Ki, where is your imagination? I saute or grill shrimp in massive amounts of garlic all the time. I also often just cook up a pound of shrimp in Old Bay, make my own cocktail sauce and snack on them. The only reason these big, bad boys are "special" is that they were almost the same price I usually pay for "large?" shrimp. I eat a lot of shrimp. Although I normally loath fried fish, I have a really good recipe for beer batter fried shrimp if anyone is interested. I only make it maybe once a year, but it's super yummy. Some where around here, I have a really good recipe for stuffed shrimp. I should try to find it. Did I say I eat a lot of shrimp? I've also been getting large lobster tails for $4 each, every couple of weeks, at the grocery store this summer. Been eating a lot of them too. Lobsters go really well with asparagus. (Kevin, drooling is unbecoming:) Okay, back to the quiche, I think I'll try that. Freezing small amounts is a great idea. However, although I can cook, I don't bake and don't own muffin pans. I don't even own a cookie sheet. Can I buy little pie crusts or something, maybe tart shells, or would they be too sweet? I have phyllo dough, is there some way I can use that? That's a good idea Kevin, about pre- sauteing mushrooms and freezing them but I eat mushrooms the way most people eat chips. I even put them in scrambled eggs. If they go bad, it's because they got "lost" in the back of the fridge. Yum, Vietnamese spring rolls. What is that sauce they give you with everything in Vietnamese restaurants? Now that would be super yummy too. It's the consistency of broth and maybe the color of beef broth. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I don't think the dip included with Mark's link is the same sauce I'm thinking of. I think the sauce I'm thinking of has fish stock as a base, maybe. Mimi, Arthur can't say anything about buying food in "pounds". They sell everything by the kilo over there (2.2 pounds). The heads of lettuce in the grocery stores there were the size of basket balls. The fish market I would go to didn't sell prawns in small, smaller, tiny, super tiny, and too damn small to clean. They just sold the big, bad, super jumbo sized prawns. Okay, they still had their heads, and that may have skewed my perception of their size. Nah, I didn't eat the heads. Okay, tonight for dinner, I sauteed green onions, garlic, mushrooms, scallops and crab meat. Then I made a Marsala sauce and at the last minute added some fresh spinach leaves and gorgonzola. I served this over wild rice (pasta wasn't doin' it for me tonight, oddly) and had asparagus too. It was pretty yummy but needs some work. This weekend, I'll try the recipes you have suggested when I have more time.

Here's a couple that I keep on hand - I make my own yogurt cheese and we go through a lot of dip in the summer. Italian Dip Mix 3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning 1/8 teaspoon dried parsley flakes 1 teaspoon salt (optional - I don't add any) 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/8 teaspoon onion powder 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 1 pinch ground oregano 1/2 teaspoon dehydrated carrots (if I have them) 1/2 teaspoon dehydrated sweet peppers (I usually put finely chopped fresh ones in) Mexican Dip Mix 1/2 cup dried parsley 1/3 cup dried minced onion 1/4 cup dried chives 1/3 cup chili powder (mild and/or hot) 1/4 cup ground cumin Salt to taste (anywhere from 2 tablespoons up to 1/4 cup) You can add smoked paprika, chipotle powder, cheddar cheese powder, etc. It's fun to experiment. For a quick dip, I take a cup of yogurt cheese (or you can use sour cream and mayonnaise) and mix in one cup of homemade salsa. DH can polish off the whole bowl even without the chips :-)

I've been looking for a similar recipe for years and tracked down the former owner of Ravena's restaurant in Durham, NC, who made it but he couldn't remember the recipe. He thought it had "canned, marinated artichoke hearts, garlic, sour cream, spinach, salt and pepper" (it was pureed). One of these days I need to experiment I guess because I don't think I'm going to find this recipe. It was served with carrot and celery strips, broccoli, and I think a few pita wedges. It was an appetizer but I would order it as an entree because I wanted it all for myself!! Ann

That was my initial misunderstanding, when Mt. said "vegetarian" then I thought "lacto-ovo vegetarian." But I see that in some cultures, the language might not be so finely tuned as we tend to be in individualistic America! I can certainly see not eating dairy products for a whole host of reasons, but among my dozen or so life-long meatless friends, the ones who don't eat cheese don't drink milk either and call themselves vegan. The rest eat cheese, although many of us are having to watch our intake as we age due to the saturated fat and lactose in some products. But that is the last thing I would want to discuss at a social gathering! We are just called "old farts" for that and many other reasons. If you want a store-bought vegan-product stuffed mushroom, I would mix spinach artichoke or red pepper hummus with something that had a little bite to it like nuts, water chestnuts, celery or the aforementioned canned fried onion rings unless they are fried in animal fat. You could also top them with some fake bacon bits unless you are horrified by the words fake and bacon and bits. Perhaps in some markets you can get a product called "small crunchy red-colored baked tvp pieces with smoke flavoring added." Yesterday I saw a meatless, flat narrow piece of something or other called "Benevolent Bacon." Or maybe it was "Benign Bacon." Bottom line: IT'S ALL GOOD, LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE!