melissa --

i grew up on my grandmother's lokschen (noodle) kugel with raisins-- a little sweet, but not oppressively so, but, as an every-friday-night thing, fairly boring. my mother would occasinally make a decent potato kugel, which was sort of like a potato pancake-as-casserole, something like this:

6 med. russet potatoes
1 large onion
2 eggs
1/4 c. flour
4 tbsp. oil
salt and pepper to taste

preheat oven to 350. peel potatoes -- or not -- and grate. somehow using a box grater adds a certain authenticity (not to mention skinned knuckles). squeeze as much of the liquid as you can out of the grated potatoes. grate the onion. beat eggs and add to potatoes and mix in well with all the other ingredients. put it in a greased baking dish (like your basic 9" x 13" pyrex). bake at 350 for about an hour (until brown and crisp). i've found that adding some thyme or sage to the mix hasn't hurt.

simple, not really rave-worthy, but pretty tasty and far from cringe-inducing.

michael