I see we're not alone! Seems to be a lot of this going around. I have had my share of gastroenteritis in years past (lovely dorm food) but I have never seen anyone as sick as she was. 3 days now without food. She's feeling better today and is drinking enough finally. I offered her every bland food I could think of and she still wanted nothing. Mandyk, enjoy your Valentine's Day! We have opted to have ours next Thurday. I will give everyone their choice of recipes!

The Cappucino Mousse is divine, and very simple to make. Here are a couple more ideas. Raspberry-Lemon Shortbread Tart From Every Day with Rachael Ray February-March 2006 8 Servings Prep Time: 30 min; Cook Time: 50 min 3 cups frozen raspberries (1 pound) 1 stick plus 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3 large eggs Zest and juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup juice) Confectioners' sugar, for dusting No need to get out your rolling pin or even grease the pan for this dessert. Just use your fingers to mix the shortbread dough, then dump it straight into a cake pan, press down and bake. 1. Drain the raspberries in a strainer set over a bowl. Preheat the oven to 400°. Using your fingers, combine the butter, 1/2 cup of the sugar and 1 1/2 cups of the flour and blend together until coarse crumbs form. Pour the mixture into an ungreased nonstick 9-inch springform or cake pan and press down evenly to form a crust. Bake the shortbread crust until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. 2. Remove the shortbread from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325°. Scatter the drained raspberries evenly over the baked shortbread. 3. Beat the eggs with the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar until thick and pale yellow. Whisk in the lemon zest, the lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Pour the lemon cream over the raspberries and bake the tart until the custard is set, about 30 minutes. Let cool, then dust with confectioners' sugar. You can replace the raspberries with your favorite fruitor even pieces of chocolate. Go all the way and swap a teaspoon of vanilla extract for the lemon juice and zest in the quick custard. My notes: Based on the mistakes I made the first try...Make sure the berries are thawed and drained well. Don't make the custard while the crust is baking! While the crust is COOLING I made the custard, and then put the berries on the crust just before pouring the custard on top. Baking time was a bit longer than the 30 minutes stated, too. Also...I made the shortbread in the food processor rather than using my fingers. Worked perfectly. [](http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=314730419) Blackberry Buttermilk Panna Cottas with Blackberry Compote For panna cottas 3/4 lb blackberries (about 3 cups) 1 1/4 cups well\-shaken buttermilk 2 3/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from two 1/4\-oz envelopes) 1/4 cup water 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 2/3 cup sugar 2 tablespoons blackberry syrup, store\-bought or homemade (see cooks' note, below) For compote 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup crème de cassis 2 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 lb blackberries (about 2 cups) Special equipment: 6 (6\-oz) molds (preferably nonreactive) Make panna cottas: Purée blackberries with buttermilk in a blender until very smooth, then pour through a fine\-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl and let stand 1 minute to soften. While gelatin softens, heat cream and sugar in a saucepan over moderate heat until hot, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved. Stir cream mixture and syrup into blackberry purée, then pour through cleaned sieve into a bowl. Pour mixture into molds and chill, covered, until firm, at least 8 hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chocolate Turtle Torte with Caramel Sauce Source: St Paul Hotel Crust: 3\-2/3 c pecans 1\-1/4 c sugar 7T unsalted butter In food processor blend pecans and sugar, add melted butter in steady stream until combined well. Turn out mixture into a 12" tart pan with removable bottom. Press to 1/8" thickness on bottom and 3/8" on sides. Bake at 350F for approximately 20\-25 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool. Filling: 1lb semi sweet chocolate 2 c heavy whipping cream Bring cream to a boil and pour over coarsely chopped chocolate. Mix until chocolate is melted and mixture is combined well. Pour into cooled crust and refrigerate for 3 hours or up to overnite. Caramel Sauce: 4oz unsalted butter 1 c sugar 1 c heavy whipping cream ¾ c crushed pecans (for garnish) In heavy saucepan melt butter, add sugar and cook until dark brown (not burnt). Add cream and remove from heat. Mix thoroughly until mixture turns a rich golden color. Drizzle over slices of torte and serve. Linda

You and hubby are such good dancers!......and ravencajun, that's too cute. Wish DH knew how to use the computer, I would have sent him on from Georgy. Happy Valentine's Day. Dottie

There's about a week left before seeds need to get in the mail. If you want to participate in some Valentine's seed swapping fun, make sure you sign up, before it's too late. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roundrobin/msg1211242811260.html?82