The only kind of mayonnaise that is tolerable for warm weather is where the eggs in it have been pasteurized. Most jarred mayonnaise is pasteurized nowadays. You can home pasteurize eggs, if you want to make your own. Mayonnaise is also an excellent medium for breeding bacteria that have been introduced after the eggs have been treated, so if the potato salad is mixed with dirty (bad bacteria filled) hands, and left to sit in the sun, it's not any of the ingredients themselves that are the source of the taint, but the mayonnaise sure helps the bacteria to breed! Yoghurt is preserved milk. It can last for a very long time if kept cold and sealed, and be perfectly fine. With all of these things, it's a matter of circumstance and judgment. Children, elderly and people with compromised immune systems or delicate guts should err very far toward caution. Food you're feeding to guests should always be the best and freshest you have both for quality and for just in case. Like, I always open a new jar of mayonnaise when making chicken salad for a big group rather than risk exposing them to whatever might have been on my knife last week and transferred to my open jar. For home use, however, especially without little kids and elderly in the group, use a little sense, and use good practices with food handling. When there's a drip on the jar, do you wipe it off with your finger? If so, is your finger cleaner than a paper towel? Usually, it's going to be the towel, but there are scenarios when the finger might be cleaner. Either way, know that touching the working end of the bottle with anything is going to introduce bacteria...so is it the kind of thing that will fight foreign bacteria, or grow it? Is it going to linger in the fridge or get used up fast? Will you know who's going to find and eat it, or do you have random friends and all rooting around in your fridge? Is it worth letting the drip get the top all gummed up, not to wipe it? Being too clean can also be a problem. Your immune system needs things to attack, and was designed to survive mildly tainted foods. Dying of food poisoning used to be very common, but so was dying of anything. It's amazing what healthy people used to be able to get away with eating. I have a number of health issues, but I've never gotten food poisoning from something in a jar or bottle that had been in my fridge awhile without seeming off or moldy, nor has anyone in my family. I did get food poisoning once at a major league baseball game from a salad bought there that likely wasn't kept cold enough before sale.

I've been thinking about those pictures of blocks of caramel. Wonder how many people would attempt making a 5-pound block of caramel at home? Anyway, a couple more tips for those who suddenly can't find their 5-pound block of caramel: The warm brown sugar sauce recipe in my March 26 post is a little on the rich, brown-sugary "praline" side, and may be a little salty for some uses if you use salted butter. For a sauce which resembles the typical caramel more, use half white sugar and half brown sugar, maybe adding a little vanilla. If I want a chewier sauce to serve hot so it will firm up on ice cream, I make it in a saucepan, cutting down to a quarter or half the butter in the original recipe, maybe increasing the cream a little (though this isn't necessary), and cooking to the soft-ball to firm-ball stage. If you're not allergic to corn syrup like I am, you can add a tablespoon or two to retard crystallization.

Thank you, Diane. I'll add my fav chocolate sauce to the list. This is from Epicurious.com. Yes, Ginger, these are only for me. No one else is allowed to copy them or make them. lol DARK CHOCOLATE SAUCE This is a lovely tasting sauce I like to serve over ice cream. 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened Optional: 3 to 4 tablespoons Amaretto, or to taste 1. In a small heavy saucepan combine the cream and the brown sugar, bring the mixture to a boil over moderately high heat, whisking occasionally, and boil it, whisking, until the brown sugar is dissolved. 2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolates, whisking until they are melted. 3. Whisk in the butter (and the Amaretto, if using) whisking until the sauce is smooth, and let the sauce cool slightly. The chocolate sauce may be made 1 week in advance and kept covered and chilled. Reheat the chocolate sauce over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is warm.

Of course I will post the recipe. It's actually pretty easy, I don't even chill the dough before I press it into the tart pan. No rolling of crusts, and the caramel takes about 2 minutes to make, super easy. If I remember correctly, the recipe came from Fine Cooking. Five Nut Caramel Tart Pastry: 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (organic preferred), dipped and leveled 3 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for buttering pan 1 1/2 large egg yolks blended with 1 1/2 tablespoons ice water Filling: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/4 cup honey 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 cup toasted, salted cashews (about 4 ounces) 2/3 cup toasted, salted macadamia nuts (about 3 1/2 ounces) 1/2 cup whole, blanched almonds (about 2 1/4 ounces) 1/3 cup salted, shelled pistachios (about 1 1/2 ounces) 1/4 cup pine nuts (about 1 ounce) 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt Instructions 1. Make the pastry: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg yolk mixture and pulse until a dough begins to form. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. 2. Butter an 11-inch-diameter false-bottom tart pan. Let the dough soften slightly, then pat the crust into the pan with your hands until it is to a relatively even thickness of 1/8 inch. Trim the edges even with the pan’s rim. Refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes to overnight. 3. Prebake the tart shell: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line the tart shell with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and beans. Bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the tart shell is golden brown. Cool completely on a rack. 4. Make the filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Place the tart shell on a heavy, large baking sheet. In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, and granulated sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring until the sugars dissolve. Increase the heat and whisk until mixture comes to a boil. 5. Continue boiling until large bubbles form, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cashews, macadamia nuts, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, and cream. Immediately pour the filling into the tart shell. Bake about 20 minutes, or until the filling bubbles (the filling might overflow slightly onto baking sheet). Happy Thanksgiving! Annie