Happy Birthday Kathy, hope the day goes just great and here's a couple of recipes that you might like. The first one I took to an outdoor picnic last summer and it was a big hit. You don't have to worry about it getting rancid in the heat, either. CORN CHIP CRUNCH INGREDIENTS * 2 bags corn chips (8.75 oz.) * 3 or 4 cups dry roasted peanuts (or any salted nut you prefer) * 6 cups Golden Grahams cereal * 1 cup packed brown sugar * 1 cup dark corn syrup * 1/2 cup butter DIRECTIONS In a large heatproof bowl, combine corn chips, peanuts & Golden Grahams. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Pour over corn chip mixture; toss to coat evenly. Transfer to a greased 15-in. x 11-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 250 degrees F for 45 minutes; stirring every 15 minutes. Spread onto waxed paper; cool. Break apart and store in airtight containers. Sweet and salty, shiny & pretty. Easy and different! The other recipe is my Tuna Salad. I noticed you might be tired of your version, Kathy. Try this one. A maid for some really rich people gave me this recipe about 35 years ago and I've made mine this way ever since. And I never have any complaints from others either. Tuna Salad Several Cans Tuna (drained) Finely Chopped Celery Finely Chopped Apple Chopped Sweet Pickle Cubes (not pickle relish!) Mayonnaise to taste The apple gives it the best flavor! Hope you try it. ~tenderlee

Here's my recipe, from my Mom of course. I'm guessing at the amounts, cuz I just do it my taste and consistency, but lets say you're doing a dozen eggs: Miracle Whip, not mayo: 3/4 to a cup (that's a guess, start small, you can always add more) Finely chopped sweet pickles: 2 tablespoons A little of the pickle juice: 1 tablespoon Just a small squirt of yellow mustard: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Sugar: 2 teaspoons to start From here it's just how sweet you like it, and use the type of pickles you like the best. This is the same "sauce" my Mom used for potato salad too, only she added celery seed to the mixture. Hope you like.

Nanny wrote: "So, when Natal, or I, or someone else added those cranberries or nuts to their recipes, it was not to disobey your request, but to show others how their recipes were prepared. It's very easy to omit ingredients from any recipe, which is what I presume these women expect you to do." Thank you for replying, I wasn't going to come back into the topic but it's been bothering me all day because all I did was jokingly say "Ick" to a food I don't like. What I notice here is that others have made rude comments about Miracle Whip, a food *I* use, but were they called out on their "rudeness" to me? No. Why is it ALWAYS me, especially when I go out of my way to let you all know I'm laughing, just as I would if you were sitting before me. I'm not laughig AT you, I'm laughing at an ingredient in food! I have to disagree with you about people adding the ingredients that I specifically asked NOT to be added. Just as everyone goes into other's topics and apologizes for "hijacking" it, this was MY topic, and MY question. I'm not saying this to be mean, but I was the one who wanted some recipes which do not use fruits and nuts. Unless it was a fruit salad. :) So yes, when I get a reply I expect it to be for ME, and others are more than welcome to chime in. It's no different than if you did a topic on the other forum asking for painting advice on any color EXCEPT black, and everyone replied showing you their black rooms. lol. So I don't see how it was wrong for me to RME when I got the recipes with fruits and nuts. When we do a topic asking a specific question, should others reply for the sake of themselves, or to answer the OP's question? Lastly, I cannot believe how the word "Ick" offended others when no offense was meant at ALL. You all don't know me, but I'm known as the "Peace maker". Sure, I get my feelings hurt just like everyone else does, and I hate arguments especially if they're so trivial as me laughing and saying "Ick." I find it extremely rude to correct people on something so minor especially when it's obvious there was no intent on insulting anyone. I said it good heartedly. Just as I said the word "Yankee." Others have been calling themselves Yankees on this board all the time, but when I say it, it's considered offensive? I just get the feeling that some people here, but not all and just a minority, love to nitpick and bicker with others ad nauseum. We were having a fun and fascinating conversation about sandwiches and Miracle Whip vs. Mayonaise, until... I even found a place that sells the Mayo the "southerners" here like that I can order it online. Now, as far as being southern, I think I said this before. Both of my parents were born and raised in southern Virginia, and moved here to Oklahoma after they married. My father is a graduate of VA. Tech. Every single person in my family except my brother and myself are from Virginia. My uncle had a tobacco farm. I grew up with parents dipping cornbread in Buttermilk. ICK!!!! lol. See? I'm laughing about it, I still laugh at it to my mom when she does it! It's not a derogatory term because it's FOOD. But if you were to serve it to me, I'd be polite and eat it and if I didn't like it, you'd never know. Talking about food tastes is one thing and to turn it into nasty, nasty personal insults is another. Which I know you didn't do. I do however take offense because you are insinuating I am not "sophisticated" because I don't like fruit and nuts in my sandwiches. What? You have no idea what I eat. BTW, if anyone even cares at this point, I decided to make some Vegetable Bars and Tuna Salad finger sandwiches. :)

Good topic. I don't do a lot of baking other than cookies around this time of year. Have had some semi-fails baking that have been very frustrating until I came to a conclusion.... size eggs make a difference. I love Paula Deen's pound cake recipe. Pretty straight forward, goes into COLD oven and is yummy. Had a time or 2 when not remotely done when timer went off? The hour or so cooking time needed at least another 20 minutes or so before tooth pcik came out clean? Was beginning to think my oven was off. Dawned on me it was the EGGS! Think recipe called for 6 eggs... can't think of a single recipe where this ever means anything but LARGE... kind of a given?!? Well, I was using JUMBOS. By weight/volume it was more like eight eggs. A chart was just a google away!