I occasionally lurk, but this reminded me of an experience I had over 30 years ago. We had a pot luck for Thanksgiving at work, & one of the 'girls' brought...I can't even remember what it was. She worked in my unit, & she was temperamentai & unpredictable, so I was very aware of her sitting right beside me at the luncheon. Whatever it was was wonderful, & I praised it to her, adding 'I'd love to have the recipe'. (not that I ever, at that time of my life, cooked anything that required more than a microwave; I was just being complimentary) She looked down her nose at me & said, 'Why should I give it to you?' Some people do just have a bug up their butt, & the best way to handle them is to treat them like asbestos: stay away from them if you can, but if you can't stay away from them, at least don't stir them up. 'sour cream, cream cheese, cream, cheeses of some kind, noodles, and some some vegetables.' sounds wonderful without any more ingredients or instructions!

I guess what really roiled the mud was new Annie's statement that she thought scratch cooking only was snobbish....to her credit she said "in my opinion". We all "entertain" our families the way we think best expresses our love....unless we admit we just don't care....and I think we all care. I have a friend who is an awful cook....she really doesn't...but she does a wonderful loving family dinner....her DH puts a boneless rib roast in the oven, she washes some potatoes and wraps them in foil, he makes a lovely Ceasar salad, she buys rolls and a bad Costco cheese cake....and sets a wonderful table, with favors and all sorts of lovely things....shaped ice cubes in the glasses, molded butter, sprigs of herbs on the napkin rings and a silver punch bowl full of ice and bottles of champagne on the coffee table. Not much cooked by her but for sure her hand is in the party Not much "scratch cooking"...but lots of stuff done with love. Perhaps what so many of us are trying to say...is love is expressed by giving of yourself....and the more of yourself you give, the more love is expressed. We all know stories about parents who relegate the raising of their children to hired help. They say they are expressing their love because a nanny isn't cheap etc etc. we know that all things can now be bought....everything from home made cakes to pies to ready decorated Christmas trees. Do you thing you are "expressing love" for your family if you call the caterer and order a dinner....and call the servers and window dressers to set the table and decorate the house....and you simply stand at the door? Or does an "expression of love" involve a giving of soem of yourself...your time and energy and creativity? I think that's what us scratch cooks are saying, we give of ourselves, and that is our way of showing love. But on another plane, cooking and providing food is the very most primitive sort of nurture. So when we prepare food and place in front of those we love, we are nurturing them in the most primitive way. Whew! Got heavy for a while there! Linda C

I've made Ann T's cream cheese danish a couple of times, it's easy to substitute an artificial sweetener in the cream cheese filling for my diabetic father I always make her Cream Cheese Brandied Cherry Balls for Amanda and lots of fudge, but the thing that everyone likes the best is the maple butter twist, kind of like a cinnamon roll, but twisted into a wreath. Everyone loves it. Sometimes I drizzle it with maple glaze or a white glaze and decorate with cherries. Sometimes not, depending on my mood but everyone loves them. Maple Butter Twists INGREDIENTS 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast 1/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°) 1/2 cup warm milk (110° to 115°) 1/4 cup butter, melted 2 eggs, beaten 3 tablespoons sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons salt 3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour FILLING: 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup butter, softened 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring DIRECTIONS In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 14-in. x 8-in. rectangle. Combine filling ingredients; spread over each rectangle to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Place seam side down on greased baking sheets. With a sharp knife, cut each roll in half lengthwise; carefully turn cut sides up. Loosely twist strips around each other, keeping cut sides up. Shape into a ring and pinch ends together. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until browned. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 coffee cakes. I put the dough into my bread machine, my big one will handle a double batch. Shaping is done by hand, and I put each one on a pretty plate. I usually get those plates at the dollar store with a Christmas theme but sometimes I get something really special and the recipient can keep that plate. Annie

My recipe calls for a ratio of 1:1:1 of sugar: apple cider vinegar: beet juice+water. I made two dozen eggs so used two cups of each; I'll use a bit less sugar next time. Boil and peel the eggs, set aside. In saucepan, add your AC vinegar, sugar, and beet juice/water from cans or jars of beets. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about fifteen minutes, set aside to cool a bit. Add the whole spices, if desired, to the solution just as heat is turned off but still simmering. It's hard to find whole beets, but they are more common in jars than cans. Put the drained beets, eggs, and spices in a large glass containers. There needs to be plenty of room for the contents to move around and be bathed by the pickling solution. Divide the pickling solution equally among the jar or jars of eggs/beets, shake gently, stash in the fridge for at least 48 hours. For my doubled batch, I used four cinnamon sticks, three bay leaves, teaspoon each whole cloves and peppercorns. I strongly suggest using the freshest spices possible. Some recipes don't call for the spices at all but the depth of flavors is truly enhanced with their addition. Nothing will taste strongly of cloves or cinnamon, but the overall flavor will be so much more delightful. EVERY RECIPE WILL BE DIFFERENT! Mine is my mother's, grandmother's, great grandmother's, and mine. By the way, most of the better salad bars include pickled beets, sometimes sliced. They won't be as good as the homemade version, but I always add a few to my salad.