I tried to find the old diet thread but couldn’t find it & I noticed that some other groups have a monthly “what are we eating” thread & I figured that with the GD’s general love of cheese & food, a monthly food thread would be appropriate here too :) Sorry if there’s already a thread like this that I missed…

So, a work friend & I have decided that we’re gonna lose 5k (that’s 11.0231 lb) by Christmas, that’s about 700grams a week, so its gonna be a bit of a challenge, but its not unachievable :) Anyway, means its time for me to start making smarter choices with food & I started last night by making a really yummy, healthy vegetarian lasagne :) I made it using mountain bread instead of pasta to reduce carb intake & low fat ricotta with extra light philly for the white sauce. I marinated (in no fat balsamic dressing) & grilled the pumpkin, zucchini & eggplant first, made my sauce with garlic, onion, mushroom & a can of tomatoes then layered it all with mountain bread & it was delicious! It took about 2 & a half hours to make, but made me 6 serves so I’ve still got another 5 meals out of it which makes the 2 & a half hours worth it :)

What are you all eating at the moment? Got any healthy & easy to make recipes to share?

I'm doing a lot of baking using all organic ingredients. So far my oatmeal-cranberry-pecan and chocolate chip-coconut cookies have been a hit.

Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at applesauce-raisin cookies.

Recipes, recipes!! (Please)

I have discovered that Emerald brand Cocoa Roast Almonds are a lifeline on a diet.

Message edited by its author, Nov 3, 2009, 11:59pm.

Not exactly diet, but tonight I made Broccoli Raab with Sausage and Grapes. And tomorrow I'm finalizing my Thanksgiving menu. Yay!

> OMG that sounds delicious. I don't think I would ever have thought of using pumpkin in a lasagne, but now I want to try it. But, what is mountain bread? Is it just a rustic yeast bread, or something special?

I am trying to shift to a low-salt diet, for health reasons. I heard (and confirmed by reputable science/medical journal articles) that high salt intake is associated with insulin resistance, which I definitely don't need exacerbated. Trouble is, due to other health concerns, I cannot risk all these "low-sodium" prepared foods that are subsequently high in potassium. So this means 1) not so much with the salty snacks (potato chips and microwave popcorn, how I love thee); and 2) more cooking from scratch.

Does anyone know . . . are free-range/organic turkeys still processed with the salt-water brine? Nowadays, at least here in the US, virtually all commercially-available pork and chicken have been "processed" with a salt-water brine/injection.

>5 I think Butterball turkeys are injected with brine. I know that KB brines the fancy organic turkeys he gets for Thanksgiving. Ask the butcher at your grocery store.

I just ate a yummy red pear.

We had been doing really well cooking at home, making yummy things nightly - but now the stove is on the fritz making horrible noises - cooking unevenly and subsequently unplugged to prevent the clock from driving us all insane. So we have relapsed into bad going out behaviors *sigh* - time to hunt for a new stove - and not even the stove I would love but just a fill in for now one

My husband, the hunter, and his buddies, made ground goose mixed with pork sausage. We used the hot Italian spice version in chili. Came out amazingly good.

#5 walk2work - I just adapted a recipe I found online to use only vegies that I like, it was delicious & the pumkin was a really nice touch :)

Mountain bread is kinda like pita bread I guess, its available in supermarkets here. It looks like this:

Message edited by its author, Nov 4, 2009, 5:04pm.

Instead of the planned cookies I made Carob-Ginger Snaps instead. All organic ingredients. Good feedback from friends who cook for a living.

Going to see how they go over at the church bake sale this weekend.

MM, would you like the recipe? I can give you both versions. Organic and Regular.

Absolutely.

Last night was flank steak with potato and sweet potato hash browns and braised pea shoots.

Today I am making tomato marmalade for the first time. It comes from the Kerr Home Canning and Freezing Book, which I have otherwise had good luck with. It has tomatoes, tangerines (substituted for oranges) and lemons, with cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Right now it is bubbling away on the stove, until it reaches the "jelly" temperature of 220F. It smells very yummy!

last week I bought a æbleskive pan. The first sunday of advent my mom always makes æbleskiver, but since I am not going home to Denmark I figured I would make my mom's tradition my own tradition, so I have invited some friends for æbleskiver. Æbleskiver on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86blesk...

To me they are the start of christmas. And usually I eat way too many

Mmm.. They look delicious. The smaller Dutch version (poffertjes) always sell well at the multicultural foodstands here.

