I am another who just loves Sharon's Salmon Quiche! Yum! And I adore Deborah's Paella Salad, too! I wouldn't have hurt feelings if someone wasn't too crazy about a recipe I posted as long as they don't "bash" it and just nicely state that it wasn't for them. We all have different tastes as is so obvious by this thread alone! But I do see Sherry's point, too. There are a couple of recipes I've tried that many of you rave about and I just scratch my head and go "huh?", but we'll leave those be. I tried lots of new recipes this year, and just some that made my "keeper" file: Pear & Candied Walnut Salad....Rachel Ray Stuffed Pork Chops...The Neely's Chicken Alfredo Pizza....Cooking Light Great Lakes Salmon Chowder....Midwest Living Magazine Ultimate Shrimp Scampi....from allrecipes Roasted Carrots with Thyme & Garlic....rosemarythyme Capuccino Mousse....Midwest Living Magazine Peppermint Bark....Sharon (Chase) Pork Saltimbocca with Polenta....Cooking Light The only bomb I can remember was a knock off recipe that really tasted nothing like it's namesake, Boston Market Meat Loaf. But I try lots of new things and if we don't like them I simply toss the recipe so I don't remember most of the others. Linda

In defense of the Army, and based on my own experience making up my college syllabus every year, I would say a lot of that verbiage is due to the atmosphere in our society today, a resistence towards accountability, i.e., "I didn't know that the flour wasn't supposed to have cockroaches in it, that wasn't in the manual." I imagine that the original recipe was about 5 pages long and each end every extra comment got added as time went on and somebody screwed up. Every year my syllabus gets longer and longer, as I have to cover every possible scenario so a student can't say, "That wasn't covered by the syllabus." For example, I have to specifically state that there is to be no cheating in class, (as if that wasn't a given) and then I have to go into great detail to describe specifically what constitutes cheating and what the consequences will be in each case. I not only put due dates for all my assignments but I break them up into "milestones" and tell my students, "At this point you should have your paper half done" etc. Also, since people only read about 25% of the instructions anyway, I'll bet that accounts for a lot of the repitition. Also, I'll bet the reason this absurdly detailed recipe was allowed to flourish is that the military has other better things to do with its time than go through the process of editing the brownie recipe! I'll bet the instructions for assembling a rifle are a lot more suscinct!

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'm also glad to be enjoying Thanksgiving virtually with all of you. Max went to our DIL's parents home, two hours away, bearing cranberry relish, cranberries baked with port, the best roast veggies we've ever made (loads of fennel, red onion, Brussels sprouts and carrots dressed with olive oil, dijon, balsamic vinegar, a little honey and some herbs)and two bottles of wine. Max did a most of the work, I washed my hands a lot and tried to help. I'm at home coughing and sneezing uncontrollably - really rotten timing - but I'm glad he went. He'll come home with turkey and sides for me for tomorrow and we have a four day weekend. Then only four more workdays and he retires, we are both happy about that. Lee, wishing you all good food with family and friends.

How about this one from our very own Alexa? MARINATED SHRIMP WITH CHAMPAGNE BUERRE BLANC Sauce base: 2 cups Champagne or other dry sparkling wine 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or other white wine vinegar 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns Shrimp: 1 cup Champagne or other dry sparkling wine 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons minced shallots 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 24 extra-large uncooked shrimp (about 2 pounds), peeled with tail left intact, deveined 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley Nonstick vegetable oil spray 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces For sauce base: Combine Champagne, shallots, vinegar, and peppercorns in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 1/4 cup liquid, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) For shrimp: Combine Champagne, olive oil, shallots, and ground pepper in resealable plastic bag. Add shrimp to bag and seal; shake bag to coat shrimp evenly. Marinate shrimp at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning bag occasionally. Mix chives, tarragon, and parsley in small bowl. Preheat broiler. Spray broiler pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Drain shrimp; discard plastic bag with marinade. Arrange shrimp on prepared pan in single layer. Broil shrimp until just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Stand 3 shrimp, tails upright, in center of each plate. Re-warm sauce base over medium-low heat. Whisk in butter 1 piece at a time, just allowing each to melt before adding next (do not boil or sauce will separate). Season buerre blanc to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon warm sauce around shrimp. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve. Market tip: Champagne and sparkling wines labeled extra dry are actually slightly sweeter than those labeled brut. The latter works best for this dish. Posted by Alexa at the GardenWeb Cooking Forum.