Oh Woodie, I am so honored to have one of my recipe contributions make the grade for your girl party! Sound like a great time, I wish I lived near you...and that I was your cousin! LOL The strata recipe is from a local upscale grocery chain here. It realy is delicious! Potato Florentine Strata from Lunds/Byerly's 1 (30 ounce) package frozen country style hash browns, thawed 1 medium onion, minced, (1 cup), divided 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper blend 2 tablespoons melted butter 3 cups half and half 6 eggs, slightly beaten 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon Herbes de Provence 1/2 teaspoon seasoned pepper blend 3 cups finely shredded colby and Monterey Jack cheese 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, completely drained 1/2 cup marinated sun dried tomatoes, drained, chopped Press hash browns with paper towels to absorb moisture. In large bowl, combine hash browns, 1/2 cup onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper blend. Press into bottom of buttered 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Brush with melted butter. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven until lightly browned around edges (20-25 minutes). In large bowl, whisk together half and half, eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, fines herbes and 1/2 teaspoon pepper blend. Stir in cheese, spinach, remaining 1/2 cup onion and tomatoes. Pour mixture over potato crust. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated 350 degree oven until center is set (35-45 minutes). Let stand, covered, 10 minutes; cut into squares. Amount: 8-10 servings Tips: For a do-ahead, bake and refrigerate crust; combine and refrigerate filling. Remove from refrigerator; pour filling over crust and bake as directed above. Linda

Ann, try saving it to your Clippings. Look to the right of your last post (just above this). You will see the word Clippings in green letters. Under that it will say Clip This Post. For each recipe or comment you want to save, click on Clip This Post. Another way to do it is to highlight the entire thread, or the parts you want, right click with your mouse and then click on Copy. Start a new document in Word and paste the thread into that document, then save it to your computer. If you want me to do that for you and then email it to you, let me know.

Manly Meatballs I love the name of this recipe! I found it at The Food Maven website and it reminded me of something my mom used to make years ago (she spread ground round on firm white bread and put it in the broiler--I was crazy about these flat burgers). This was written by Arthur Schwartz: Alan Richman's Manly Meatballs Makes about 36 Alan Richman is the esteemed and always witty food writer for Gentleman's Quarterly magazine, but I take the blame for calling these his "manly" meatballs. He made them for a birthday party of our mutual friend Alexis Bespaloff, the well-known wine writer. As he was passing them on a platter, taking full responsibility for their simplicity and strong flavor, he explained that he made them because when he heard the menu planned by Alex's wife he felt there might be too much "sissy food" -- you know, pasta and salads. They are not, of course, anything like any recipe you've ever seen for Swedish meatballs, but to my mind they make an even better stand-in. Baking them on bread slices -- which, by the way, do not burn or get too hard, even though it seems as if they would -- makes them perfect finger food. 1 pound ground chuck (not leaner beef) 3 scallions, finely minced (use most of the green) 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce (or regular soy sauce, if that's all you have) 1 firmly packed teaspoon brown sugar (a rounded teaspoon, if using regular soy sauce) 1 baguette or ficelle (a small diameter French bread), about 20 inches long, sliced about 1/2-inch thick (if the bread has a large diameter, cut the slices in half, just a bit bigger than the meatballs) In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients, except bread. With your hands, mix and knead thoroughly until the meat is a fine paste. Make balls the size of smallish walnuts. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet and place one meatball on each. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes in a preheated 450-degree oven until done to taste (Richman says "until just cooked through." I like them still rare.). Serve hot. source: www.thefoodmaven.com

No special recipes from me, Annie, but I do have a couple that are friends of mine and they have a ton of eggs every week. They are in a position where they have to go to a food pantry each week so they take about 10 dozen eggs to them. The pantry is thrilled to have them, the people who frequent the pantry are thrilled to get them and my friends feel better about taking food from the pantry because they are also contributing to it. By the way, my DH has hung in through Christmas (which the doctors couldn't guarantee), our anniversary on the 29th of December and my birthday - today. Now we're trying for Valentine's Day. Don't think it's going to happen, but we always have set goals. He's down to 136 lbs. from 200 lbs. He can hardly eat or drink anything and is so weak that everything, even just trying to talk completely drains him. I keep making soups and dishes to try to handle the eating problem, do most of the work and spend as much time as possible just sitting in my recliner next to his. That's pretty much his favorite thing. We have been preparing for this for a long, long time, have accepted it and doing very well with it. My niece is looking for a place to us together up in Noblesville where she and her two kids live. The one she just found has a really good set up including a barn with several sturdy stalls, a tack room in another building and a four bedroom house which would fit her and the kids. The good thing about it for me is it has several fenced pastures (with lots of horse manure to till in) and a large chicken coop and run. The only bad things about it is I'd have to sell my present 21 acres here in Brown County that my husband and I built a beautiful custom home and a two story storage building (not shed) on and go in on the above mentioned place which they are asking the same price that I would accept as a very low price on my place. Also, I'd live in my motorhome on the new place because we have two dogs that would not get along together, I can't see doing a climb to the second story of the new place and I'd really have my own kitchen and living areas. Ah, decisions, decisions. Pluses include all the gardening space I could want and sell produce plus eggs at the local farmers market, a very, very active place that draws people from all around, plus all the chickens, a miniature goat and maybe start breeding miniature cows. The kids are great helpers and want the same things I do. I think I might have to give in. Madonna