blizlady, that would be Sherry (sheshebop), she makes the spinach "brownies" and I love 'em. How many people do you have to serve appetizers to, Dawn? Little pate choux puffs, tiny cream puffs, can be filled with various fillings including chicken salad, egg, tuna or seafood salad, a thick southwestern chicken kind of filling, whatever you like. I make rye puffs and fill with reuben fillings and they can be done ahead of time easily. Reuben Puffs 1 cup water 1/2 cup butter, cubed 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup rye flour 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 eggs Caraway seeds CORNED BEEF FILLING: 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened 2 packages (2 ounces each) thinly sliced deli corned beef, chopped 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons minced chives 2 tablespoons diced onion 1 teaspoon spicy brown or horseradish mustard 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flours, parsley, garlic powder and salt all at once; stir until a smooth balls forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat until smooth. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets or make puffs with a pastry bag. Sprinkle with caraway. Bake at 400° for 18-20 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire racks. Immediately cut a slit in each puff to allow steam to escape; cool. In a large bowl, combine the first eight filling ingredients. Split puffs; add filling. Refrigerate. Yield: 4-1/2 dozen. I make these cheese thumbprints filled with hot pepper jelly, they are pretty popular. I make my own habanero jelly to fill them with, but anything you like could be used, including salsa. I got the recipe from Carol (Readinglady) and she's never given me a bad recipe! Savory Cheddar And Jalapeno Jelly Cookies 8 oz (about 2 1/2 cups) finely grated (use smallest holes on grater box) extra-sharp cheddar cheese 6 tbs (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup all purpose flour 1/3 cup jalapeno jelly, apple butter, or chopped chutney Place cheese ad butter in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add flour and process until mixture forms a soft dough. Gather up dough and divide into two flat disks. Wrap in wax paper and freeze until chilled, about 45 minutes. Position two racks in center and top third of oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone pads. Place the jelly in a small plastic bag and force it into one corner. Snip off the corner of the bag to make a small hole. Set bag aside. Using 1 tsp of dough for each, roll the dough into small balls. Place the balls 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Using the end of a wooden spoon or a 1/2-inch wide dowel, poke an indentation in each cookie. Pipe the jelly from bag into the indentation. Return to the oven and bake, switching the position of the sheets from top to bottom, halfway through baking, until the tops are lightly browned, about 10 minutes (the cookies will continue to crisp as they cool). Transfer to a wire cake racks and cool completely. Can be prepared 2 days in advance in stored in air tight containers at room temperature. OK, first I use a spoon, not a bag, for the jelly, I made a big mess with that ziplock bag thing. Second I bake them one pan at a time, I don't do the remove/switch thing, it's easier for me to do one pan at a time. Third, this dough is very similar to another one posted here by Weed, so you could wrap it around an olive or pecan, etc., and make a whole difrferent kind of appetizer. I doubt I'd take the time to wrap the dough, I'd probably plunk an olive in the middle of the "cookie" and call it good, LOL. If you don't do something like the puffed sandwiches, Ann T's Gougiere would be lovely, I think. An antipasta plate could be nice and could be entirely assembled ahead of time and I've had Caprese-on-a-stick, which was basically a cherry tomato, a chunk of marinated mozzarella, an olive and a leaf of basil, all skewered for serving. Meatballs would stay hot in a crockpot or small Nesco roaster without any last minute prep at all, as would chicken wings, although those could be messy unless they are boneless. Do you need something sweet, or just savory stuff? Annie

