Thai Green Beans and butternut squash 1 medium butternut squash, split in half and baked at 350C until done (pierce with a fork to test) 1 can regular coconut milk (15 oz or so) 2 cups fresh cut green beans (frozen works too but fresh is best) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice 3 leaves from a kaffir lime 1 small bunch of fresh thai basil AKA Siam queen (regular sweet basil will also work) 1 small bunch chopped scallions 1 sliced hot pepper (I used cayenne and thai red peppers, leave in slices so they can be removed if desired  green hot peppers will also work here) Salt to taste Bake butternut squash. When cool enough to handle, peel, seed and cut into 1 inch chunks. Open can of coconut milk. Use some of the solids on top (the oil) to sauté garlic, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, salt and hot peppers for just a few minutes (do not burn the garlic). Add green beans and squash cubes and stir. Add the rest of the coconut milk can and cook for 10-15 minutes until green beans are done. Taste, adjust seasonings and sprinkle top with chopped scallions.

Sharon, I just love pecans and am looking forward to trying your recipe. We have several native pecan trees on our property. Actually we have probably a couple dozen trees, but two are right by the house and easy to access...the one in the front yard drops pecans everywhere. The one on the edge of the woods drops them into tons of leaf litter and debris, so I have to search harder for those. Most of the other trees are way back in the woods and I usually leave their nuts for the wildlife. I grew up in a pecan-loving family. If the only thing I do is make batches of pecan pralines for family members for Christmas, they are just thrilled to death. They're even tickled pink if I just give them big zip-lock bags of pecans from our place. Our first year here there was a huge bumper crop of pecans in the front yard right at Thanksgiving. All my siblings, their spouses, my mom and dad, my nieces and nephews, my aunt, my cousin and her spouse and kids spent their Thanksgiving picking up Wal-Mart bags full of nuts. They even wanted to eat outside at the picnic table under the pecan tree. Apparently they allthought they were helping me out by picking up the pecans for me. When I told them to keep the pecans for themselves, LOL, they ran back outside and picked up more. I was rolling on the ground laughing at them! "Oh", they said delightedly, "You mean we can keep them? Let's go find more!" Clearly my family members know the value of a good sack of fresh pecans! I had the last laugh though. I was SO relieved thinking of them spending all THEIR time cracking and picking out the nutmeats, because I'd intended to do it myself and give the nuts to them for Christmas. Instead, they all got gifts from the store, and I didn't spend a month of evenings cracking pecans and picking out the nutmeats to give away. So, we all were happy! I still need to find and post my recipe for pecan cream pie like my aunts used to make. I haven't made one in ages and just thinking about it makes me want to make one right now. Dawn

My fave drink of all time is a margarita (not very original lol) but tequila agrees with me :P Another one I tried lately was I mixed some of Hawaii's Own brand frozen (Starfuit kind) concentrate add ice and captain morgan rum(they have a mango, pineapple and coconut flavors) to taste. I put in mango and coconut. Blend....You can add a little margarita mix, lime juice or water if it is too sweet.

This one is always a huge hit when we go boating. Travels well, very tasty , substantial and a bit different. Don't let the ingredients list put you off it really is very easy to make. Real N'awlins Muffuletta (Weed) 1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives crushed 1/2 Cup drained kalamata olives crushed 2 Clove garlic minced 1/4 Cup roughly chopped pickled cauliflower florets 2 Tbl drained capers 1 Tbl chopped celery 1 Tbl chopped carrot 1/2 Cup pepperoncini drained 1/4 Cup marinated cocktail onions 1/2 Tsp celery seed 1 Tsp dried oregano 1 Tsp dried basil 3/4 Tsp ground black pepper 1/4 Cup red wine vinegar 1/2 Cup olive oil 1/4 Cup canola oil 2 (1 pound) loaves Italian bread 8 ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami 8 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham 8 ounces sliced mortadella orcappicola 8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese 8 ounces sliced provolone cheese Directions 1. To Make Olive Salad: In a medium bowl, combine the green olives, kalamata olives, garlic, cauliflower, capers, celery, carrot, pepperoncini, cocktail onions, celery seed, oregano, basil, black pepper, vinegar, olive oil and canola oil. Mix together and transfer mixture into a glass jar (or other nonreactive container). If needed, pour in more oil to cover. Cover jar or container and refrigerate at least overnight. 2. To Make Sandwiches: Cut loaves of bread in half horizontally; hollow out some of the excess bread to make room for filling. Spread each piece of bread with equal amounts olive salad, including oil. Layer 'bottom half' of each loaf with 1/2 of the salami, ham, mortadella ,mozzarella and Provolone. Replace 'top half' on each loaf and cut sandwich into quarters. 3 Serve immediately, or wrap tightly and refrigerate for a few hours; this will allow for the flavors to mingle and the olive salad to soak into the bread.