Manly Meatballs I love the name of this recipe! I found it at The Food Maven website and it reminded me of something my mom used to make years ago (she spread ground round on firm white bread and put it in the broiler--I was crazy about these flat burgers). This was written by Arthur Schwartz: Alan Richman's Manly Meatballs Makes about 36 Alan Richman is the esteemed and always witty food writer for Gentleman's Quarterly magazine, but I take the blame for calling these his "manly" meatballs. He made them for a birthday party of our mutual friend Alexis Bespaloff, the well-known wine writer. As he was passing them on a platter, taking full responsibility for their simplicity and strong flavor, he explained that he made them because when he heard the menu planned by Alex's wife he felt there might be too much "sissy food" -- you know, pasta and salads. They are not, of course, anything like any recipe you've ever seen for Swedish meatballs, but to my mind they make an even better stand-in. Baking them on bread slices -- which, by the way, do not burn or get too hard, even though it seems as if they would -- makes them perfect finger food. 1 pound ground chuck (not leaner beef) 3 scallions, finely minced (use most of the green) 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce (or regular soy sauce, if that's all you have) 1 firmly packed teaspoon brown sugar (a rounded teaspoon, if using regular soy sauce) 1 baguette or ficelle (a small diameter French bread), about 20 inches long, sliced about 1/2-inch thick (if the bread has a large diameter, cut the slices in half, just a bit bigger than the meatballs) In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients, except bread. With your hands, mix and knead thoroughly until the meat is a fine paste. Make balls the size of smallish walnuts. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet and place one meatball on each. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes in a preheated 450-degree oven until done to taste (Richman says "until just cooked through." I like them still rare.). Serve hot. source: www.thefoodmaven.com

Simple and appealing is to pipe gougere into different shapes (i.e., rounds, crescents, triangles, etc.) and pair a different filling with each shape. F'rinstance, you could put chicken salad in one shape, tuna in another, ham spread in a third, and so forth. Here's a great recipe for gougere: In a saucepan bring to a boil 1 cup cold water, 1 stick butter, cut in small pieces, 1 tsp salt and a dash pepper. Add 1 cup sifted flour all at once and cook the paste over low heat, beating it well, until it forms a ball and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove the paste from the heat and add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1/4 pound grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese and a heavy dash of dry mustard. Let the mixture cool. Put the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large tube and pipe it into shapes on a cookie sheet. Brush the gougeres with milk and bake them in a hot oven (425F) for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to moderately hot (375) and bake the gougeres for 20-25 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden. Let them cool on a wire rack, slit them, and fill just before serving. For something on the sweet side, alternate pineapple chunks and marischino cherries on long toothpicks or skewers. Cut a thick slice from the stem-end of an orange to create a flat surface. Stand the orange cut side down, then stick these kababs into the orange for a terrific presentation.

Thank you for all your suggestions. Sometimes, you just need another perspective to get inspiration. I'm heading out to the store in a bit and am going to pick up some jumbo shells. I'll use the cottage cheese as a filling instead of ricotta. That's a great idea. I'm going to make the chili-cheese puff too. My husband is crazy about green chilis, so this will be sure to please him. Since it's just the two of us, I'll halve the recipe. Ginger, how did you know I would want a roll recipe? I like to have homemade sandwich rolls on hand for lunches. Your recipe sounds wonderful, especially with the horseradish addition. Never even thought of that. But wouldn't horseradish make a dull sliced turkey sandwich zingy? Teresa, I'm also going to give your bread recipe a try. I love the dill rye bread I get at the grocery store. But homemade is always better. My husband is on a low sodium diet, so it's better if I can make my own breads, rolls, etc. That way I can cut the salt content in half. Thanks for all your ideas. In this case, my brain just needed a jump start.

Does anyone have the recipe for this artichoke cream cheese snack/pizza? It sounds delicious and is supposed to be one of the Pampered Chef's.