Dana

A Chocolate-Pecan Tart made by Rebecca Rather (her book is The Pastry Queen) from Fredricksberg, TX. I attended a class she gave here. The texture was sooo smooth. It was something like a flourless chocolate cake, only smoother. Just divine.

Rachel, this is the BEST picture!!!!!

Ms. Agrodolce - Glad to hear your gumbo was such a hit. I've never made it for a gumbo virgin who didn't like it!!!! Welcome to eG. LindaK. - Don't let anyone fool you - the beauty and wonder of cajun food is due in large part the using local ingredients. Your Maine shrimp will be perfect for a gumbo. Don't be afraid, just jump on in. I agree with fifi- if you go to visit 20 cajun homes, you'll get 20 different gumbos and they'll all be terrific. All different, all good.

My parm rind had been in the fridge for a long time, as well. I rinsed it off, although I don't know why, and dropped it in the soup. I generally don't worry too much about germs anyway. This week's for me will be slkinsky's cauliflower soup. I got a HUGE head at Kroger's for 99 cents.

If there is a 50 lb wedding cake, and each guest has his own individual cake, who eats the 50lber? We had only cake and punch - no food. We were very young and very poor.

This week's soup for me was a sort of bean type, probably one the best soups I've ever made. First, I cooked a pound of navy beans, according to the Russ Parsons oven method. While that was baking, I browned a pound of venison pan sausage with some garlic, onion and celery. I added some shredded carrots, a can of stewed tomatoes, and some chicken stock and a rind of Parmesan, s & p. I let that cook for just a few minutes, added a couple big handfuls of spinach, the beans and some fresh oregano (mine is as big as a Volkswagon!) and rosemary. I can't believe how much the Parm added. I've always heard about doing that, but never had.

My mom never fixed sprouts either, but I, too am a convert. My husband loves them and I've just recently started fixing them with regularity - even for Christmas dinner. I steam them till done - not al dente, but done- push them to the side of the pan, add a little butter and saute some chopped walnuts for a couple of minutes. Stir the nuts into the sprouts and drizzle the whole thing with some walnut oil. Delish. I've always used fresh, but I'll give the frozen a try. I don't know why they wouldn't be just as good. Frozen green beans smell like grass to me. I just can't get past the smell.

Part of the 'charm' of the WW program is that you can customize your meals however is best for you. You know when you get up that you have 20 or whatever points, and you can use them as you please. If you like a larger breakfast, then that's perfectly acceptable. Lots of people don't eat much for breakfast, although WW highly recommends you eat something to get your metabolism going. Tess - have you tried the core plan? I thought I the food I was allowed on the point system wasn't enough, either, and am much happier and not hungry on core. You might want to check it out. Hope I haven't highjacked this thread - sorry Jensen

We can get a product here (I realize that's not going to help you much in Amsterdam) called 'Simply Potatoes'. They are grated potatoes and are found in the refigerated section - usually with the bacon/sausage or the eggs. They make terrific hash browns. Get the unflavored variety - they also come with peppers, etc, but the plain are best. Add your own onions. Another tip - get you potatoes about half browned before you add the onions. The onions burn and are yukky if you add then too soon. Make sure your fried eggs are still runny, as there is nothing better on hash browns than 'rooster juice'.

Years ago, as a newlywed, I found a recipe for some sort of one dish thing with pasta. The recipe called for putting the pasta in raw and letting it cook in the crock pot. Talk about wallpaper paste.

We'll be there for 2 days in September, so I'm equally interested in all opinions.

That probably wouldn't happen if you used some sort of processed cheese food (Velveeta). It seems to melt easier, but it won't give you the same flavor. Years ago, I made one with -gasp- cream of mushroom soup and velveeta. The kids loved it, but I can't remember the last time I made it.

Thanks for taking one for the rest of us Larb virgins. I'm tracking down the galgangle and Kaffir lime leaves this week.

I don't know if Chili counts as soup, but it's this week's soup at my house. I made a gigantic pot with ground chuck, venison, and venison sausage. Hubby took a big bowl of it to work with him and I'll freeze some for future dinners.

I'm in!! This is going to be a hoot!!! Don't forget about Gumbo and Vegetable Beef, and broccoli cheese, and cauliflower and.... Happy New Year, everybody

For Christmas Day breakfast I made Eggs Benedict, adding some adobo sauce to the hollandaise. My SIL ate 4. Tater Tots.

