i can't begin to imagine how many times i've made chase's recipe (the first one). it is fabulous in desserts such as mixing it with lemon or raspberry curd or in thickening, flavoring and smoothing gravy/sauces. i can't begin to think about the fat content even though i use reduced fat sour cream and cream, but it's fabulous stuff to have around--really! Creme fraiche -- chase 1 cup heavy or whipping cream 1 cup sour cream.  Whisk together pour into a jar and let stand in a warm place for 12 hours. Stir well and refrigerate for 36 hours before using. Will keep for 10 days.  Other one  2 cups heavy cream 2 teaspoons buttermilk  Put in a jar, shake and let stand in a warm place for 12 hours. Stir well and then refrigerate for 24 hours. Will keep for 10 days Â

Here's a bunch - I think they're all good! Amaretti Ice Cream Balls Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray, 2007 24 amaretti cookies 1/4 cup amaretto liqueur 2 pints vanilla ice cream Chocolate sauce Whipped cream Crush cookies by hand or in plastic bag. Place onto a sheet pan. Dampen the cookie crumbs with the liqueur. Scoop ice cream balls onto the sheet pan and roll around until covered. Place the balls into a serving dish and top with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. DAIQUIRI PIE This is a wonderful holiday dessert -- and soooo easy! Daiquiri Pie 1 package lemon pudding (not instant) 1 package instant lime jello (or strawberry, or whatever flavor you want - Use strawberry for Strawberry Daiquiri Pie, banana for Banana Daiquiri Pie, etc.) 1/3 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2-1/2 cups water 1/2 cup rum (more doesn't hurt it - I used dark rum and stuck to 1/2 cup) 2 cups Cool Whip (thawed) Graham cracker pie crust Mix the pudding, jello, sugar, add 1/2 cup water and two eggs. Beat well. Then add in the rest of the water and mix. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a full boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add the rum. Let it cool for two hours -- it will thicken. Then add the Cool Whip and mix well again. Pour into the pie crust. Chill until set. Source: Bacardi Recipe book The alcohol in the rum evaporates since it is added to the hot liquid. I decorate the strawberry one with sliced strawberries and the banana one with sliced bananas. They look real pretty. Barbara 52's Frozen Lemon Cream Sandwiches one 7-oz container chilled creme fraiche 1/4 cup lemon curd finely grated zest of one lemon 12 crisp butter waffle cookies 1/4 cup chopped unsalted pistachios Line a small baking sheet with wax paper. In a chilled bowl, beat the creme fraiche with the lemon curd and zest until firm peaks form. Arrange half of the cookies on the baking sheet and spoon the lemon cream onto the centers, letting it ooze gently to the edges. Top w/the remaining cookies, pressing down very gently. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze the sandwiches until firm, at least 4 hrs. Spread the nuts on a plate and roll the edges of the sandwiches in them. 6 servings (Can be frozen in an airtight container up to one week.) NOTES: Jules Destrooper Crisp Butter Wafers (from Belgium) are available from specialty shops in the US. They are, as their name implies, wonderfully crisp and buttery ... accept no substitute! Use any good brand of lemon curd. I used Nelson's, from England. GRASSHOPPER PIE 6 tablespoons melted butter 24 Oreo cookies (take out the middles) 1/4 cup Cre De Menthe 1 cup heavy cream 1 small jar marshmallow fluff Crush cookies and add melted butter. Press into 9 inch pie pan. In a bowl, whip the heavy cream. In another bowl, mix the marshmallow fluff and Crème De Menthe and add to the heavy cream. Spoon into pie shell and freeze until ready to eat. Decorate with Oreo cookie crumbs. JOYCE'S RICE PUDDING 1 quart milk 1 quart half and half dash of salt When mixture comes to a boil stir in one cup regular long grain white rice. Stir for about 40 minutes at medium high until mixture starts to thicken. Combine 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Add to mixture and stir another 8 minutes. Pour into 9 x 13 pan and chill. Best if made a couple days ahead of time. Enjoy. STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE TRIFLE 2 pints fresh strawberries, sliced 1 cup sugar, divided 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened 3 tablespoons orange juice 3 cups heavy cream, whipped 1 loaf (10-3/4 ounces) pound cake, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 3 squares (1 ounce each) semisweet chocolate, grated Garnish - chocolate curls and additional strawberries In a bowl, toss strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar and set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, orange juice and remaining sugar until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream, set aside. Drain strawberries, reserving juice, set berries aside. Gently toss cake cubes with reserved juice. Place 1/2 of cake in a 4 quart trifle dish. Top with 1/3 cream cheese mixture, 1/2 of strawberries and half of grated chocolate. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture. Garnish with chocolate curls and strawberries. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours (at least). 14 servings Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding Recipe courtesy Paula Deen 2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies 6 to 8 bananas, sliced 2 cups milk 1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top. In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I just had some of the tart with some friends at work - they loved it, but I think it needs some revision. First of all, the lemon curd was too sweet, but I think this is because I used Meyer lemons, and I will adjust for that in the future. The other problem was that the edge crust was a bit hard - still tasty and good to eat, but a bit difficult to cut. I think the problem here is that I started the crust at 425 degrees for 11 minutes with the aluminum foil and pie weights and then returned it to the oven for 17 minutes with the oven turned down to 350 degrees. The recipe that called for a 425 oven expected me to put the curd in the crust for the second baking, but I decided not to do that because I knew it was not going to fit, and I had already adjusted the curd recipe so that it would not require baking after being cooked on the stovetop. Also, I took the shortcut of not chilling the dough as long as the recipe called for, but I don't think this would have caused the crust to come out hard. Anyway, no one complained about the crust being hard, and so maybe I just need to serve it with a knife in addition to a fork - the forks were plastic, which didn't help. I pretty much followed Anne Burrell's recipe, except that I used four eggs plus one egg white in the curd plus one tablespoon of cornstarch to help it set without baking. I did refer to Ina's recipe as well, especially the part about pricking the inside of the shell after removing the pie weights. Actually, I forgot to do that before the second baking, but I pricked it after baking to deflate it. One tip of my own that I added was to add the lemon zest to the curd just before cooking it, and I stirred it in with a spoon instead of a whisk. Let me know what suggestions you have regarding the crust. Thanks! Lars

Before I get home late Sunday, it occurred to me that my super easy lemon curd recipe is out there on the internet as I’ve shared it (as have others) many times over on the Cooking Forum. So, here it is: Lemon Butter (Colleen) 4oz butter (NOT margarine) 3/4 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons' worth) all the rind from the lemons, grated 1 cup sugar (I use superfine) 4-5 eggs, thoroughly beaten Put butter, sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind into a micro-safe bowl. Cook on high about 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. Butter should be melted and sugar dissolved. Beat in eggs and microwave in 30-second bursts until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Whisk after each burst. Store in refrigerator to prolong the shelf life, which is shortish. Makes about 3 cups, maybe less. Sneaky notes from Colleen: If you are making a LOT of this, for gifts, etc, I peel the rind off with a peeler and drop it into the blender. Then cut off the white pith with a paring knife. Making sure there are no seeds, drop lemon flesh into blender. Whizz it up until the rind is pulverised. You should end up with about 1 cup of juice/rind mix per batch, to account for the rind and aeration. You can double or triple the recipe, just use a bigger bowl and adjust the times. I also use the blender to whizz the eggs. If they are not totally beaten, you can get little white strings from the egg white which don't look great. If you overcook it and it separates, beat up an extra egg. Gradually mix separated (sounds much better than curdled, doesn't it?) mixture into egg. Repeat if necessary.