southerncharm - the tail, the whiskers, the dirty little paws yes, I can say that I am hooked beyound belief the only problem I still have is that once I clean the nails I go back to nibbling on them! Oh well, what is one little flaw amongst so many others... LOL I do have a question though.. what if the receipt we have does not contain enough veggies for 6 packets can we send duplicates? All my seeds have started to germinate and I am rapidly running out of bedroom space to put them (it is the only room that gets enough light that the cats don't eat the plants in.. )I am begining to think that if I give up sleeping on my bed put plants on it and just curl up with the cats in a box I could fit a few more seedlings in! LOL If anyone is in the Columbus Ohio area Sutherlands is having a 15cent seed packet sale and Oakland park nursary is still having 33% off seed packets.

Here are a few recipes that I make using Buttermilk. As mentioned above, if you don't have buttermilk just add a little fresh squeezed lemon juice to your milk. Let it sit for a minute or two to thicken. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Almond Cake From Albufeira, Portugal ==================================== Bon Appetit, November 1977 1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup melted butter cooled to room Temperature 2/3 cup sliced almonds Hot Almond Syrup (recipe follows) Hot Almond Syrup 3/4 cup granulated sugar 6 tablespoons water 1/2 teaspoon almond extract . Preheat oven to 350* F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Beat egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract together until smooth. Stir in melted butter. Add flour mixture and mix with spoon until nearly smooth. Turn into a buttered 9" springform pan. Bake until center of cake springs back when lightly touched, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven. While is hot, cover top with sliced almonds. Slowly pour Hot Almond Syrup even over, letting syrup soak into cake. Broil about 6" from heat until almonds are lightly toasted. Cool on rack 15 minutes. Using knife or spatula, loosen sides between pan and cake, then cool completely before releasing springform pan. Almond Syrup In 1-qt saucepan combine sugar and water. Boil until mixture reaches 220* F on candy thermometer*. Remove from heat and stir I almond extract. Edited: January 22nd, 2006 Be careful not to over cook the syrup or it will harden on top of the almonds rather than get absorbed into the cake. I don't use the thermometer. I just bring the syrup to a boil and cook for about one minute. There is so little syrup that it doesn't take long. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Oatmeal Pancakes ================ Http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001893dees_oat meal_pancakes.php Do you love oatmeal? Do you love pancakes? You should try them when they are one and the same. Seriously. Dee Johnston whipped up her favorite family recipe for a recent gathering of friends and this is now my new favorite pancake. Great smothered with butter and maple syrup (of course) and also leftover strawberries from strawberry shortcake. A little advanced planning is necessary as the oats must soak in buttermilk overnight. Yummmmm.... 2 cups oats (the regular kind - Old Fashioned or Quick, not steel-cut and not instant) 3 cups buttermilk 3 eggs, well beaten 1/2 cup flour 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder Dash salt 1 tablespoon peanut oil Butter or extra vegetable oil for the griddle Optional A basket of strawberries - stems removed, sliced, and macerated with 2 Tbsp of sugar for an hour, then slightly mashed Maple syrup Butter 1 Put oats into a large bowl, add the buttermilk. Let the oats soak in the buttermilk overnight. 2 Mix in the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and peanut oil. Oatmeal-pancakes-1.jpg oatmeal-pancakes-2.jpg Oatmeal-pancakes-3.jpg 3 Then proceed as with any pancake recipe. Heat a flat iron surface - griddle or large pan - to medium high heat. Oil the pan with either a Tbsp of butter or vegetable oil. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle to the desired size, usually about 5 or 6 inches wide. When air bubbles start to bubble up to the surface at the center of the pancakes (about 2-3 minutes), use a flat spatula to flip them over. After a minute, peak under one for doneness. When golden or darker golden brown, they are done. Note that cooking the second side takes only about half as long as the first side. And the second side doesn't brown as evenly as the first side. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. Serves 4-6. Serve with butter, maple syrup, and macerated strawberries. Country Biscuits ================ 2 cups of flour 1 Tablespoon of baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup shortening, lard, Crisco or butter (I use butter) 1 cup of milk (cream) or buttermilk if using buttermilk add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda) Optional. Add a little sugar if you prefer sweet rather than savory. Mix the flour with the baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter/shortening until it resembles coarse meal. Stir milk or cream in to flour mixture. Mix quickly with fork until dough comes together. Using hands gently pat the ingredients together. Fold over once or twice or even three times if necessary. Do not over-handle. Pat out to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut with biscuit cutters and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes at 450°F. TIP: Using your finger push a little dent into the middle of the biscuit. This helps the biscuit rise straight and prevents it from tipping over as it rises. If making cheese biscuits add the mustard and cayenne to the dry ingredients and add the cheese after the shortening has been cut into the flour. Tip: An easy way to cut the butter into the flour is to use a box grater. The large side of the grater makes the perfect size pieces of butter. Options: You can use any favourite cheese. Gorgonzola and other blue cheeses are wonderful with the addition of black pepper. Cheddar cheese is good with chives or green onions. Sometimes I add dry mustard and cayenne pepper. Or bacon or ham.