Yesterday, we had Freixenet sparkling wine Shrimp Balls with Guajillo Sauce Standing Rib Roast Boursin Potatoes Brussel Sprouts with walnuts Carmelized Butternut Squash Homemade Yeast Rolls Vino Nobile de Montelpulciano Creme Brulee with fresh fruit

My dad worked rotating shifts in a refinery as does my husband. I've worked straight shift, either nights or evenings for 18 years. Working a holiday, even a major one has been a fact of my life since I was a child. We have always found a special time for a meal and 'family' time somewhere near the big day if the really big day was impossible. It's not the DAY, it's the time spent together, enjoying the season and each other. We've always made the most of the time we do have, even if it's a bit untraditional. Our kids were often invited to their friends' families dinners when ours was postponed or early due to work schedules, and we've hosted lots of kids when we've had ours at a non-normal time. The best compliment I think I've ever received was from a friend of our son - probably 16 at the time. He said, "I like having Christmas over here. Ya'll eat together at the table."

Made a King Ranch Casserole tonight, but it's only about 42 degrees, so not nearly as cold as most places on Dec. 19. It sure hit the spot, though. I'm with MM and highchef. If it's below 0, it's time to move!!! Mabelline - antelope is great. Have you had a chance to try elk? It's great as well.

Really interesting, Abra!!! I recently attented a class at Central Market in Houston taught be Susana Trilling, and I realized that there is so much to learn about Mexican food - esp. moles. She demonstrated a mole amarillo with pork and oyster mushrooms that was divine. She said that it also could be made with chicken, so I'm planning to try it next week. One thing I was surprised to hear (and it shows my ignorance of moles) was that only 2 of the 7 contain chocolate, while the rest do not. (she was talking about Oaxacan moles). The one I had eaten at our local Tex/Mex place must have been the Mole Negro, as you've demonstrated here. While I enjoyed it, I much prefered the one Susana made without the 'sweet' spices. Can't wait to see your next installment.

We don't like the wheat chex in the mix as they seem to get hard. I use Chrispex for the cereal portion. I totally agree about doubling the amount of the seasoning part. I also add a healthy dose on cayenne. The original recipe has no punch. I do like the pretzels, but no cheerios. They get hard, too.

Susan, the broccoli salad looks great! How'd you make it?

I've never tried the boudin at Best Stop either, although I think that's what they use to stuff their pork chops, which are delish. Whenever we go that direction, we always stop on the way home and stock up on their seasoning mix as well as pork chops. Have to buy 5 or 6 at a time - all our family is hooked.

*bump* I just made pot pies from Rebecca Rather's book "the Pastry Queen". For those who don't know of her, she has a bakery/cafe in Fredricksburg, TX. I visited there a couple of weekends ago, ate lunch (her pot pie) and picked up this cute book. Lost of good desserts, cookies, and a few savory offerings, like the pot pies and King Ranch Casserole (no soups, make your own cream sauce.) The recipe is really good, however, I liked the resaurant version better. The book version sauce was very thick, and I like the sauce to be a little looser, so as to soak up the crust. Easily fixed. I also added a small handful of shredded carrot, which I won't add again - too sweet - but I will leave in the peas. I had a little trouble with the crust which is 3 c. flour, 1 stick butter, 10 oz cream cheese, s&p, egg wash. As I type this I realize that I only added 8 oz. cream cheese. Maybe that's why it was a little hard to work with. I was thinking it needed some ice water, but maybe the additional 2 oz of cr. cheese would make the difference. My point to this post: I just HAD to add the carrots (I also added some celery, too), but does everybody do that? Monkey around with the recipe? I used to be pretty good about making a recipe just like to book, but the last few years, I seem to be compulsive about adding something.

In my ever-on-going attempt to cut calories without sacrificing too much flavor, I tried onion confit without adding any fat. I had to keep stirring the onions in the crock pot as they got brown around the edges very quickly.- about once an hour. They did caramelize and are very tasty, but not as tasty as the full fat version. I think the operative word here is CONFIT - they should be cooked in fat. Don't worry, mine won't go to waste. They will still be good on toasted bread with cheese, scrambled eggs, etc. They just don't have quite the depth of flavor without the fat (no surprise there).