Whoa, Suero, that eggplant app sounds amazing! I have to be honest and admit that is something I am more likely to make for lunch instead of a party...more for me :-) I love apples and pears, garyfx! I'm trying to put together a menu that doesn't require a fork... Any recipes involving those fruits to share? I've also thought about using a tart pear paste with the Brie instead of fig. Holly Kay and Bumble---- like the idea of asparagus in phylo. What length of asparagus spear? Any sauce or purée or anything else in the phylo aside from Parmesan? Is it dry? Mtnrdredux: we make champagne cocktails often, usually just making them up as we go along. (When my mother tells me she's bringing a new recipe to try when she comes down to spend the weekend she's almost always referring to a new drink, preferably with champagne or grey goose :-). We have that particular cocktail at holiday parties because it has a festive look from the green lime and red cranberry and a gorgeous color from the pomegranate juice. Also it's easy to make a non alcoholic mock-tail that looks just the same. They can be made one at a time two parts champagne to one part p juice, squeeze of lime and a frozen cherry-- or if I've had time, a couple of them strung on a holiday toothpick. Or you can mix up a batch like punch and drop in the lime and cranberry as the glasses are filled. You can use prosecco for similar results and if we have lots of people I do. But we buy champagne by the case and usually use that.

Here you go! Date Pinwheels -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baker's Catalogue editor P.J. Hamel reports that this is her all-time favorite Christmas cookie. She writes: "My own memories include the soft brown dough, the dates bubbling on the stove, the tricky process of rolling the filling inside the dough, and the magical way the refrigerator would make the sticky mass solid and sliceable. And the taste! Waiting till just the right moment, the cookies hot out of the oven but the filling cool enough not to burn, my sister and I would greedily eat date pinwheels till Mom made us stop. No, date pinwheels aren't beautiful; in fact, they're usually kind of plain-looking, the spiral of dates often a bit out of whack. But these homely little gems strike just the right note on my Christmas cookie spread. "Remember to share this recipe with a younger friend; it's up to all of us to pass along this type of old and trusted recipe to the next generation of bakers." Dough 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter 2 cups (15 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar, packed 3 large eggs 4 cups (17 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda Filling* 1 3/4 cups (9 1/4 ounces) chopped dates 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar 3/4 cup (6 ounces) water 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) finely diced pecans or walnuts *Though this filling is easy enough to make, if you want to use purchased date (or fig) filling, go ahead. You'll need about 2 cups (24 ounces) of filling. Dough: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour, salt, and baking soda. Chill the dough till it's firm enough to roll out, at least 1 hour. Filling: While the dough is chilling, make the filling. In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, combine the dates, sugar, water, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and boil the dates gently for 10 to 15 minutes, or until thickened to about the consistency of very soft jam. Stir in the finely diced nuts, and set aside. Assembly: Divide the dough in half; each half will weigh about 21 ounces. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into a 9" x 12", 1/4"-thick rectangle. Spread half the filling (about 11 ounces) over the entire surface of the dough; the filling is sticky and stiff, but if you keep wetting your fingers, you can push and spread it around without too much trouble. Roll the dough up, lengthwise, to make a log. It's somewhat delicate, but a baker's bench knife or spatula helps the job along. Wrap each log in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for several hours, or overnight. If you have a double baguette pan, slip the wrapped dough into the wells to help preserve their round shape. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and if it's flattened out at all roll it till it's round again; the log may lengthen a bit, and that's OK. Cut the log into 1/3" slices, and place the slices 1 1/2" apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Baking: Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes, or until they're a very light brown, reversing the baking sheets (top to bottom, and front to back) midway through the baking time. Remove the cookies from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Yield: about 8 dozen pinwheels. ©2007 The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Yes Kathleen and only someone who knows the island would know that! I take it from your user name that you're from LI as well...where abouts? The original recipe is as follows. Cook's added beer, vinegar, and a quick knead before the final rise. Sue No-Knead Bread Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery Time: About 1.5 hours plus 14 to 20 hours rising 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast 1 1/4 teaspoons salt Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed. 1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. 2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes. 3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. 4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. Yield: One 1.5 pound loaf.

Buttery Yeast Rolls I found this on Food.com Prep Time: 2 hrs Total Time: 2 hrs 18 mins Yield: 20-24 rolls Ingredients 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup warm milk 1 eggs 1/3 cup butter or 1/3 cup margarine, softened 1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour ( NOT bread flour!) 1 package dry yeast ( 2 1/4 tsp) 1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine Directions Place all ingredients except the 1/4 cup butter into bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select the dough cycle and start machine. Shape dough into 20 to 24 balls and place in buttered pan (s). Melt the 1/4 cup butter and brush it over the tops of rolls, saving the excess for brushing on after baking. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until double in bulk. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 18 minutes. Brush baked rolls with remaining butter. NOTE: This dough can also be divided into two portions and each rolled into a 12-inch circle; spread each circle with softened butter, cut into 8 wedges and roll up starting with wide end, to make crescents OR use this dough for cinnamon rolls or sticky buns. I made a batch of these today and they are really good. I used real butter and rolled them out jelly roll style and buttered and rolled them up and put them in muffin pans. I use the homemade Pam grease and the recipe made 14 large rolls. I baked mine for 15 minutes. I think I will get out two bread machines and make two batches for Thanksgiving. Sue