I was born in VT. Many of my mothers relatives lived there too. A couple of years ago, I was in Burlington VT visiting an uncle, and found a shop that sells cheese ends. Basically, they are bits, chunks, and all shapes and sizes of Cabot cheeses. The cost per pound was only about $2, but that was because they had several different cheddar chunks all clumped together. I bought about 8 pounds and it took a while to use it all up. I make a 'mean' mac and cheese, and use a bit of mustard powder as well as onions, and some Velveta to get it to be a bit more creamy. I mix in some no fat milk, along with a big dollop of margerine. Its mostly Cabot chedddars though, and is a real 'comfort' food. Mixed with some bits of cooked hamburg, you now have even more flavor and texture. There is a specific brand and type of pasta I use, which is a bit larger than regular elbows, and it gets cheese inside each elbow, its a 'casserole' type pasta.. Yum! An interesting thing about pepper, is that once its freshly ground and added as a meat rub and baked, the 'heat' will deminish. Tellicherry peppercorns are one of the best there is. I make an 'egg mcmuffin' with eggs, either homemade sausage patties, or slices of home made Canadian bacon. These are placed bewteen a split, toasted English muffin, with a slice of American cheese. I have a round metal ring form that I use to make the egg portion, and use both the 'Egg Beaters' product, but also add some powdered egg. It cooks up much firmer and holds up better to freezing. I use 6 inch wide FS bags and then freeze them. When I want one, its an easy thing to leave sealed, and allow it to heat in the microwave for about a minute. I flip it over and continue to thaw/heat it. The bag will expand and pop open due to steam buildup. Once that happens its usually done. The popping of the plastic bag can be heard, but doesn't seem to explode any of the contents inside the microwave. Only problem I see is that becaue of the intense heat, the muffins (which contain gluten) will firm up, making for a very chewy muffin, kind of like a bagel. If I want it to be a bit more tender, its removed from the plastic bag, and is wrapped in a paper towel and heated a bit slower, with about 40 second intervals while flipping it over a couple of times. A 1000 watt microwave is what I have, so your results may differ. Both the eggs and cheese are fine when frozen and thawed, and I even see a bit more moisture coming from the egg part, so thats a good sign.

My advice would be if they aren't spreading enough then there is a bit too much flour. Try cutting down 1/4 cup and do a test cookie, if it's spreading too much then add a bit more flour until you get it how you like it. Betty Crocker cookbook has this tip in their old cookbook. I think most people are trying to figure it out when it's really just as simple as too much or not enough flour that affects the spread of the cookie. Try not to over-think it so much. EDIT TO ADD: The cookies in the picture look good though...they don't look like they didn't spread enough to me. Here's a thought too, why not use a round cookie scoop to form them and flatten them out a bit with the bottom or a glass or something? This post was edited by arkansas_girl on Thu, Dec 27, 12 at 10:31

Only cooking for myself, I had lots to freeze. So it's a real treat to be able to get one out whenever I need a wet burrito fix. They are really good.

The burritos were even better than the first time. They're so big, but I managed to eat most of one. Now that's a great sandwich, Glenda. Got your veggies in, too. That's about the only way I can eat okra. I bet your house did smell wonderful, Jas. I don't think anything smells quite as good as bread baking. I hardly ever make mashed potatoes either, Gadgets. I hate the mess. I usually buy Country Crock already mashed. Taste good to me. Georgysmom, may I please borrow a cup of your energy? I walked through the living room this afternoon and the noticed the window really, really needs cleaning. In fact, they all do. I only have 8. But they're all big except the bathroom windows. Too hot--I'll think about it next month. Hi, ourguys! Are you new to the Kitchen Table? If so, welcome. If not, shame on me for not recognizing your name. I could eat shrimp any time. If I have that I don't want anything else with it. Just lots of shrimp and lots of horseradish in the sauce!