Basilgirl

I've tried Marcella's recipe but I like Lidia's better. MUCH sliced garlic sauteed, red pepper flakes added off the heat. A good quantity of pasta water to create the sauce. Parsley and more olive oil added at the end. I also add a little black pepper. Sometimes chovies.

Friday night: Brats & kraut cooked Thursday night in the slow cooker. BAD, BAD IDEA. The brats were mushy & and the expensive German kraut with white wine was all but obliterated. Yuck. Saturday night: To make up for Friday: Mom's Sicilian Meat Roll, veal/beef/pork, mixed with garlic, tomato juice, egg, breadcrumbs, oregano, parmesan, S&P, laid out flat & layered with ham and provolone, rolled up and baked. Yum. Olive oil mashed potatoes and Lidia's green beans in chunky tomato sauce. Last night: Lidia's Chicken Valdostana on her Spaghetti Aglio-Olio. Used Barilla's linguine rigate. ROASTED CAULIFLOWER sprinkled with red wine vinegar. Tonight: Biba Caggiano's white bean soup, made yesterday, with lots of ham added. Asiago bread, bruschetta style. Some cheese. Leftover ROASTED CAULIFLOWER. I do not have one bit of Italian in my blood.

Dry roasted nuts. Safeway brand. Good, but not as good as Planter's.

Jacques Pepin's Maman's Cheese Souffle - so easy, SO GOOD Jimmy Dean's sausage with sage - YUM Mini croissants Green salad with grape tomatoes & red onions and a dressing my sister gets when she goes to Florida called Cafe Geneva Sauce for Salad. It's so good you could drink it. But it's almost gone, so I must conserve.

Check out Spicy Dill Pickles on Epicurious.com. Easy and delicious. I've been making them for 10 years.

Willy Wonka Shock Tarts. These things are awesome for us sour people. I could eat the whole roll at once if I let myself. Cream cheese/salami on Triscuits. Dill pickles and cheddar. Butter on saltines. Jif peanut butter and goosh (marshmallow fluff) on Wonder Bread, side of Frito's, cold glass of milk. Better yet - Frito's smushed in sandwich. Totino's Party Pizza. Oh, the horror. Pringles.

To get really fancy, like my mom did in the '70's, LAYER the cream cheese and bologna (at least 4 layers of each) and then cut the resulting "cake" into triangles. Secure with frilly toothpicks.

Shredded chipotle beef tacos, filled and then crisped/sogged in the oven, then topped with a 5-cheese Mexican blend, jalapenos, green olives, sour cream, and curtido-style coleslaw. My S.O. ate TEN. I had two. Well, they were kind of small.

Wendy's has good fried chicken. Reminds me of Roy's, which are no longer around in Northern Virginia. I like Popeye's chicken strips and KFC's popcorn chicken. Popeye's biscuits, fries, red beans & rice, and ONION RINGS...yum.

I used to LOVE The Frugal Gourmet. At one point I think I had almost all of his cookbooks. I gave them away in a get-rid-of-all-these-cookbooks frenzy. The one recipe I still use from one of them is pork souvlaki. I think that was in his first book. The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American was good, as was the wine cookbook. The one on our immigrant ancestors was a good read.

Tuscan herb salt from A New Way to Cook, Sally Schneider. Sage leaves Rosemary springs Garlic Kosher Salt I whir it all together with my immersion blender/chopper. Keeps forever. Great stuffed into slivered pork loin.

In the many many books I've been looking through, trying to get ideas, all generally agree to ditch the skin before cooking.

Thanks, Picaman! I didn't realize there was a separate Recipe Archive category for Crock Pot. THAT'S what I was looking for - egulleters' recipes! Thanks again.

Thanks, Toliver. I am overwhelmed by the number of recipes to peruse.

OK, I gave myself my first Crock Pot for Christmas. Of course Mom had one in the '70s, but all I remember from that time was a lot of cream of mushroom soup going in there with whatever meat & potatoes. So far I've made pork BBQ, Tuscan pot roast, lentil soup, and some really really BAD pork with sauerkraut. I like coming home and having dinner almost ready. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

PS - I meant to say throw all the ingredients in (except the kosher/coarse salt for the top, of course) in the machine and run the dough cycle, then continue with the recipe. Also, be careful when boiling them as the water has a tendency to boil over in a fast way. There. I feel better now.

ATTENTION All E-Gulleter Bread Machine Owners: Please try the pretzel rolls on Epicurious. They are SO good and fun to make too.

Rachel: I'd post in the Recipe Archive but I'm short of time and don't have time to figure it out. 2-1/4 tsp. yeast (one packet) 2 -2/3 c. bread flour 2-1/4 tsp. sugar 1-1/2 tsp. salt 8 TLBS unsalted butter (one stick!!) 3 eggs 3/4 c. water 1/2 c. (I use a little more ) finely chopped Swiss cheese Dump all ingredients EXCEPT CHEESE in machine according to your brand's directions. Press Start. At the end of the first kneading cycle, throw in the cheese. It's yummy and makes great toast (in the oven/toaster oven/TOASTER BAGS. Otherwise you'd cheese up your toaster.

My bread machine is in my basement, but I haul it up occasionally to make pretzel roll dough and the most decadent swiss cheese "brioche" loaf, with lots of eggs and butter... Hmm. I think I'll haul it up this weekend.

Campbell's used to make an "Oriental" vegetable/noodle "Select" soup. It was really good when doctored up with garlic/chili paste, soy sauce & vinegar. I noticed at my grocery store they were "Discontinued For Quick Sale," so I bought just about every damn can. I now have maybe 10 cans in my pantry. I'm hoarding them since I can't find it anywhere. I agree with Soba. Campbell's "Wonton" soup - WHY???? I think Progresso soups have too many carrots.

You need to leave The City and head for China Star in Fairfax City. Their spicy & sour baby wontons are unbelievable. If you don't want spicy, they come with "chicken flavor" (actually supposed to be chicken/broth) and another kind I can't remember. All around really good, really authentic Szechuan food. but I can't bring myself to try the beef tripe with pig's blood.

Favorite: Mario, of course. Can't stand: Sandra Lee. Although she can be fun to laugh at.

Canned Coke with pretzels. What a combination.

Tonight we will have pancakes and bacon for dinner, for pancake day/fasnacht/Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras. When I was a kid my mom made homemade doughnuts, so it's also Doughnut Day. Making anything special?

Anita's?