So many good recipes here! If we make it again I'll try them. I didn't have a chance to check in before making it this morning. I started at 6:15 and at 8:15 after showering (oven turned off after baking at 350, not broiling, and burner for cider turned off) I was running to pour the cider in the 5 gal Igloo and get the pans in the cooler. But we made it - drove up to Springfield and found they'd pushed start to 11AM instead of 10. So it sat longer than expected but was still warm and the cider was so hot we had to add cold cider in. I did have a little problem with the sauce - I made a double batch (for 2 lbs of pasta) at a time, poured it in with about 1 lb diced ham (decided that was enough) and yes 1/2 package of peas. Then put the pan (which still had cheese sauce in it) back on burner to add more cheese sauce (I had almost 1C from last night) and more cheese, I didn't think I needed more roux. Burner was off but sauce burnt to bottom so I only poured a little over the 2nd pan before I realized, put 2nd lb of pasta in with just lots of shredded cheese, melted a stick of butter and some milk in the MW and poured over, mixed in, stuck in oven, mixed some more then topped with more cheese. Guess which one they went for first? But they said it was all good, they were going back for the ham & pea version even before the plain was gone. I think teenagers will eat anything (of course DD wouldn't touch it). I think we ate 3/4 of it (so 3 lbs of pasta) and there were 23 kids and 4 adults counting the bus driver (who said she didn't like peas but liked this and took the leftovers home). Next time I'm not going to get so involved making the sauce - I'll melt butter, milk and cheese together and if it's not thick enough I'll add roux but I'd definitely add more cheese, less milk and flour than CI calls for (I used less than 3 quarts b/c I wasted some in the burnt sauce, so 1/2 gal was probably enough for 4 lbs of pasta, but I used 3 sticks of butter, 2 in the roux and 1 in the last pan). The cayenne wasn't noticeable and I did heavily salt the water, and put about 1 tsp of salt in the first cheese sauce but none in the 2nd pan (butter/milk) and I don't think they missed it. I forgot to bring salt and pepper but I've got some plastic shakers I'll throw in the box with cups and flatware so we have it with us.

This is my favorite recipe but it calls for filet mignon so I save this one for when we may have guests (we sponsor local college students who often come for dinner, or if dh is having a couple friends over for a football game, etc). A friend of mine gave me the recipe - she found it online and made it for a chili cookoff and everyone raved about it. It apparently originated at Gallagher's Steak House in NYC. Please note that this is obviously for a large group. I either halve the recipe when I make it or I freeze half of it. I also don't think I use nearly that much butter, nor do I add any at the end like it calls for. Gallagher's Guinness & Filet Mignon Chili Gallagher's Guinness Stout & Filet Mignon Chili CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com Serves/Makes: 15 | Ready In: 30-60 minutes Ingredients: 1 cup salted butter 1 pound filet mignon, cut in 1/4-inch dice 5 pounds ground sirloin 2 cups onion, cut in 1/4-inch dice 1 chile pepper, seeds and veins removed, cut in 1/8-inch dice 1/2 cup Guinness stout 1/4 cup flour 2 cups crushed tomatoes 1/4 cup tomato paste 4 cups beef stock 1 cup black beans, cooked or canned (rinsed and drained) 1 cup kidney beans, cooked or canned (rinsed and drained) 1/2 cup chili powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon kosher salt 2 teaspoons ground white pepper 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese ***Garnish*** sour cream diced red onions diced bell pepper shredded cheddar cheese diced tomatoes chopped fresh cilantro Directions: Heat a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add half the butter. When melted add the filet mignon and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned. Add the ground sirloin and cook until no longer pink. Remove the meat and set aside. Drain off all but 2-3 tablespoons of grease from the pan. Add the onion and chile pepper to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is soft. Return the meat to the pan and add the Guinness. Bring to a boil for one minute. Add the flour, stirring constantly for one minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and beef stock. Stir to mix well. Reduce the heat to a low simmer. Add the black and kidney beans, chili powder, cumin, salt, white pepper, and brown sugar. Let simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir the chili occasionally. Add the remaining butter and cheddar cheese. Stir well until the butter is incorporated and the cheese is melted. Serve hot. Place in individual bowls and garnish with sour cream, onions, bell pepper, cheese, tomatoes, and/or fresh cilantro.