Oh I sooo miss aebleskiver...mmmmm *jealous*

for dinner tonight is a lovely fish pie (think shepards pie only white sauce and white fish/shrimp (or prawns)/ and crab meat) so the num

followed by pumpkin pie for dessert

Yum, aebleskiver. I miss ethnic food. I think my sister got Nana's krumkake iron. *sigh*

I haven't done any exciting cooking for a while because exams are sucking up all my time, but I plan to go nuts from next week. My new problem is I need to find good gluten-free recipes if anyone has any to hand...people with allergies really add an extra challenge!

Made carob ginger crisp cookies and carob banana loaf for the church bake sale. Going to sneak over there later to see how they go.

Think I'm going to try and make mustard for the first time this weekend. A sweet raspberry mustard.

My friend is having a pot luck dinner tonight, so I'm naturally over-catering (anything to avoid study!). I have some black forest cupcakes in the oven right now, and this afternoon I'm going to whip up some roast eggplant fritters with lemon and a really simple and delicious mushroom risotto (the recipe is a never fail...now, if only I can find where I put it).

Apparently rice flour with a bit of potato flour is the best substitute for wheat flour.

Thanks Will. I went to Supabarn and discovered that they have a good selection of gluten free flours - both plain and self-raising. Most of them seem to use tapioca flour as well as potato and rice.

I may have to invest in a gluten-free cookbook or two. OldSarge gave me a great list of web sites with gluten-free recipes as well, so I'll start mining them for ideas.

Was looking for the November book-buying thread and found this one instead. It still works. The book I bought today is Seven Hundred Sandwiches. :o)

Beef burgundy this evening for dinner, made in a crockpot. Last night was a chicken soup with chablis, green beans, chicken and noodles. Bread on the side.

But I feel deprived because the rest of you are suggesting and making what sounds like wonderful desserts! Things like trisweather's æbleskiver and dreamlikecheese's black forest cupcakes and OldSarge's organic baked goods.

Deprived, I tell you!

Just tucked into piping hot pear applesauce -- finally used up the last of the farm share apples along with some pears I bought at the farmers market yesterday. So good. Also picked up some cream of crab soup for dinner. My sore mouth (root canal) approves.

21 dreamlikecheese - oooh both the eggplant fritters & the mushroom risotto sound yum! How do you make the fritters? & can you pls share the risotto recipe too if you find it.

I swapped books for food yesterday, lol. I have a box of books that I'm planning on eventually (as in when I can be bothered getting arround to it) selling online or to a 2nd hand bookshop (books I've somehow ended up with 2 copies of or just dont want), anyway, had a friend from work & her 2 bookworm kids come & visit yesterday & they raided the box at my invitation, when asked what I wanted for the 10 or so books the took I said "Umm vegie soup, quiche, any yummy vegie meals you want to provide" :) She's asked me to catalogue her books for her at some stage (methinx I'll be introducing her to LT & the GD)& she'll pay me with meals I can freeze & reheat :)

Got two loaves of peach bread in the oven. The smell is incredible. Ten more minutes until the cooling rack.

In the end I couldn't find the recipe for the risotto. I'll have to call my friend and get it from her again. Instead I made a chicken, lemon and artichoke rice dish. It was delicious. And all made in 1 pot! Yay for less washing up!

Try this with risotto. Thin sliced almonds and crushed pineapple. It's good.

> 28 Hey, OS - I'm a good cook but not much of a pastry chef.

You single? *Bats eyes while holding a pan of veggie lasagne*

Peach bread! Oooooo. Two of my favorite words.

I think I can smell it in Nebraska.

Ummm...I am, but recovering from a divorce. And Iraq. And way to much stress from the last few years. I'm a piece of work, LOL.

Peach loaf not as peachy as I expected. Need to try it again with less cinnamon.

Going to use this recipe as a base for several others. Apple cinnamon raisin, apple cranberry, blueberry.

As an experiment I'm also going to try a pineapple coconut loaf.

My return to baking and trying my hand at cooking is a form of therapy for me.

Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2009, 9:32am.

The pineapple coconut loaf sounds awesome, OldSarge!

The prep on that will be easier too. Dicing up organic canned peaches was a mess.

Over the weekend Monsieur bought bacon even though we already had some in the fridge. He said he got it for Thanksgiving even though I haven't even begun to think about it. I have used a recipe for the past 10 years or so from Bon Appetit which involves combining crumbled cooked bacon, chopped sage, and butter together and then working some of it up under the breast skin. The rest is used for a roux for the gravy. I take the bacon purchase that no one is interested in a different recipe.

