Teresa, it's very good, savory and substantial, I think it would make an awesome grilled cheese sandwich. Here's the recipe I used. I never have wine, so I just used more chicken broth for that, and I never use bouillion or soup base because of the salt and I sure wasn't going to go buy some for a loaf of bread, so I used 1 1/4 cups of homecanned chicken broth. I made it in the bread machine on the dough cycle, added the wild rice when I got the "beep" for the add in, shaped the loaves on my half sheet pan and baked them on the pan. Wild Rice Bread 4-1/2 to 4-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 packages active dry yeast 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley, crushed 1 teaspoon snipped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed 1 cup cooked wild rice 1 cup water 1/4 cup dry white wine or water 3 tablespoons butter or margarine 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules 1/4 teaspoon salt Stir together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, parsley, thyme, and wild rice in a large mixing bowl; set aside. Heat and stir water, wine or water, butter or margarine, sugar, bouillon, and salt in a medium saucepan just until warm (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F), butter almost melts, and bouillon dissolves. Add water mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (45 minutes to 1 hour). Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rise for 10 minutes. Shape each half of the dough into a 6-inch round loaf, tucking edges underneath. Place loaves 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (30 to 40 minutes). Using a sharp knife, cut an X in the top of each loaf. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven about 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when you tap the top with your fingers (if necessary, cover loosely with foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Remove bread from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Calories 76, Total Fat 1 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 3 mg, Sodium 55 mg, Carbohydrate 14 g, Fiber 1 g, Protein 2 g. Definitely a keeper recipe, this would be really good with soup in the winter too. Annie

Teresa, Key West is one of my very favorite places! Love,love,love Blue Heaven! Not a fan of Louie's Backyard, food is hit or miss and the servers are pretentious. I like to stay at the Casa Marina now a Waldorf which is the original Flagler Hotel. And of course, can't miss a stop at sunset celebration or Sloppy Joes for a libation. Took my first trip to Key West when I was 20. Had a backpack, bikini and a pair of jeans and I fell in love with the people, atmosphere and scenery. Did I mention the fishing? Many decades later, I still love it and hope to spend at least part of retirement there.

I agree with Wildchild. I like variety, loaded potatoes and the like too (a huge campfire baked potato covered with good chili is a treat), but no, mashed potatoes are a type of dish. And just because it's not in a dish rather than a bowl doesn't change the preparation method and style into something it's not. You can't call cheese filled potatoes mashed potatoes any more than calling hash brown casserole hash browns. They're not the same at all. Liking other stuff in it and changing it is fine but why sit and lie about it? Say you don't like potatoes! Be honest! LOL It's no different than ordering a hamburger but substituting tofu for the meat and a lettuce leaf wrap instead of a bun and saying I love hamburgers. Not a burger and cheez-n-cream-n-whatever-else is not mashed potatoes to me. I too grew up with gravy for mashed potatoes and still like them that way. The other "dishes" are combined with other things to replace gravy I suspect, or do you put gravy on them anyway? Or maybe the problem is people don't like gravy? It certainly isn't for lower fat or something! LOL I've grown tired of the adulterated taters. The last week I've been feasting on simple baked potatoes with some butter and seasoning on them and sometimes little or no seasoning. To me it's the same thing with other foods. I don't need honey or syrup on my ham. Save it for the pancakes thank you. I don't need cheese on cauliflower either. I don't need brown sugar on my carrots. Guess it's easier to see why people weigh in as they do! LOL I'm off to cook a turkey breast. No sugar on it, no glazing, just some seasoning probably. Although I'm debating about doing one bacon-wrapped sometime. But I'll take instants over the poorly prepared potatoes. I've had many that are pretty decent, just add some extra butter and salt to them and no lumps. Some places use leftover baked potatoes mixed in with the instants to simulate lumpy mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes aren't to be lumpy - then eat them baked, boiled or steamed for chunks of potato. They're good that way. I do like potatoes a variety of ways, but they have to be properly prepared anyway. I don't like raw baked potatoes, lumpy mashed, mushy boiled or grease-soaked french fries! It's not hard to do them right.

