Well, maybe it is a Calvatia--it is somewhat larger than those in the "fun with" site, but the size is close enough, and the overall shape is spot-on. Mine is well past the stage when it was white. It is all a deep brown, the whole top is open and the inside looks like rotten foam rubber--I didn't touch it. It is not like a puffball with the opening at the top that ejects spores when touched. The whole top and down the sides is one brown mass. But when I look closely, I can see how the shell has split leaving the sepal like sections of the shell at the bottom. These don't come up the sides very far. Yes, darn it, I need to get a camera! --Spruce

Natalie, did you root some branches, or did you take some sprouts at the base of the trunk? If the latter, you will be disappointed. You may have starts from the rootstock which is probably a different plum and not near as good. Mike

"You know youÂre olde when..." . . . your mind becomes cluttered with information of consequence to only polite, patient young people. Upon being apprised of the true nature of the solar system by an amazed Watson who has just learned that Holmes did not know this simple fact of physics: "You appear to be astonished," he said, smiling at my expression of surprise. "Now that I do know it I shall do my best to forget it." "To forget it!" "You see," he explained, "I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it." digitS' scratching noggin while trying to forget and remember at the same time

Terri, I missed the fact that the sausage was already ground. AND I missed the fact that you aren't looking for a pasta recipe. I would hate it if Moe didn't like pasta. How about making a stuffing for chicken using some of the ground sausage. You could stuff boneless chicken breasts or bone out and stuff a whole chicken. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Chicken - Deboned Stuffed Chicken ================================== Source: Pat Davis Cooking School, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1979 Note: A Boned out Three pound chicken will feed 6 nicely. 1 3 pound chicken or 4 Whole Chicken Breasts (not singles 3 cups Fresh Bread - Crumbled 1 small onion 1 clove garlic 1/4 pound of Sausage (I usually use one Italian Sausage) 1/4 pound of mushrooms 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons of fresh 1 egg Butter Chicken Broth Salt and pepper to taste Sauce 1/2 cup White Wine 1 cup Chicken Broth 1 onion 2 small tomatoes 1 garlic clove . Bone out whole chicken or if using just the breasts bone the breasts but leave them whole. DO NOT REMOVE SKIN Save bones. Saute onion, and garlic in butter. Add sausage, (if using link take meat out of casing), add sliced mushrooms and saute. Season with thyme,salt and pepper and mix in coarsely crumbled bread. Add chicken broth to moisten. Add egg. Stuff chicken,(or breasts) and sew up with unwaxed dental floss. Preheat oven to 375°. Place bones in shallow roasting pan and place chicken on bones. Roast for 30 minutes and then add one coarsely chopped onion, and two coarsely chopped tomatoes,and the garlic clove to the pan. Pour in 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Chicken should sit above liquid resting on the bones. Continue roasting for another 30 to 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked. (note: Breasts take the less time) When cooked remove chicken to board to rest and remove bones from pan. Skim excess fat from pan juices add the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth and pour contents into blender. Puree to make sauce. To serve,Remove dental floss (comes out easy with one little pull). Slice breasts into nice rounds and place 3 or 4 slices on each plate.If using the whole chicken, also slice in to 1/2 inch slices and place one to two on each plate. Drizzle with sauce.