Alright--just had to thank you all for making me make these. My mail recipients were quite enthusiastic. (Baked Sunday, received and eaten Wednesday.) I used white whole wheat flour so I could pretend they were healthy. Just a question on crystalized ginger--I forgot which type to get and got UNcrystalized. Seemed fine, but would it have been easier to chop if it were crystalized? I couldn't cut it in my mini processor.

Yes Annie! Don't bargin shop for cat food. Cats have tender tummies and do best with one flavor of food. One local grocer probably thinks I'm nuts because the only thing I buy in his store is catfood... and I clean off his shelf of my cat's favorite when I'm there. Sometimes when people ask how many cats I have I tell them just one but he is big and very hungry. I buy all my cat litter at Walmart because I can get 100 lbs for $10... yup big kitty (most regulars know I have several small adorable kitties with names like Annie and Jessy). I so seldom use coupons. I've made the cashier shake her head when I turn to the customer behind me and give away the register coupons. I think of myself as a value shopper. If a product has quality and I'll enjoy eating it then I buy. Even being single I'll buy a 10lb roast and cut it into usable portions. I like beans and rice so my grocery budget is not big enough to worry about. Meat and fresh fruit seem to be the big hitters on my bill... and of course beer is almost a budget of it's own. We have a super bargin meat market 20 minutes down the road but I hate using that much time and gas. When I do go I fill the freezer... beef tenderloin is currently $7/lb, lake perch $9/lb, any kind of beef steak between $3-4/lb, ground chuck normally $2/lb. They probably only make pennies a pound but they sell meat by the ton everyday. I've been working with a very nice lady that enjoys coupons so I give her my Sunday paper. Last week she saved $11 with them. She enjoys it so I was careful not to rain on her parade but when I asked what she bought she said "junk food and a couple things I normally buy". I'm a terrible shopper and usually just buy the same things over and over. I noticed I now have three bottles of my favorite vinegar in the pantry. At least I've done a fair job eating down the pantry and freezer so I can see what I have in there. Just picked another quart of tomatoes out of my garden. People were telling me a month ago to pull up the vines but they keep flowering and putting out new tomatoes so I'll hold back until the frost kills them. Hard to beat "free" food. : ) lyra

Oooh! Ecks, that looks lovely! How is the new kitchen working? Maybe we should start a thread in Conversations for weekly menus?

Mimi, your pork looks perfect. Neely, I love the look of your tuna salad. So refreshing. Annie, I'm so sorry about your yorkshires. Mine have never flubbed like that. As mentioned, maybe the batter was too cold. We had spaghetti and meatballs yesterday for New Years, and my goal was to have the more "fancy" dinner today. I'm not a clam virgin any longer. I never cook seafood, and today was my first foray cooking clams. I just try not to think of them being alive :-( This is a Portuguese dish, and one that I wanted to christen our new Lodge cast iron skillet, one of or presents to ourselves. Chicken, sausage, potatoes, roasted red peppers, garlic, onions, clams and kale. I used baby kale, and added some white wine for additional flavour. Sopped up with homemade rolls and it's truly a keeper.