Just finished up some curried pumpkin soup. Yummy.

Tonight is hamburger patties and mashed potatoes and carrots.

Anyone started their Thanksgiving menu yet? I think I have finalized mine. Yay! It is definitely my favorite holiday.

just once I'd like the kid to cook Thanksgiving for me. She always has an excuse and I get stuck doing it. Oi.

I'm going to try an all organic/farm raised Thanksgiving this year.

Already ordered my turkey.

I made a lovely basic pasta last night.

A packet of pasta
4 tomatos (diced)
2 capsicum (bell peppers - diced)
a tin of champignons (because I'm too lazy to cut up fresh ones)
a jar of pesto
bacon bits

I made enough for about 12 people, and only had six, so I have delicious lunch for the rest of the week! Woohoo!

Lunch at Panera today. Turkey, Bacon, Gouda, Lettuce and Tomato on Tomato/Basil bread. Divine.

Tonight, I had homemade steak & kidney pie, mashed potatoes with a good red wine. After dinner, we drank homemade chokecherry liqueur. If it sounds bad, I swear it was much better than you'd imagine.

Message edited by its author, Nov 10, 2009, 12:40am.

#42 -- I love that sandwich! Get it every time I got to Panera. Just finished some Roadhouse Chili from one of the cafes here on campus. Not bad.

Working in Thailand at the moment and just went out for dinner with some colleagues. Piles of yummy food but tonight's star was a great Tom ka Gai

Today I made lasagne with buffalo! yum.

I'm eating potato stix with home made low fat tzaziki :) Its so simple & so yummy :)

#46, what a great idea! I may have to try that myself...

My friendly neighbors told the new Schwan's guy where I live, after he eventually asked. I'd been at their home once when he stopped by. I didn't buy anything at that time, but did make interested noises.

He had coupons.

I bought a pecan pie, vanilla ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, and a couple of other things that I probably don't need. On the positive side? One less from-scratch pie I have to make for the church-group fund-raiser this weekend.

Next week's recipe? Applesauce raisin cookies.

You have a knack for zeroing in on my favorite ingredients!

It's getting a bit cold and rainy here this week. I think tonight I will make this Winter Wheat Soup.

I'm jelous of your cold & rainy soup weather janepriceestrada. Its yukky hot dont even think about cooking weather here :(

Got bean soup mix and ham hock today. . . Will make a mess of bean soup very soon.

Just polished off a huge banana pancake. Yummy.

I just ate half a kit kat. Bad I know, but was feeling sorry for myself coz I hate the heat so I wanted comfort food. I only ate 2 of the 4 sticks, does that count as kinda being good? lol...

You get points for that at my house.

Hi all!
I've just visited this forum. Happy to get acquainted with you. Thanks.

__________________
http://animewatching.com

Message edited by its author, Nov 12, 2009, 10:46pm.

I'm planning on making a yummy vegetable soup, which has onions, carrots, cabbage, ham and potatoes in a garlicky chicken broth. This used to be one of my favorites, but I haven't made in a long time. I think it'll go well with our mild fall weather today.

Seanie, I tried pseudo-copying your lasagne recipe using lavash bread (newly discovered in our local mega-mart) and firm tofu, along with all the other lasagne goodies. I used a light touch with the tomato sauce, as I didn't want the bread to get too mushy. It turned out really well.

Truly plan to make bean soup, but this is what we just ate (in celebration of 64th wedding anniversary): Roasted quail, Calamari salad, Snapper in coconut milk with eggplant and okra. (When waitress heard it was our 64th anniversary she gave us ice cream treat~~ I chose lychee flavor and told her we'd come back for my birthday.)

Yum, Esta! And congrats again!

I baked pumpkin muffins today (using pumpkin puree I made a while back, not the canned stuff). So moist and yummy. More cream of crab soup for lunch today. Also had a bison burger for dinner. So good.

I made a pumpkin pie (completely from scratch except the pumpkin puree was canned) and a cranberry-apple pie, for the women's group fundraiser. Both turned out gratifyingly well, but as usual, the unfamiliar cranapple flavor did not sell very well.

Yesterday, cooked liver casserole with mashed potatoes, turnips and carrots, and onion and garlic gravy. Very filling!

