It does sound lovely, except for the flat rolls, but enough mojitos and you're good, LOL. I love your description of your family, it sounds a lot like mine except we don't have a Mexican. Yet. Everyone from the college educated engineer to the police officer/firefighter to the old farmers, add a Jewish DIL on Elery's side plus his family from Tennessee and we've got a bit of everything. (grin) OK, the butterlake rolls recipe, easy as can be. Even San made a batch a few years ago and was successful and she told me she did NOT bake bread. Ever. This halves easily, I just use a whole egg, I don't try to halve it and I use all butter, no shortening. Butterflake Rolls 2 packages active dry yeast 2 cups warm water 1/2 cup sugar 2 tsp salt 6 to 6 1/2 cups flour 1 egg 1/2 cup shortening (use butter) 1/2 cup butter, softened. In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and shortening, mix well, stir in enough flour to form a soft dough. Do not knead. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, punch dough down and divide into 4 portions. Roll each portion into a 14 x 12 inch rectangle, spread 2 tbls butter over dough. Fold in half lengthwise and cut into 12 strips. Tie each strip into a knot, tuck and pinch ends under. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 4 dozen And congratuations on the "grown up" dinner, it sounds perfect to me. Annie

I made this soup up for Thanksgiving, 2007. Curried Butternut Squash Soup w/apricots & coconut milk 1 c onion 1" x 1 ½" piece ginger, peeled & minced 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded, but not deveined 3 or 4 cloves garlic, smashed 1 T curry powder 1 t ground cumin 1 can chicken broth 2 cans water 1 knorr chicken bouillon cube 2 lbs peeled, seeded, butternut squash, thinly sliced 4-6 oz. Dried California apricots (not Turkish style)depending on how tart you want the soup. 1 can coconut milk 1 t cayenne (opt.) 1 t salt 1 T sugar Saute onions over a medium-high heat with ginger, jalapeno & garlic until onions are translucent. Add curry powder & cumin, saute for a few minutes until the spices are pungent. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the coconut milk, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the squash is tender. Puree soup with an emulsifier wand or blender. Add coconut milk, adjust seasonings, and bring back to serving heat. This soup is good served hot or cold. Garnishes might be toasted, chopped nuts, chopped cilantro, thinly sliced green onions, toasted, grated coconut or raisin bread croutons. And this was something I came up with when booking catering jobs. A client wanted a "fall" theme to the foods, and had some vegetarian guests coming to her event. She was concerned that they have some interesting dishes to choose from, and would leave feeling like they had an actual meal rather than just "making do" with whatever side dishes they were able to eat. Our chef wasn't exactly familiar with vegetarian foods, but was open to suggestions. Mixed grain salad with roasted butternut squash A mixture of grainstry to use at least 3 kinds, of different colors. I use varying combinations of basmati rice, long grain brown rice*, barley, bulgar (tabuleh), quinoa, wild rice, millet, and sometimes, to lighten the texture, I add couscous. Onions, celery, carrots-chopped Green peas (frozen are fineif you have fresh, blanch them first) Roasted butternut squash cubes** Cranberry vinaigrette*** Chopped parsley & green onions Chopped, toasted nuts (I like pecans or hazelnuts) Cook grain selections separately, according to directions, but remember that they will absorb dressing and soften, so a bit al dente is better than over cooked. Saute onions, celery, carrots until tender, but not too soft. Toss with grains, parsley, green onions and vinaigrette. Gently fold butternut squash cubes in. *Short grain rices are too sticky for this dish, in my opinion. **Roasted butternut squash. Peel squash. Cut into ½ inch cubes. toss in olive oil and roast in the oven, checking frequently until just cooked, but not mushy. If it doesnt brown at all, pass under a broiler after cooking just to brown the edges a bit. ***Cranberry vinaigrette. Make a basic vinaigrette with olive oil, red wine or champagne vinegar, garlic & onion powders, salt & pepper. Put the vinaigrette in a blender with about 3/4 Tablespoon dried cranberries per cup vinaigrette, and puree until smooth. Then, add about a quarter cup of dried cranberries for every cup vinaigrette, and pulse blender until cranberries are chopped, but not pureed. Let vinaigrette sit over night. Before tossing the grain salad in the dressing, taste the vinaigrette for sweetness and add a bit of sugar if need be. It shouldnt be too tart or too sweet. Sprinkle the toasted chopped nuts on top and garnish with sprigs of parsley, green onion tassels or carrot curls and a few whole dried cranberries.

Pasties are a favorite fall food here, along with anything that has apples. I also think of potatoes, winter squashes and pumpkins. This is my current favorite pasty recipe, although I sub some butter for half of the Crisco. I was taught that carrots NEVER go in a pasty, and they have to have rutabaga, but some people prefer the sweeter carrots. I think it's which ever you like, and I don't use ground beef, always the diced or minced steak. Don't use really lean beef or the pasty is dry. Dad covers his with gravy, I like mine plain. Pasty Recipe (This recipe makes four pasties, multiply accordingly) The Crust 2 cup flour 2/3 cup Crisco 1/2 teaspoon Salt 1/2 cup Cold Water Cut Shortening into Flour and Salt, add Water. Mix and Knead until well blended. (yes, contrary to pie crust, you Knead) Form into 4 balls and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Roll in to 8 inch circle. Use plenty of flour while rolling out. The Filling 3/4 pound of ground chuck or 1/2 inch cubes of steak. 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup of grated rutabaga (or carrots) 1/2 cup grated (edible) beef suet (optional) (the suet is used with the lean steak, and can be traded off to the fat content of the ground beef) 3 cups of diced potatos 1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoon dried Parsley or 1/3 cup fresh Mix the filling together in a large bowl. Roll out the dough, and brush the edges with milk. Put 1 cup of filling onto one side of each crust and fold over. Seal the edge by pressing with a fork. Put on cookie sheet, cut 1 slit (1/2 inch) in each for steam and brush top with milk. Bake in 400F oven on Bottom Shelf for 25 minutes, then move to middle shelf for 20 minutes. Annie

All the talk about Scalloped Oysters - I am adding them to my menu for this year. I found the following Martha Stewart recipe, it sounds pretty good to me, but since I have never had a scalloped oyster, I'm not sure if it has too much "stuff" and should I stick to the recommendations above? Scalloped Oysters Choose fresh, briny oysters that are small or medium in size. Martha Stewart Living, November 2012 http://www.marthastewart.com/939250/scalloped-oysters Prep Time25 minutes Total Time35 minutes Serves8 Ingredients 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for baking dish 3 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 celery stalk, very thinly sliced on the diagonal (1/2 cup) 3 scallions, trimmed and chopped (1/3 cup) 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves 2 tablespoons dry sherry 3/4 cup heavy cream 2 pints (32 ounces) shucked fresh oysters in their liquor, drained, with 2 tablespoons liquor reserved 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg Directions 1.Preheat oven to 450 degrees with rack in top position. Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until breadcrumbs are golden brown and crisp, about 10 minutes. Stir in parsley, and remove from heat. Sprinkle half the breadcrumbs evenly in baking dish, and transfer remaining breadcrumbs to a plate. 2.Wipe pan clean, and return to stove. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Saute celery and scallions, stirring occasionally, until scallions just begin to soften but celery is still bright green, about 2 minutes. Stir in thyme. Add sherry, and simmer 30 seconds. Add cream, and bring to a boil. Stir in reserved oyster liquor, the nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from heat, and stir in oysters. 3.Spread oyster mixture evenly over breadcrumbs in baking dish. Top with remaining breadcrumbs, and bake until bubbling and oysters are just cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately.