspud.com with very minor changes. 2 small baking potatoes 1/4 cup milk 1/3 cup All-Purpose flour 2 eggs, separated 1-1/2 tablespoons heavy cream Pinch of salt Pepper Fresh chives (or green onions) Butter for frying Cook potatoes until tender Mash with a little milk. Let potatoes cool before adding the remaining milk, cream, flour, egg yolks, salt, pepper and chives. Beat Egg Whites until stiff. Fold into potato mixture. Do not over mix. This is a light but thick batter. Heat a griddle or skillet. ( I used a rectangle electric frying pan) . Brush with butter. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup drop batter on to griddle. Cook until pancakes are brown and then flip. Serve with sour cream. Here is a link that might be useful: Potato Pancakes

Lynn~Glad that you made it back it one piece & that DH was able to recover his wallet. There are still some good people in the world today. Besh~My toes are defrosted for now. LOL I don't think that I have very good blood flow in my broken foot yet. Dave said that it was cold last night but the knee that is giving me trouble was hot according to him. I'm reading the "Chronicles of Narnia" & it is so long that it is taking me a while but I'm really enjoying it. I don't know about Carrabelle, FL. I don't know much about the panhandle. Marci~I need to get with you so that we can figure out how to post some of the pictures of my little one. Let me know when you are coming to Tampa. Jen~It sounds like you got some really good gifts. I am supposed to be working on a scrapbook for Dave's parents' 50th wedding anniversary in July. I haven't been able to find the book. I may have to get it off the 'Net. QOD~My 16-y.o. niece is in Orlando playing soccer & we will probably go watch her or at least go & take her out to do something fun. She is a doll. She stays so busy that she doesn't have time to get in trouble. She is in the band, the school's soccer team & band & she has several of the honor's classes & she runs track, then she is in one of the soccer teams that is exclusive & you have to be picked & like this weekend, they go places for competition. Then Dave & I plan to watch movies & have some of the pomegranate martinis then we will have some Asti Spumanti while watching Dick Clark's show & toast in the New Year. This is pretty much a tradition for us. We were pretty sad the year that Dick Clark was too sick to do the show himself. I have to say that I am so thankful for good friends like each of you. With your help, I will get healthier this year. I'm having an MRI done on my knee on Tuesday. They will probably say that nothing is wrong but it has still been hurting along with my foot. I can tell that they are healing though. Love you each. Happy New Year. Patti :)

Thank you. As I recall we had a record high of 80 last Sunday (1 January). Tonight and tomorrow night (6 and 7 /January) will get down to 24 and 26, then back up into the 60/70s after that. The ground is always workable. The lows are very short in duration. The day temps normally warm everything back up. This is a great time to garden. Weeds grow slow, and no mosquitoes. It is a gardeners paradise from oct to march. April, May and June starts to warm up. July, August and Sept are too hot and too many bugs. In the recent past, I tried a second tomato season in late fall. Looking back, it makes no sense to try to grow in July, Aug, Sept when it is so effortless now. Of course, I can't grow tomatoes now. I am thinking I will just grow extra tomatoes in the normal season and freeze the extra. The ones I froze from last summer did real good in Sauces. I don't have a lot of time to can/make sauce to freeze, but I can always make time to quarter tomatoes and throw them in a bag in the freezer. The sweet white turnips, hakerie (name is close to that), are one of the lesser cold hardy varieties. They are very tastee, especially roasted with the carrots. I have a small patch of them and few remain. I will cover them. Everything else is very hardy and remains uncovered: Kale,broccoli, collards,onions, carrots and Lettuce. I expect some Lettuce losses, as there are many varieties. I expect half to survive just fine. I watered real good yesterday getting ready for the cold snap.

We like go to the Metropolitan Opera for New Year's Eve, have dinner there beforehand at their Grand Tier restaurant, coming back for desserts that they time to be ready at intermission. They also have a gala but we don't usually do that; that occurs after the opera. Depending, sometimes we come home after and toast midnight then, sometimes we toast in town with friends, sometimes we stay over. It is pretty much a tradition, since I think NYE is a pretty lame holiday, but we have missed it in years where we were travelling and sometimes if we do not care for the opera that night we do something else. It is very festive though and DH wears his tux (but you see people in everything from luxe to boho at the opera). We took the kids a year or so ago and they loved getting all dressed up and especially trying shaved white truffle over their risotto. They have been exposed to opera their whole lives so they are all used to it (i get that it takes some ...acculturation? ...). My DS is the only true enthusiast among the kids, my other DDs like some of it but not all of it; but then they like the dressing up part!