I had some leftover pumpkin puree to use, so made pumpkin wheat pancakes for dinner tonight -- actually, the recipe made a ton of pancakes, so I'll have plenty for future meals too :o)

Applesauce raisin cookies are a go!

Have to chill the dough next time. They were a bit messy to handle. I was unable to judge the size properly and came out with more than expected as they were smaller than they should have been.

But still very good.

I'm going to keep experimenting with recipes you wouldn't normally find in stores. Pineapple coconut loaf is on my to try list.

Message edited by its author, Nov 17, 2009, 8:39pm.

#36 combining crumbled cooked bacon, chopped sage, and butter together and then working some of it up under the breast skin

That sounds heavenly. I'm going to try that next week for my Thanksgiving turkey, but I think I'll add some rosemary as well.

#65 If you do make that pineapple coconut loaf, be sure to post a review. It sounds WONDERFUL.

As for dinner tonight? LOL ... I'm thinking McDonalds. *blush*

Over the weekend I pureed my son's uncarved pumpkin from Halloween. This is the first time I've ever cooked with pumpkin. So far I've made two loaves pumpkin chocolate chip bread, two loaves pumpkin walnut bread and one pumpkin pie from scratch. I even had my first attempt at making pie crust which I think I over-worked. I didn't realize pumpkin was so much work!

Just a few minutes ago I ate a Hershey's chocolate bar with almonds thanks to the Hershey's thread making me crave it.

Alanna - If you prefer rosemary, I would suggest you substitute it for the sage - not put both in - and chop it very fine. The recipe I used the butter for also called for putting sliced leeks and sage sprigs in the body of the turkey so you might like to put leeks and rosemary sprigs in yours.

Someone gave me a batch of the Amish friendship bread starter, and a half a loaf of said bread. I confess that the food scientist in me cringes at the starter-feeding process (because it's all unrefrigerated; else I'd be fine). But I've been eating the gift bread and it's pretty good.

So today I bought fixin's to make lemon poppy seed friendship bread and pistachio friendship bread.

Haven't gotten around to making the cabbage-ham-vegetable soup yet. Or the banana cake with peanut butter frosting. Probably won't happen tonight, either. *Sigh*

I've got two apple cinnamon loaves on the cooling racks right now. Getting ready to whip up a cinnamon sugar glaze for them.

Once again, all organic.

I'm one baking fool. WOOT!

Message edited by its author, Nov 18, 2009, 9:17pm.

You are driving me CRAZY!!

I had a friend (actually my ex BF but still a friend) over for dinner tonight, so I made a frittata. It was a pretty simple recipe except for the flipping part, its all cooked in a fry pan, once the edges are solid & the middle starting to get solid, you turn it onto a plate then put it back in the pan uncooked side down -very tricky & messy process for me, plus I got a bit distracted & burnt the bottom a little. But despite all that it was yum :) Served it with coleslaw & rainbow salad on a bed of baby cos lettuce :)

Oh & I did a lil antipasto (i think thats the right word??) sort of thing when he arrived. Little bagelettes & some othe biscuits, with marinated bocconcini, homemade tzazziki & bruschetta paste :)

I think I'm getting good at this hostess thing :) Have to have a house warming party in the chat room soon, I'll have heaps of yummy vegetarian foods to bring :)

Message edited by its author, Nov 19, 2009, 8:57am.

LOL, sorry Mary.

If you come up with the pineapple/coconut recipe you were threatening, I'm hitchhiking down Highway 2 headed east.

>69 I kept sourdough starter going for years, walk2work. It lived on the kitchen counter for a couple of days before I baked. Worked just fine.

Last night I made an orzo salad to go with lamb chops. I added feta cheese, calamata olives, chopped parsley, olive oil, and lemon juice. I gave some leftover salad to my friend who is having problems with her taste buds and only umami flavors are good. She was very happy.

I've been so very lazy. The most active kitchen thing I've done this week has been to cook a small mountain of sausages. The rest of it has been slap-dash stuff, leftovers and out of the freezer heat-ups.

Bugger it all, I'm making a hot fudge sundae.

Wait...I've got bananas.

Banana split it is!

La la la...la lala la...one banana, two banana, three banana, four...

Sorry had a flashback to childhood there.

> 75 Jennieg: An ordinary sourdough starter (mostly just flour and water, right?) sitting out for a couple of days I would have no problem with. The Amish friendship starter is never refrigerated, and is fed with flour, sugar and milk. Sugar? Milk??? With all the antibiotics used in the US dairy industry today? That's what makes me cringe.

