Nancy, This is the mac and beef recipe I've worked on for a few years, and when I finally got it to our taste I wrote it down - so I'll share it with you. It's a slurpy, mild version of American Chop Suey/Johnny Marzetti...I can't eat much spice since I've gone through chemo, but this has lots of flavor and agrees with just about everybody. 1.5 lbs. ground round 1 large Vidalia onion, chopped 1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped 1/2 small sweet red bell pepper, finely chopped 1/3 cup finely sliced celery 1/4 cup finely chopped carrots (shredded, then chopped) 1 clove fresh garlic, chopped 2 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes in juice (I use Hunt's, because that's what the neighborhood store sells) 2 tsps. sugar a tiny, very tiny bit of cinnamon l lb. cooked casserole macaroni (elbows on steriods :0) In a heavy deep pot, saute veggies & garlic in a bit of olive oil, when they start to soften, add beef and brown well. Then add tomatoes, sugar and cinnamon - salt & pepper to taste. Simmer uncovered until flavors are blended (about an hour). Serve over macaroni. seagrass

I make a lot of beef stock/brown sauce/demi glace but when I don't have any in the freezer I use Campbell's low sodium beef broth in the box and find it to be acceptable. Here is my recipe for each stage, can be seriously time consuming but only in elapsed time not in effort. You can just stop at the beef stock but I prefer to at least go as far as the brown sauce....great way to spend a cold , rainy weekend. Beef Stock/Brown Sauce/Demi Glace For the Beef Stock: 5 Or 6 Pounds Of Beef Bones, Veal Bones , maybe more ( I watch for shanks and short ribs to go on sale or be marked down and keep in the freezer until I have enough, steak and roast bones are perfect as well) 2 Celery Stalks, Chopped 1 Onion, Chopped 2 Carrots, Chopped For Brown Sauce : 3 carrots, chopped 4 celery ribs, chopped 1 Large Onion Or 2 Small, chopped 1cup Butter 1 Cup Flour 3 TBSP tomato paste 12 Cups hot beef stock herbs such as Thyme, Bay Leaf, Parsley For Demi Glace: 2 Tbl Maderia additional beef stock , equal To The Brown Sauce For the Beef Stock Drizzel the bones and veggie with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the veggies and beef bones in the oven at 400 degres for 30 minutes, turn and cook 30 minutes more or until lovely and carmelized. Place in a large stock pot and cover with 18 cups of cold water. Simmer for 4-6 hours. Strain, place in fridge. In the morning skim off fat. For the Brown Sauce (Sauce Espagnole) Saute mirepoix ( chopped onons, carots and celery) in butter until the onions are light golden brown. Add tomato paste and continue cooking gently. Make a brown roux over low heat in a heavy pan with 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of flour. When the roux is a hazelnut color, add two thirds of HOT beef broth. (Reserve one third for demi glace), and whisk together. Add the vegetables, as well as a bay leaf, a little thyme and some parsley stems. Simmer the mixture for 2 to 3 hours, skimming off the scum that rises to the surface. Strain it through a fine strainer, and press the mirepoix gently to extract their juices. Chill over night.Skim off fat. Then, for the demi-glace: Add an equal amount of beef or veal stock, bring it to a boil, and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, again skimming the surface as necessary. Off the heat, add 2 tablespoons Madeira. Freeze in ice cube trays.

"Anything with cream cheese Is my favorite." Hard to argue with that philosophy :-)) Cream cheese seems to be the ideal base for many kinds of dip. I remember a high school pal of mine and I making a simple but very tasty dip out of cream cheese and A1 steak sauce! That and a bag of chips got us through a lot of homework sessions. And look away guacamole purists as I used to add cream cheese to mine when making for a crowd at summer BBQ's. Kept the guac from discoloring and added to the richness but never overwhelmed the avocados. As I now make it almost exclusively for myself, no need to add the cr. cheese to stretch the dip and it gets eaten too fast for discoloring. But it absolutely has to have plenty of fresh lime juice, salt, garlic and some sort of spicy kick - cayenne, dried pepper flakes, a splash of hot sauce or minced jalapenos. In a pinch, some hot salsa will do. To be perfectly honest, I do not understand needing a recipe for a dip. Unless a very specific type of dip or spread, like pate. You just mix together what you think will taste good in suitable proportions. But then, I don't use many recipes for cooking anyway, except for baking. btw Lars, there are lots of recipes for crab dip that don't include cheese other than cream cheese. Seems like only the hot or baked versions include something like cheddar and I prefer my crab fresh and with minimal fussing so they would never top my list.

Thank you for that tip to use an instant read thermometer for baking. That never occurred to me. I mean, duh! Question for the experienced bakers - do you think a pecan pie would be the same temp as pumpkin pie? I stopped making pecan pie at Thanksgiving because for some reason it just never seems to set anymore. No idea why. I used to make it every year, used same recipe every year, and then one year it was liquidy in the middle. The next times I would cook it longer and longer but it would never set. I'm thinking maybe I'd try again this year and use my instant read thermometer.