Read again the difference between the Marcella Hazan recipe and the one I posted....MH has 2 T each of celery carrot and onion. the one I posted has 2 stalks of celery a large carrot and 2 stalks of celery....I am guessing a total of about 1 1/2 cups of chopped veggies....while the MH has only 3/4 of a cup MH's recipe contains both oil and butter....mine contains only the fat in one oz of pancetta. The recipe I posted calls for 1 cup of milk, MH's only for 1/2 cup, but admittedly it only has 3/4 pound of meat......but the recipe I posted says to brown the meat. I am not quarreling with the concept of a Bolognese sauce....but only with THAT recipe. But my own version of Sunday gravy without the rouladen is simmering away and I better shape the bread and enmpty the dishwasher. Linda c

Did I mention the prize? $150 for the team with the most participants and $50 to the winning baker. party_music50......that's a beautiful platter of sweets! WOW! That's a winner! Jasdip....they look delicious! The chocolate chip cookies lose every year. The judges are looking for "unusual". A bar cut to look like a cookie is sort of cheating....but it's got an edginess to it maybe....I'm giving it a try. rhizo......I'm comfortably retired from the computer industry. This is my "something to do job" & medical insurance. I work in a call center. It's monotonous, so they do "something" almost every week to "entertain" us. We have young people working there, but the majority are people who were layed off and ended up, not by choice, getting a job there, out of their comfort zone. Lots of people with college degrees. The company will even pay for your college degree while working there. Kayjones....Megan is a chef(culinary degree), owns her own catering business on the side. She suggested making those. Here's what I have so far. I made carrot delights(in 1956 they won a cooking contest, my sisters favorite) and pecan bars made in a jelly roll pan, then cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter when cooled. Murraysmoms recipe) This post was edited by nicole__ on Sun, Feb 16, 14 at 17:46

Here's a couple thumbprint cookies that are tried & true. Imake them every year. Chocolate Caramel Treasures Cookie type: formed These are another variation of thumbprint cookie. This recipe came from Gourmet Magazine, December 1999. Ingredients For the cookies: 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1 egg yolk 1 teas vanilla 1 cup flour 2 tbsp whole milk 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 teas salt 1 egg white, lightly beaten 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts For the filling: 10 (1 x 1/2 inch) plain caramels, 2 tbsp heavy cream For the drizzle: 3 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped Directions For the cookies: Beat together butter, yolk, milk, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Sift in flour, cocoa, and salt and mix until mixture forms a dough. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, then coat with egg white, and roll in nuts. Place balls 1 1/2 inches apart on a greased baking sheets. Press your thumb into center of the balls to flatten, leaving a depression. Bake until puffed slightly but centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press centers of cookies again with a spoon. Let cool. Make the filling while cookies are cooling. Heat caramels and cream in a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and mixture is smooth. Spoon into centers of cookies and cool completely. Make chocolate drizzle one hour before serving. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Cool to warm and pour into a heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Seal bag and snip 1 corner to form a small hole. Drizzle chocolate over cookies and let stand until set, about 30 minutes. *I never bother with the drizzle. I also usually use walnuts and not hazelnuts. ***************** Austrian Jam Cookies Cookie type: formed My mom originally got the recipe out of a magazine years ago. I don’t know what magazine. These cookies nowadays go by the name thumb print cookies. I like to call them Austrian Jam cookies because they sound more sophisticated that way. I usually double the batch. A single batch will make about 15-18 cookies. A double batch, you will get closer to 3 dozen. Ingredients 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened (not melted) 1/2 cup sugar 1 teas vanilla* 1 egg, separated 1 1/4 cup sifted flour 2/3 cup chopped almonds** your favorite flavor of jam Directions Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk in a medium bowl until fluffy. Stir in flour. Gather dough into a ball, cover and chill for several hours. Roll level teaspoonful of dough into balls. Dip the ball into a slightly beaten egg white. Roll the ball into the almonds. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Space cookies 1 inch apart. These cookies will not spread very much. Press an indentation with your thumb in the middle of the cookie, careful not to go all the way through to the pan. Fill with jam. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. *Almond extract can be used in place of real vanilla. ** Generally, I think the almonds are a little too hard for the rest of the cookie. I usually use walnuts or pecans. I like using Polaners preserves for the jam centers. I have also used Smuckers as well as homemade jam.

When you load the cookie press, use a rubber spatula and pack in the dough evenly and firmly. Don't leave any air pockets.