malna, I was thinking about you. I have a new venison recipe and I really like it, courtesy of Chef Eric Villegas who now has Michigan Venison, a company in Traverse City that sells venison on line. We just shoot our own, of course, but it's getting more popular, I guess. Anyway, I like these a lot, they might sound good to you too... Venison Potstickers Author: Michigan Venison A delicious Asian flare for our whitetail venison. •Potsticker Filling: •1lb. ground venison •4 c. water •1-1/2 c. shredded or finely sliced cabbage •½ c. finely chopped green onion •1-1/2 Tbs. freshly grated ginger •2 Tbs. oyster sauce •2 Tbs. salt (for softening cabbage) •1 tsp. soy sauce •1 tsp. fish sauce (aka patis or nam pla) •Other Ingredients: •50 wonton wrappers •bowl of ½ c. water (used as glue for sealing potstickers) •½ c. canola oil 1.Combine cabbage, 4 c. water, and salt in medium bowl and let sit for 15-20 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes to make sure all cabbage is softened. In larger bowl, combine all other filling ingredients. Drain and rinse cabbage, and add to meat mixture. Mix in thoroughly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to hold raw dumplings. 2.Assembling Potstickers: Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in center of wonton wrapper. Dip finger into water bowl, then line two adjacent sides of wrapper with water from finger. Fold the two dry sides of wrapper on top of the two water-lined sides and pinch closed (NOTE: make sure potsticker edge is completely sealed, otherwise the juices may run during cooking and your potstickers may dry out). At this point, your potsticker should look like a pudgy triangle. Fold each corner of the triangle in toward the center of the potsticker, using a little dab of water to ‘glue’ the corners down. Place assembled potsticker on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. 3.Cooking Potstickers: Pour about ¼ c. canola oil into the bottom of large sauce pan and bring to medium high heat. When pan is nice and hot and evenly coated, line the bottom of the pan with one layer of potstickers. We were able to fit about ½ of the batch into our pan at a time. Fry potstickers over high heat until the bottoms look golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Once bottoms of dumplings look nice and crispy, add enough water to submerge the bottom half of the potstickers. Cover pan with lid tilted so that steam can escape. Continue to cook until all water evaporated from pan and you hear the dumplings start to sizzle again, which can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with either tongs or a spatula. If you are going to cook the whole batch in one go, place potstickers on foil-lined try (photo below), wipe out the bottom of pan with paper towel to get the crusty bits out, then add remaining ¼ c. of canola oil and start process again. 4.Saving Potstickers: If you’re not going to eat all of the potstickers in one sitting, put the tray of raw dumplings in the freezer overnight. Make sure potstickers are not touching, otherwise they will freeze together. Once they are completely frozen, place them in a large zip-lock bag (or portion into smaller bags) and keep in freezer for up to a month. Now, I've got to find time to make more liverwurst, I just used up my last piece and I have about 10 more pounds of beef liver in the freezer.... Annie

