Zabby, I could have used your help on that dinner! Our waitress/friend guessed the crab sauce had no cream, but when I made it just with chicken stock, wine, butter, and flour, it tasted like gravy! I'm sure an expert sauce-maker could have done better but I would have preferred a cream sauce to what I made. Maybe next time I eat there I'll talk to the guy who made up the recipe. It was a special, it's not always on there. Anyway, ok dinner, but I should stick to cooking vegetables since they're always my favorite part of the dinner anyway...I finished the broccoli and potato cakes but not the halibut. Thanks to all the feedback, I decided to use up the crab by making crab cakes tonight. I looked at Tyler Florence's recipe (which my friend made once) and kind of estimated for the amount of crab I had. They were good, not very stuck together, but great taste and hardly any filler. I fried some leftover mashed potatoes into potato cakes, sauteed some mushrooms that didn't fit in my shepherd's pie, and spread leftover roasted garlic on bread my friend made & brought. Voila! A delicious dinner for two created entirely from leftover ingredients. The best part was the drinks, which I made with both the halibut and the crab cakes. Also inspired by my favorite restaurant. Lavender citrus martini: Mix vanilla vodka with a bit of Cointreau, enough lemon juice to give it a little tartness, and lavender simple syrup (I like it kind of sweet). Delicious! Lavender simple syrup: Mix equal parts (by volume) sugar and water in saucepan. Add a few sprigs of lavender and boil till sugar dissolves. Cool in a jar in the fridge, leaving in the lavender. Use up within a day or two. Good in the martini, delicious over grapefruit, spectacular in lemonade. Dancinglemons, glad to see someone else in central VA. I wonder how many of us there are. I was thinking of organizing a berry-picking trip to Westmoreland Berry Farm on the Northern Neck. My kitchen isn't big enough to host a jam-making afterward, but we could have a canned goods pot luck picnic at the berry farm. Maybe I'll make a post in May when it's almost berry season. Melissa

As a vegetarian for ethical reasons, I have absolutely NO problem with other people eating meat at the dinner table with me. I wouldn't even consider harassing them about it - that would be rude and inappropriate, just as it is when people harass me about being vegetarian, as happens quite frequently. I know several vegetarians, and have never, ever known them to be intolerant of other people at the same dinner table eating meat. So, relax. The advice given by LindaC is good advise. I wouldn't want anyone to go to any extra trouble on my account. Vegetable sides are usually served at meals, anyway, so make sure there are plenty of those, and your guest will surely enjoy the meal you provide. Just make sure you don't use animal fat or animal broth in the preparation of your sides. For instance, if you serve one soup, use vegetable broth as a base instead of chicken broth or beef broth. I guess suggesting that does mean you'll have to go to a little bit of extra trouble, but you don't have to worry about providing a separate main dish for her, unless you want to. Sally

Steve, I'm not sure whether to agree with you or disagree with you. What's in a name? Do you think PF Changs makes their Mongolian Beef like Annie? No, they don't. Does Chicken/Veal Picatta require capers? I always thought so, until I read that capers are a southern Italian thing; in the north you won't find them in the dish. True? Who knows. But it doesn't stop the Palm from publishing a recipe "without." I'm mostly with you on following a recipe to the 'T' first go-around as long as you are attacking this as "trying a recipe." If you're making major changes - lemon to lime in Picatta - then realize you were just "inspired" by a recipe, but can't really judge it. On the other hand if there's a minor substitution or omission that you know you'd prefer, then I say have at it. Just be sure to mention it in a review. Sriracha for CRP? It'll alter the taste, that's for sure. If you prefer it, go for it. Just mention it when you tell us about your results. Oh, and I know for a fact that Annie has both available in her kitchen. ;)

Posted by sushipup (My Page) on Wed, May 29, 13 at 20:24 Back to basics... to the OP: Are you sure there wasn't some residue of something or other in the bowl? I suspect some result of cleaning residue. As noted, my wife had worked in a cafe and broke thousands of eggs. The harried employees may have been to busy to notice and may have occasionally served similar things to hurried diners.