Melt in Your Mouth Chicken Pie 1 fryer, cooked, meat taken off bones, cut in bite-sized pieces 2 hard-boiled eggs 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 1/4 cups chicken broth 1 cup self-rising flour 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup butter, melted fresh ground black pepper Heat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9x113 casserole. Put chicken in the bottom of the casserole. Top with sliced eggs. Bring broth and soup to a boil in a saucepan. Pour over chicken and eggs. In a bowl combine the flour, buttermilk, butter, and pepper. Mix well. Pour over chicken/sauce. Bake 45 minutes at 375F. Serve with a green vegetable or salad and don't forget the cranberry sauce. Freezer Stash Meatballs 3 lb.s lean ground beef 1 1/2 c. soft bread crumbs 3 eggs 6 TB minced onion 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 t. salt 1/2 t. pepper Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl mix all ingredients together. Shape into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Arrange in 2 large shallow baking pans. Bake in preheated oven until meat is browned with no trace of pink and juices run clear, 10-13 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Let cool to room temperature, Store one day in frig or longer in freezer. Makes 48 meatballs to serve 8. Sweet and Sour Meatballs Heat 12 oz. grape jelly and 1 bottle chili sauce in a saucepan until jelly is melted. Add in meatballs, let them heat 15-20 minutes in sauce on low. Serve over cooked rice. You may add some dried onion soup mix to the sauce at the beginning, but I don't like a whole package as it is too strong. Meatball Hoagies Simmer cooked meatballs in Preggo spaghetti sauce (or your favorite brand of sauce). Put on toasted hoagie rolls, top with grated mozzarella cheese. Serve with fresh veggie sticks and a dip for a quick dinner. Green Chile Enchiladas 1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef 3/4 c. finely chopped onion 1 TB chili powder s&p 8 to 12 flour tortillas 3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 1/2 c. sour cream 1 small can chopped green chiles Brown ground beef with onion. Drain fat off. Stir in chili powder, s&p. Spoon meat mixture and some grated cheese on each tortilla. Roll up, put in a greased baking dish. Combine soup, sour cream, and green chiles, spoon over enchiladas. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, top with more cheese, bake 10 minutes more. Can be made ahead and frozen. Thaw completely before final baking.

linnea, I'm assuming the squash is a mashed casserole type dish? If so it can be made ahead and reheats well. Sweet potatoes can usually be made ahead too, depending on the application. I'm cooking all the sweet potatoes the day before, then making a gluten free sweet potato torte, that sticky-sweet-marshmallow-topped casserole and probably chipotle mashed sweet potatoes for Elery and I, all the day before. Broccoli can be cooked ahead for most applications and will also rewarm well, the sauce can be added at the last minute if the broccoli is already cooked or if it's something like broccoli cheese it can all be done a day in advance. I also bake the pies and other desserts the day before, they all keep well, and I make butterflake rolls the day before and keep the unbaked rolls in the fridge, bake them the day of. I've never had anyone complain about a homemade dinner roll baked the day before, though. (grin) All the salad ingredients could be washed/cut/prepared ahead and then tossed with the viniagrette the next day, and someone here has made the mashed potatoes the day ahead too and I think they were warmed in the crockpot, but I might be confusing two techniques. Anyway, I know even the potatoes can be made the day before. Good luck and happy Thanksgiving! Annie

I am trying a new (to me) recipe. It uses russet Baked potatoes, cream, and butter. So far they are easy and taste wonderful. We will see how it works tomorrow...I may be killed, I know my mother is rolling over in her grave.... 3-1/2 pounds Russet potatoes 2 cups heavy cream 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 1-1/2 teaspoons salt Chives, for serving Instruction Preheat the oven to 450°F and adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack (alternatively, you can place them on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet). Bake until very soft, 50 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. (Err on the side of overcooking rather than undercooking them.) Remove the potatoes from the oven. While they are still hot, cut each potato in half lengthwise. Using an oven mitt or a folded kitchen towel to hold the hot potatoes, scoop out all of the flesh from each potato half into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (see note on using a hand-held electric mixer). Break the cooked potato flesh down into small pieces using a fork, potato masher, or rubber spatula. Beat on low speed until completely smooth and no lumps remain, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream and 6 tablespoons of the butter to a simmer. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and, using a large rubber spatula, gradually fold in the hot cream and butter mixture. It will take a few minutes to mix it all in; keep folding until the potatoes are smooth and creamy. Stir in the salt, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Transfer the mashed potatoes to a large microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap (the bowl should be large enough that the potatoes don’t touch the plastic wrap). Refrigerate for up to 2 days. (DO NOT FREEZE) To reheat, use the tip of a knife to poke about 10 holes in the plastic wrap knife, and microwave at medium-high (75 percent) power until the potatoes are hot, about 14 minutes, stirring halfway through the reheating time. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving dish, top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and sprinkle with the chives. Serve hot. Note: You can use a hand-held mixer instead of a stand mixer but the mashed potatoes won’t be quite as smooth. If you don't have either, you can pass the potatoes through a food mill or potato ricer and then whip by hand with a wooden spoon.