Cocktail munchies.... PARMESAN BLACK-PEPPER BISCOTTI These savory biscotti are ideal for a soiree. Their crisp texture is accented by the richness of parmesan and the bite of black pepper perfect for nibbling in between sips of wine. 1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns 4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons salt 4 1/2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (2 1/4 cups) 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 4 large eggs 1 cup whole milk appetizer biscottiPut oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Pulse peppercorns in grinder until coarsely ground. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 cups cheese, and 1 tablespoon ground black pepper in a large bowl. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk 3 eggs with milk and add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quarter dough. Using well-floured hands, form each piece into a slightly flattened 12-inch-long log (about 2 inches wide and 3/4 inch high). Transfer logs to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging logs about 3 inches apart. Whisk remaining egg and brush some over logs, then sprinkle tops of logs evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and 1/2 tablespoon ground pepper. Bake, rotating sheets 180 degrees and switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until logs are pale golden and firm, about 30 minutes total. Cool logs to warm on sheets on a rack, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Carefully transfer 1 warm log to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut sides down, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining logs, transferring slices to sheets. Bake, turning over once, until golden and crisp, 35 to 45 minutes total. Cool biscotti on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes. Cooks' note: Biscotti keep in an airtight container at room temperature 2 weeks. Makes 5 to 6 dozen biscotti. Blue cheese cocktail cookies....4/12 dozen 1 3/4 cups flour 3/4 cups chopped pecans 8 ox Maytag Blue cheese 1/2 cup butter 2 egg yolks beaten 2 tsps fresh ground black pepper Combine all and mix with hands until smooth. roll into 2 1 1/2 inch rolls, wrap in plastic and chill 4 hours or over night. Slice into 1/4 inch slices, and bake 425 on ungreases sheet for about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Snackers 1 ring Dutch Balogna ( about a pound ) 2 medium yellow onions ( about the size of a baseball) Slice and layer in a crock or straihgt sided bowl In a sauce pan place 1 c. cider vinegar, 1 cup water and 3/4 c sugar and 1 tsp mustard seed ( whole). Bring to a boil and pour over meat and let stand un refigerated for 24 hours. Serve with cocktail rye. Robins blue blazers 1/2 cup butter or margarine 2 oz Maytag Blue Cheese 1 T cognac 2 T chili sauce 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 2 T minced green onion Cayenne pepper to taste ( more is better!) 4 English muffins split and lightly toasted Black olive halves to garnish Have butter and blue cheese at room temperature. Mix all but muffins and olives with a fork until well mixed. Spread on muffin halves, cut into quarters, top each piece with a black olive half, place on a cookie sheet and broil until lightly browned. Serve hot.

I'm glad your pup is OK Shaun. I accidentally fed corn to one of mine the other day. While cutting some off the cob for a new recipe a lot wound up on the floor so I let her eat it. I got the finger wagged in my face for letting her eat corn with her digestive issues. At least I didn't drop the cob. LOL Back to corn... It is so cheap and so sweet in FL right now that I went looking for a different way to prepare it. I found a recipe that I had saved from the guy who won Rachael Ray's so you think you can cook contest last year. I liked it alot. I completely forgot to add the butter at the end but I can say that it was real tasty even without the butter. I just finished the leftovers. Yum! Carmelized corn Pete from Rachel Ray 3 tablespoons EVOO Extra Virgin Olive Oil 4 to 5 ears (2 cups) fresh corn, cut off cob Salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 shallots, minced 1 clove garlic, minced 5 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped 1/2 cup dry white wine (preferably Sauvignon Blanc) 2 tablespoons butter Heat 1 tablespoon EVOO in a large skillet over high heat. Add corn, a good pinch of salt and 2 to 3 turns freshly ground pepper. Toss corn to coat lightly with EVOO and cook until slightly browned and caramelized, approximately 2-3 minutes. Lower heat under corn to medium-high. Add remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO to the pan along with the shallots, garlic, 5 tablespoons parsley, thyme and chives. Re-season with salt and pepper, give everything a toss and cook until the shallots are translucent. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping bottom of pan to pull up any brown bits. Cook for 1 minute. Cut butter into small chunks and scatter over corn. Cook till wine is reduced by half

I recall stories about people buying them from stores that usually supply the Amish during the pre-Y2K concerns. Working at a tech company and having eaten at several over the years, these stories are about the 1% of tech companies and not typical. Our cafeteria is decent and the food is somewhat subsidized, not free. That is more typical. Actually, it was better when I first joined my current company 8 years ago - I loved it when I was on site on a day they had tuna - a generous lunch size chunk of seared tuna in a complete lunch for $4. But when the economy softened they cut back the subsidy. On the other hand, working from home, I don't benefit from it most of the time. Pay and other benefits are more important to me so I think they cut back in a place that makes sense. They do bring in dinner at times when a team is working late. Last time I was visiting, before the long drive home, I joined them for Indian buffet that had been brought in for dinner. My prior company used one of the dinner delivery services where you could choose food from various local restaurants during a crunch when a lot of us were working late.