You have a point, walk. That milk sitting out would make me nervous too. I made my starter by following the receipe in Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery. It's a lot of work and not cheap to produce, but worth while if you have an appreciative audience.

#78 LOL. You can't be THAT old, OldSarge. I'm only 53 and remember The Banana Splits Show very well - and now you have that silly song stuck in my head.

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Is that song anything like the childhood picking game we used to play? It went:

One potato, two potato, three potato, four . . .
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more!

You put both your hands out as sideways fists (thumb on the top) and the "more" potato got knocked out. And so around until there was only one left. Whoever had the last potato was "It." Somehow, I always thought there was a gimmick there, some unfairness in who got picked, but I could never figure it out.

I remember the Banana Splits too and I am only 43. And, of course, now I have the song stuck in my head.

Here's to Fleagle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorkie!!!!!!!!!!

I have obviously led a sheltered life.... Sad...

74> Better pack a bag and stick your thumb out. Pineapple coconut loaves are on the cooling rack.

Our one daughter celebrated her birthday today - 13!!!! All of our kids get to pick dinner for their birthday. Her's is always the easiest: salad with my homemade balsamic vinegarette (sp?), angel hair pasta with olive oil and parm and garlic bread. Then we had chocolate truffle brownies with chocolate and butterscotch chips on top. Yum!!!!!

OldSarge - pineapple coconut loaves sound AMAZING! I am right outside of Philly - how long do you think it would take me to get to your house?

I need to tweak the recipe just a bit. it's good, but could be better.

I didn't think until afterwards that I should have saved the juice from draining the pineapple to make a glaze/frosting.

Depending on traffic in the first fifteen miles through Jersey, you could be here in about an hour and fifteen minutes.

I'm not sure yet, but I think I could be heading towards what I want to do with the rest of my life. It would seem I can retire from the military on 02 JUN 2010.

Ah, Sarge. I wish, I wish. Raise a slice in my name.

I love the idea of making your life revolve around the baking. Sounds so warm and fulfilling.

I made red sauce last night, and had pasta with red sauce. Tonight, delicious pasta with red sauce. Tomorrow I'm having the first Thanksgiving dinner, and Thursday I'll probably have another. Sigh. Repetition not always a bad thing.

OldSarge - I knew that you lived in Jersey but didn't know how close to me you were. Sounds like you might live "at the Shore" which makes me jealous! Would love nothing better than to move to the beach somewhere.

I often use the juice from pineapple, peaches, etc. for either a glaze or, when I make muffins, I use it to replace the milk in the recipe. If there isn't enough for the cup that is called for in the recipe, I add apple juice until I have enough. Tastes great! Being a SAHM with four kids (five if you count hubby) and pretty limited funds, I really try not to waste anything.

It sounds like you may be considering opening a bakery. If you do, I will definitely make the trip to be a customer!

Rather a sudden decision last night to bake a cake with Otherhalf to celebrate OtherHalf's birthday today. Hence dash to shops back with ingrediants. We're aiming for Black Forest Gateaux. Found the Kirsh, but have to make do with (black) cherry pie filling, rather than the correct morello cherrys in syrup.

The cake is rather thin, but baked and cooled OK. All that it needs is the assembling in layers tonight. I'm sure it will be tasty even if it won't look perfect.

Black Forest Gateaux

Mmmmmmm........

I'm on cake duty this month for work birthdays, so I've just pulled an orange cake out of the oven. I'll put passionfruit icing on it tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow night I'm cooking for the boy (I say boy, but he's a number of years older than me....oh well) so I'm doing a gluten-free and mostly carb-free menu (reactive hypoglycemic coeliacs are really hard to cook for). I'm trying chicken breasts rolled around asparagus and cheese, wrapped in prosciutto and fried in the pan. I'll serve it with a big salad, maybe with some goats cheese thrown in (I have some leftover) and fruit salad for dessert.

I had a mountain bread wrap with low fat garlic & herb philly, smoked salmon & cucumber for dinner last night, then same for lunch today ecxept I added carrot & lettuce (from the canteen at work, would have had carrot & lettuce last night too, but none in the fridge at home) :)

Semi-legendary edible I actually met last month, but still think ought to go on the GD permanent menu: The Wacktazz Buff Pie! I have a picture, but won't be able to upload it for a while. This amazing comestible looks like a Cornish Pastie but slightly bigger than the ones we usually get here. Inside is buffalo meat and a bit of gravy. And more buffalo meat. Somebody once found a fragment of onion in one, but mostly it's the food to give a vegetarian a heart attack, a stroke and 72 conniptions simultaneously.