lpink, I had a similar issue with my Dad after Mom died. I found soups and crackers, stews, casseroles, etc. worked best for him. Definitely use flat wide containers, they heat more evenly. I cooked once or twice a week and brought it over. I never froze anything. My Dad liked: Shepherds Pie - You could sub peas & carrots for the corn Chili with beans (bland) topped with cheese and served with tortilla chips for scooping Hot Dogs and Baked Beans - Sliced hot dogs sauteed with a little onions then mixed with Baked Beans. You could omit the onion. Sliced Kielbasa with stewed tomatoes and sliced zucchini Cooked breakfast sausage on mashed potatoes and a veggie side American Chop Suey - Scrambled hamburg, stewed tomatoes (I used Del Monte with peppers and onions), cooked pasta, some tomato sauce and seasoning to taste (Bland as heck but he loved it.) Roast Chicken with Rice Florentine - Rice cooked in chix stock with chopped spinach, fresh lemon juice, butter and some parmesan cheese added Bake Stuffed Potatoes - Baked the potatoes fluff in the skin and add butter, then add cooked chicken, a little bacon, broccoli and top with sliced cheese. These were his favorite. You could swap out the broccoli for another veggie. Mac & Cheese with Ham and Carrots Pasta Alfredo with Canadian Bacon and Peas Boneless Bake Stuffed Pork Chop - Stuffed with apples, walnuts, celery, onion whole grain bread. You could omit or add ingredients to suit his tastes. Be sure to keep the stuffing layer an even thickness so it heats evenly. Egg Casserole - Ingredients varied but I made these in 4" ramekins. Frozen hash browns on the bottom for crust. Press in firmly and pre-bake. Beat the eggs with a little cream some, cheese and bacon, sausage or ham bits, and chopped veggies. Fill the ramekins and bake until cooked through. These reheat well in the microwave. Baked Ziti with homemade tomato vegetable meat sauce and cheese Finger foods - Anything that gave the appearance of a snack i.e. he could eat with his fingers or dip and eat in front of the TV. In the first few months after Mom died, this is all Dad ate. He refused to eat at the kitchen or dining room tables. For example: -A small container of tomato soup for dipping grill cheese fingers in. You would have to test container sizes to be sure the "sauce" heats in the same amount of time as the fingers. -Shrimp Cocktail -Crackers and Spinach Artichoke Dip (I sometimes added crab, shrimp, ham, bacon, chicken or whatever to this.) -Homemade cookie sticks with fresh strawberry dip (Greek vanilla yogurt with finely diced and drained strawberries) -French Toast Fingers with a side of Maple syrup -Mini Quesadillas with Salsa for dipping - Fill small tortillas with cooked ingredients and cheese, grill until browned and crispy and the cheese is melted. I always put the cheese against the tortilla, they get less soggy that way. Cool on a rack. These heat in 30 seconds or so in the microwave. Pre-cut in small wedges. -Pate and Crackers -Cherry tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad -Deviled Eggs -Hot Crab Dip and Crackers -Mini Scallop Rockerfeller Tarts - Cooked Scallops, Spinach, Brie or laughing Cow cheese in a pie shell. I used mini muffin tins and pre-baked the crust. These are best the first day but Dad ate them even soggy. -English Muffin Pizzas - Pre-cut in wedges. Pre toast the English muffins until crunchy. -Lamb Chop Lollipops with Mint Pesto Dipping Sauce (For sauce mix mint jelly with store bought pesto.) -Peking Dumplings -Fresh Spring Rolls -Skewers of anything with dipping sauce -Mac & Cheese Bites Well you get the idea... I found that if I made a printed menu and put it on the refrigerator, Dad ate more because he didn't have to decide what to eat. Of course then there were days where he would eat candy instead of dinner. And when he was feeling cantankerous he would just eat what he felt like whenever he felt like it, sometimes 3 days worth of food in one day and none the next! :-) Or if not a menu then a list of what you brought and make sure to boldly and clearly label each item so your Dad doesn't have to think about it. Even the simplest task is overwhelming right now. Dad ate more sweets during the grieving process so healthy sweets were a big focus. Some days all he wanted were Chocolate Chip Cookies so I improvised and added some oatmeal and a little grated zucchini or whatever. They might not have always been stellar but they were sweet and he ate them or the dog did. LOL Good luck and God Bless! Take heart, my Mom's last words to me were, "I'm so sorry I'm leaving you stuck with your father. I love you." She knew!