It would have been helpful if the menu was more descriptive like a menu in a Chinese restaurant that gives a short description of the ingredients and if it's spicy or not. The lack of description of a dish on the menu is a pet peeve of mine. I've seen it in Chinese, Mexican, Indian, etc. (you name it) restaurants. I've never understood why they assume you'll know what's in a particular dish, particularly when the name of the dish is a foreign word*. Nowadays with so many people on special diets or with allergies, it seems to me that it would be in any restaurant's best interest to list ingredients for any dish, even what they might consider to be "obvious" ones, especially since every restaurant makes things differently. gellchom, thanks for introducing me to a new word: shibolleth. *Ok, reading that over before I posted reminded me of something. Many years ago at some local Mexican restaurant they not only described the dishes but included pronunciation guides. I was young, keep in mind, but we laughed our heads off at Taco (TAH - ko). WHY do I still remember that?

No flour desserts... Killer Chocolate Torte 2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks) cut into 1/2 in. pieces 1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons espresso powder 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (NOT unsweetened or semisweet) 6 large eggs at room temperature 6 large egg yolks at room temperature powdered sugar for garnish whipped cream (optional) Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan with 2 3/4 inch sides. cut parchment or wax paper to fit sides, and, and a circular piece to fit in the bottom of the greased pan. Smooth paper against inner surfaces. Melt 2 cups butter with the sugar and espresso powder in a heavy saucepan over medium low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add chocolate and stir until mixture is smooth and chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Whisk the eggs and additional yolks in a large bowl until frothy. CAREFULLY fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan and place on a heavy baking sheet. Bake in the preheated 325 degree oven until the edges puff and crack slightly but the center is not quite set. Transfer to a rack and let cool. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. to remove from pan, dip a sharp thin knife in hot water and run it around the sides of the pan to loosen the torte. Carefully release and remove the pan sides and the parchment. It will have cracks in it, but this is normal. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar (if desired) and cut into very thin slices with a sharp knife dipped into hot water, taking care to wipe the knife after each cut. Serve with whipped cream if desired. Many servings. MISSISSIPPI PRALINE MACAROONS Yield: About 2 dozen 3 large egg whites 1 cup brown sugar 1 full cup roughly chopped pecans 24 pecan halves for topping 1. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the whites are very stiff. 2. Stir in the chopped nuts by hand. 3. Spray cookie sheet with pam. Spoon out a heaping teaspoon of batter on the cookie sheet with at least 1 inch between cookies. Then press down flat. Place a pecan half on top. Repeat with the rest of the batter. 4. Bake in a preheated 275-degree oven for about 30 minutes, until the cookies are firm but still shiny. Flourless peanutbutter cookies... Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies One cup creamy peanut butter One cup white sugar One teaspoon baking powder One egg Shape like regular peanut butter cookies... And if you are committed to a dairy meal you can make a pretty good lasagna with matzoah instead of noodles....but be careful about the cheese, some contains animal rennet. I vote for roasted chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots...AND flourless chocolate cake for dessert!!! Preheat the oven to 350�.

Linnea56 -- Sometimes, especially this time of year, department stores will have a single piece at a "try me" price, so you can find a high-end piece for a reasonable price. It's rare that a skillet is a "try me" piece, but I have seen them. Keep your eyes on the sales fliers. Marshall's and Tuesday Morning store often have single pieces, too. I still regret not snagging that All-Clad skillet at Marshall's when I saw it. I'm going to have to replace my skillet soon. It's a Magnalite I bought in the 80s and supposed to have a 99-year guarentee, but the anodizing is wearing through to the core metals and Magnalite had been bought by that company I detest which will only replace it with the shoddy garbage they churn out under the Magnalite label these days. (Can you tell I don't like World Kitchens much?) I'll be haunting Marshall's and Tuesday Morning myself trying to find a NOT non-stick skillet.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression. DH is great. He isn't turning a blind eye to SS's behavior. He realizes there's at minimum an "attitude problem" going on. SS's behavior got worse after his biomom left (again) last fall. She tends to come (after being gone for years at a time), promise to be a real mom, hang around just long enough to make SS think maybe she really will this time, and then disappear which is where I think the majority of SS's behavior is coming from, especially the unconscious behavior aimed at women. The physical incident between the 16 and SS happened after the 16 yo didn't shut the van right and in SS's mind if something wasn't perfect, I might leave just like his bio mom so all his anger at biomom came out backwards at the 16 yo. There's only been one physical incident but in a household with austistic spectrum kids, it just takes one incident and they think there's the pattern. I really don't want to make excuses for SS but I do understand why he's acting the way he is. I'm just not sure how to help him, try to keep things fair in the meantime, and not walk around being constantly ticked off at him. I"m thinking this is going to be my plan of action. Let me know what you think 1- SS starts seeing a counselor - as soon as one can be found- period - I"m not his biomom and shouldn't be punished for what she did. I would never ever treat him or anyone that way. and most siblings of children with disabilities have problems adjusting or relating to them, why wouldn't a teenager thrust into the situation, especially with not just one sibling but 3? 2 - Anytime SS doesn't do his 15 min daily chore he will not leave the room the chore was to be in (even if I have to sit on him and he misses his baseball game, pees his pants, or I'm late for work) until he does (making DH enforce the rules isn't adding much to my credibility with SS - It's almost like SS wants me to be the one to punish him) 3- If SS doesn't mow the yard properly with the riding lawn mower, he will use the push mower, even if I or DH have to follow behind him the entire time and make sure he does it all. 4 - the attitude will stop. If he can't see that we all have to work together, I just might try the strike thing and see how much he likes doing his own laundry, own dishes, making is own meals (probably just sandwiches since he can't cook and I"m not buying special groceries for him to eat alone and he wont' eat leftovers). Maybe then he might come to the conclusion, that even if he doesn't realize it, we all work together and people are doing things for him. 4 - the lying, "storytelling, "smart alec comments", whatever you want to call them - I'll just immediately call him on it. NO more games, no more him trying to outsmart me, no more trying to catch him in the lie, just quietly, and simply state "that's bs and you know it" and move on 5 - any attitude directed at the other kids will become immediate and lengthy family discussion and we all know how much teenagers love those, most likely followed by a grounding where he's required to be around the other kids and has to get along - no going to his room, no going to friends, etc (I'm in the office only 3 days a week so this should be able to be closely supervised). 6 - as for unfairness in material possessions, they'll each just have a dollar limit for school clothes, etc. IF SS wants to blow all his on one pair of shoes and one pair of shorts, so be it - he doesn't then get to complain that he has nothing to wear. 7 - as for the homework, DH and I discussed at the end of the school year, that we can check on the computer for finished homework - if the homework shows as not turned in on Friday (too bad if the teacher forgot to update it), the TV from his room is gone (no more cable, no more video games, etc) and he spends each night until bedtime at the dining room table doing homework and has to physically show us the homework (the exact missing assignment and any current assignments emailed to me from the teacher) is completed before being excused - if he says he forgot it at school the principal has kindly volunteered to go open up the school for him (the principal just doens't want it to become a daily thing, but I think we'll only have to call this bluff a couple times) - this one is going to take a lot of time, but again I don't think it'll be something that will always require as much time, just follow up, once he sees we mean it ok what does everyone think?