Thanks - Teresa! I can do the Velveeta. Kids (adult kids, that is) love it and they use it for that chili cheese dip. We don't have any diet restrictions. I was just looking for 'real' cheese if possible. But, perhaps not with this recipe. Thanks again for your input.

I gave the less-than-one portion to one of our guests who is just 21. He lives on his own, and could use a quick meal. I didn't eat any of it...I don't care for chowder (the potatoes you know...) very much. I thought the potatoes would get softer also but hey, it was a chowder! That's not knife and fork food. Thanks for the confirmation my friends.

Shaun, too bad the crab cake recipe didn't turn out :-( The LA Times has a recipe this week for crab cakes too that look good, also baked rather than fried. Where do you buy your crab? I look in our grocery stores, and all they have is the imitation Krab stuff. I've noticed packaged crab at Costco, pasteurized in a plastic container. Have you (or anybody else) ever tried it? I tried a new recipe tonight that turned out well for broccoli with garlic sauce. The sauce was fabulous and I'll make it again. I also tried a new Mongolian Beef recipe which was just so-so, I won't be making it again. Just goes to show you that you can't win 'em all :-) Becky * Exported from MasterCook * Garlic Sauce Recipe By : Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon chili sauce -- or according to taste (I use 1/2 teaspoon) 1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 tablespoon water 1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil 3 - 4 medium garlic cloves -- finely chopped (4 teaspoons - 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic) Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauces, rice wine or sherry, chili sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl, stirring to combine. In a separate small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Quickly restir the sauce, add it into the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring. (This will take about a minute). Re-stir the cornstarch/water mixture and add it to the sauce, stirring to thicken. Use the sauce in stir-fry dishes. Source: "http://chinesefood.about.com/od/sauces/r/garlic-sauce.htm" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : Made 8-20-10 Didn't saute garlic seperately, just mixed all ingredients together and heated until thickened.

If you can use a nice grass fed ground beef, all you need is just the meat with salt and pepper. Or, if you have access to a better quality meat than you normally find at the groceries, buy it. I don't even use garlic with a nice cut of beef. I love garlic and it is fine to add to a good quality meat, but I find it a refreshing change to just have meat that stands on it's own merit. Beware of ground beef that you have to add flavor to in order for it to have any presence. If you add soup mix, and spices, and sauces to the burger, you are just using the meat as a protein platform for those flavors. That is a bit different from dressing your burger with what you like. But, the meat is the central player and it should have it's own domain on the pallette and be the star in that bun. All else should be the supporting cast around it and should not be in the meat just to make the meat taste like something. I would rather have one good burger that actually has a good beef flavor than have any number that have to be flavored up. I have actually gotten rid of some grocery store ground beef that just tasted like nothing at all. Here looking at you Wegmanns grocery!!! Those burger buns look good! As a suggestion, look up a recipe for a white buttermilk bread. Buttermilk adds a nice soft texture to a bun like that. After years of burgers burned to a dry blackened crisp on the gas grill, I have come to the conclusion that the very best burgers are cooked in a cast iron skillet for a griddle, by far. The only burgers that cook well over a flame, in my opinion, are those that are made of good quality meat and are actually big and thick enough to cook as you would a solid piece of steak. If you can't achieve an interior that can be left a bit rare, then your burger is too thin and too small to cook well on a grill. Even if you like it well done, the burger should still be of a size and a quality that would allow for it to be also cooked to a doneness of rare. Even then, I vote for the cast iron skillet burger. More quality and less quantity---that is way I roll now days!!