A friend of mine sent me this recipe, and she makes them. She's never baked them in the microwave. I doubt if I would either because I wouldn't bake just one, but it might be worth a try. It sure would be a handy dough to have on hand. Refrigerator Applesauce Wheat Muffins Favorite Recipes --The Muffin Cookbook Mix up this batter and refrigerate in a tightly covered plastic bowl. If you cook for one, you can scoop out batter for one muffin at a time. Bake in the microwave oven for 30 to 50 seconds, or in conventional oven. 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp Salt 1 cup Quick-cooking Rolled Oats 1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar 1 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 3/4 cup Buttermilk 1/4 cup Applesauce 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil 1 egg, beaten 1/4 cup Raisins Directions: In large bowl, combine flours, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In small bowl, combine buttermilk, applesauce, oil and egg until blended. Stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in raisins. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 10 days. Microwave: Line 6 microwavable muffin-pan cups with double paper liners. Spoon batter into each cup filling 1/2 full. Microwave at HIGH (100%) power, 3 to 3 1/2 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Rotate dish 1/2 turn halfway thru cooking. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure. For last 3 muffins, line 3 muffin cups with double paper liners. Microwave at HIGH 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Makes about 15 muffins. Conventional: Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease or paper-line 12 (2 1/2 inch) muffin cups. Spoon batter into cups. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean Makes 12 muffins. Note: Have never cooked in the Microwave

Let's keep this thread going. We enjoy Lidia's Family Table/ Italian-American shows. She featured an easy recipe using chicken breasts, capers, red wine vinegar. She said it could be made using pork chops. This appealed to hubby so he made it for dinner one nite this week, using boneless pork chops. It's a delicious sauce. Skillet Chicken Breasts Aglio e Olio source: Lidia's Italy 6 chicken breast halves, skinless and boneless, about 2 pounds (we used boneless pork chops) 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed 1/2 cup flour, for dredging the chicken 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 8 garlic cloves, sliced 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 3 tablespoons capers, drained 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 cup vegetable broth 3 tablespoons Italian parsley, freshly chopped 1 tablespoon bread crumbs Trim the chicken breast halves of all bits fat, skin or connective tissue with a paring knife. Do not cut off the tenders-the small loose flap of muscle on the underside of each half-but flatten them firmly against the larger piece, to form a neat oval. Sprinkle both sides of the breasts with salt, using about 1/2 teaspoon in all. Spread the flour on a piece wax paper and press and toss each breast to coat lightly on all surfaces; shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and all the butter in the pan over medium heat. When the butter is almost completely melted, lay the breasts in the pan, with space between them. Let them cook in place, without moving them, until they're sizzling. After 2 minutes or so, lift the first breast you put in the pan and check the underside. You want it to be lightly tinged with brown (not merely pale, but not brown all over either). Cook longer if needed, and then turn all the breasts over when they've just begun to color. Quickly scatter all the garlic slices into the spaces between the chicken, turn the heat up slightly, shake the pan and stir the slices around in the hot fat so they separate. After a minute or a bit more, when the garlic has begun to sizzle, sprinkle the red pepper flakes in a hot spot; toast for a minute; then spill the capers in several hot spots around the pan. Give the skillet a few good shakes to distribute the seasonings and run the hot juices all around the breasts. Raise the heat another notch: when everything's sizzling hard, pour the red wine vinegar into the open spaces and shake the pan to spread it. Let the vinegar sizzle and reduce for a 1/2 minute or so, then pour in the broth. Cook at full blast now, quickly bringing the liquid to a boil. As it cooks, drizzle the remaining two tablespoons of oil all around the pan and sprinkle on another 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let the sauce bubble and reduce for a couple of minutes, shaking the skillet frequently, then sprinkle the bread crumbs into the sauce (not on the chicken) and stir and shake to mix it in. Within a minute or two, the crumbs will thicken the sauce visibly; cook, shaking the skillet, until it has the consistency you like. Turn off the heat, scatter the parsley over everything-and shake the skillet again. Serve immediately.

I also have a Jambalaya recipe that I concocted several years ago at a family gathering. I think there were 20 some people there, so the recipe as I've recorded it is rather large. (with nearly 7 lbs of meat!) I prefer it done this way, with the rice prepared separately, rather than cooking the rice with the rest of the dish, since if there are leftovers the rice absorbs all of the liquid, making the rice gluey and the rest of the dish dry. Also since several members of the group didn't want it too spicy, the amount of red pepper, cayenne pepper and tobasco were much less than I would otherwise have used, but adding tobasco after it is served works very well. JAMBALAYA 2 lb Chicken Breast (3/4" cubes) 1 lb Honey Ham (1/2" dice) 1 lb Hot-Italian Sausage (de-skinned and broken into pieces) 2/3 lb Andouille-style smoked sausage 2 lb uncooked shrimp (cleaned, de-shelled, and de-tailed, cut into thirds) 2 large sweet yellow onions chopped into 3/4" square pieces 2 red bell peppers (remove stems, seeds and membranes and cut into 1" by 1" pieces) 2 yellow bell peppers 4 cups of rice 2 large cans diced tomatoes 1 15 oz can tomato paste Olive oil 10 cloves garlic 2 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp black pepper blend (ground) 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 4 shakes Tobasco sauce 1 tsp thyme 1 tbsp chopped parsley In one large pan, cook onion in olive oil, add thyme and 3 cloves of garlic (chopped) until onion starts to turn translucent, then add bell peppers and cook another 10 minutes or so. In a different large pan, cook chicken and hot Italian sausage until both are lightly browned and mostly cooked. Empty both pans into large pot. Stir in tomatoes (including water from tomato cans) and the tomato paste. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat to a simmer and stir well. In the chicken pan, cook Andouille and ham over medium heat for 10 minutes, then add to large pot. Crush remaining garlic and other spices except parsley into large pot to suit taste. Cook rice separately while continuing to simmer large pot. When rice is done, remove large pot from heat and add shrimp stirring until it is cooked. Serve over rice, adding tobasco to taste, top with a pinch of parsley.

BEEF STEW WITH BACON (Williams-Sonoma) (Slow Cooker) 4 oz. thick-cut bacon, chopped 3 Tbs. flour 1 tsp. salt, plus more, to taste 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste 3 lb. boneless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into chunks 3/4 lb. fresh cremini mushrooms, halved if large 1/2 lb. baby carrots 1/2 lb. frozen pearl onions 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup dry red wine 1 cup beef broth 2 Tbs. tomato paste 1 Tbs. minced fresh rosemary In a large fry pan over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off the drippings into a small heatproof bowl, leaving about 1 Tbs. drippings in the pan. Set the pan, reserved drippings and bacon aside. In a sealable plastic bag, combine the flour, the 1 tsp. salt and the 1/2 tsp. pepper. Add the beef chunks and shake to coat evenly with the flour mixture. Return the fry pan to medium-high heat. When the drippings are hot, add half of the beef chunks and cook, turning once, until well browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the beef to the slow cooker. Repeat with the remaining beef chunks, adding the reserved drippings if needed. Scatter the mushrooms, carrots, onions and garlic on top. Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the wine, broth and tomato paste. Mix well, bring to a boil and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on the pan bottom. Pour the contents of the pan over the vegetables and beef. Cover and cook on the high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours or the low-heat setting for 8 to 9 hours. The beef should be very tender. Stir in the reserved bacon and the rosemary. Cook, uncovered, on the high-heat setting for 10 minutes more to thicken the sauce slightly. Season with salt and pepper and serve. Serves 6.