Looks like my attempted post about an almost mythical comestible I met last month isn't showing up. If it appears, this is the semi-legendary Wacktazz Buff Pie.

Sorry, but it's not showing.

We butterfly'd the turkey this year. And it is now cooking on the grill. I hope it comes out just half as good as it looks!

TURKEY SOUP-MAKE YOUR OWN, IT'S KINDA EASY

Strip the carcass. Cut it in half to fit in stockpot. Mine is a 10 quart.

Add enough water to cover carcass, bring to a boil. Then to a simmer.

Add chicken or vegetable bullion cubes to match the level of water. (However many quarts you are using)

Add these veggies (this is what I use, change to suit your taste):
Onion, small to medium, chopped-1
Carrots, peeled and sliced-2 to 3
Parsnips, sliced-2 to 3
Turnip or rutabega, small to medium, peeled and chopped-1
Celery stalks, sliced/chopped-3 to 4
Sprig of parsley, chopped-1

Cover pot and let simmer, stir occasionally for 2 hours. Start tasting to see if it is "turkey" enough. If not add some turkey meat and let simmer another 30 minutes.

At this point carefully remove carcass, put aside and let cool. Then strip any remaining meat and put back into soup.

Dice previously set aside turkey meat and add to soup. Amount is up to your taste.

In a separate pot you can make egg noodles, rice or diced potatoes. Cook, drain and rinse (must rinse-too much starch will make soup gummy). Add to soup as desired.

Stir soup and taste. Season to taste (salt, pepper, wasabi powder, more bullion cubes, etc.) Be creative, it's your soup.

Simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes.

It's soup!

This recipe can be used for any poultry.

#69 - I would view the friend who gave you the Amish Friendship Bread starter with grave suspicion. What do they have against you? That stuff multiplies and multiplies until it fills your house and flows out of your doors! All your neighbors, coworkers and friends will flee when they see you for fear of being handed a little baggie of starter. I baked and baked with that stuff, choosing to bake cakes instead of share the starter (I value my friendships), but they all started tasting the same and my family rebelled. Finally, I had to go to therapy and throw the stuff out. It went against everything my mother and grandmother had taught me, but in the end was necessary for my sanity.

Recently I did some kitchen cupboard clean-out, and later waxed philosophical on the guilt of throwing the stuff out. I decided that when you throw away something that is past using, it's not really food you're discarding, but trash. And it's a good thing to get rid of trash (recycle, compost, etc.), so better to celebrate than feel guilty. The time to feel guilty was at the moment when it actually passed from being food to being trash. But you missed that moment (because if you hadn't missed it, you would probably have chosen to use the food rather than let it make the transition). But does it really help to feel doubly guilty because you missed the transition? Is it really profitable in the long run? No. Just throw the stuff out, and be glad you have a clean cupboard.

I think the same argument can be used for the multiplying bread starter. At some point (when you get tired of it, for example), it ceases to become food. Then it's trash, and the sane person gets rid of trash.

Likewise for the mangled pistachio bread mess. It ceased to be food when the loaves refused to come out of the pan intact. Time to toss them into the compost bin.

I tried something new yesterday. It started out as pan cookies/bars. Chocolate chip black cherry. They came out more like a brownie. Very moist. I saved the juice from draining the cherries and made an icing for them.

All the women who work at the bar I go to now love me. They got the first batch.

LOL

OldSarge, when you are ready for a new lady in your life, I don't think you're going to have any trouble ;-)

I improvised a bit last night and made banana bread--used half Splenda, half brown sugar, and threw in some dried cranberries because just about everything is better with cranberries, I think. Very tasty, but half the loaf is gone already!

Wow, OldSarge, that sounds excellent!

I made spicy chicken soft tacos for dinner (with Amish cheddar, roasted Anaheim peppers and chipotle-corn salsa (that from a jar)). On the side, I thawed some summer corn that I combined with another salsa I also made over the summer (with tomato, radish and more of that Anaheim pepper). Tossed some onion into the corn as well. It was all very yum. :o)

OldSarge - OMG!!!!! I think they sound amazing. If you ever need a tester, please feel free to mail me a care package!