My MIL is a chocolate pie fanatic - she adored this one: GRANNY'S CHOCOLATE MERINGUE PIE Crust: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 3/4 cup solid vegetable shortening 1 Tblsp. sugar 6 to 7 Tblsp. ice cold water Filling: 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped 1-1/4 cups sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch Pinch salt 3 cups milk 3 eggs, separated 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 2 Tblsp. butter In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Mix well. Add the shortening and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and let sit 1 minute. Either using a fork or your hands, carefully press the mixture together to form a soft ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough on the floured surface into a circle about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. Gently fold the circle of dough in half and then in half again so that you can lift it without tearing it, and unfold into a 9-inch by 2-inch deep-dish pie pan. Crimp the edges and place in the oven. Bake until golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely. In a saucepan, combine the chocolate, 1 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt. Mix well. Stir in the milk. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Beat the egg yolks. Add 1/2 cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolks and mix well. Add the mixture back to the saucepan and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell and cool completely. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until chilled. Beat the egg whites, on medium speed, until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Spread the meringue evenly over the pie. Place in a preheated 350 degree F. oven, on the top rack and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove and cut into individual servings. Recipe courtesy of Felicia Willett, 1999 Â From Emeril Live, June 2000.

Definitely good for a week. But since mine never lasts much longer than that, I just Googled it. This is from David Lebovitz's site, and he checked with the FDA, so that's two pretty good authorities: A reader recently wrote to ask, "How long does ice cream last in the freezer?" Oddly, I never gave it much thought since it doesn't seem to linger too long around here. So I looked around and found the answer at the FDA website: 2-4 months. The most common problem when ice creams and other frozen desserts spend too long in the freezer is the texture changes and if not covered properly (ideally with plastic wrap on the surface, then covered with a lid), they can get icy and pick up other flavors from the freezer. If they do get icy, most sorbets and sherbets can be melted down and re-churned, as can Philadelphia-style ice creams made without eggs. But I find custard-based ice creams don't re-freeze as successfully, so don't let those sit around too long. Putting plastic wrap on the surface to protect against the air inside the plastic container is smart. That's what I do with pesto, so why not ice cream?

I like these & they are soft - from Craig Claiborne: MOLASSES DROP COOKIES (about 3 dozen small cookies) 1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup molasses 1 egg 1 3/4 cup flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cider vinegar 2 TBL water 1/4 cup buttermilk 1 cup raisins, optional Chocolate frosting, optional Preheat oven to 350°. Beat the shortening & sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in the molasses, egg & 3 TBL of the flour. Sift together the remaining flour & the other dry ingredients. Mix together the vinegar, water & buttermilk. Add alternately to the molasses mixture & beat batter until it's very smooth. Stir in raisins, if using. Drop teaspoons of the mixture onto greased cookie sheets. Flatten dough, if desired. Bake 12-15 minutes. (Don't overbake). Cool. Top each cookie with a dime-sized round of chocolate frosting if you want to.~~

For soft, sugar coated/unfrosted sugar cookies I like to use this recipe: SYLVIA'S SOUR CREAM COOKIES 1 1/2 CUPS SUGAR 1 CUP SHOTENING 2 EGGS, BEATEN WELL 1 TEASPOON SODA 1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER 1 CUP SOUR CREAM 1/2 TEASPOON SALT 1 STEASPOON VANILLA 3 TO 4 CUPS FLOUR, ENOUGH FLOUR TO ROLL 1 TEASPOON MACE ADDITIONAL SUGAR Mix soda in sour cream; set aside. Mix baking powder into flour; set aside. Combine all ingredients. Chill dough a few hours or overnight. Roll out and use your favorite cookie cuters. (I like to make little hands or simple rounds.) Sprinkle generiously with additional sugar and bake on greased cookie sheets at 350 degrees until lightly golden on bottem. These taste better with age. For sugar cookies that I want to frost/decorate I always use the following recipe. It's a little more work - but produces a thick, cake-like cookie with a butter flavor. This is the best recipe I've found for cutting cookies! TEA COOKIES 3 EGGS 1 CUP MELTED MARGARINE 1 CUP SUGAR 1 TEASPOONS VANILLA 2 TABLESPOONS BAKING POWDER 4 CUPS FLOUR 1/4 TEASPOON SALT Beat egg whites till stiff. Beat yolks till creamy. Combine gently. Add melted margarine, sugar and vanilla. Beat. Sift the dry ingredients and work in. Chill. Roll abour 1/4 inch thick and cut as desired. Bake at 350 degrees on ungreased cookie sheet. Do not over bake! I like to frost them with a butter cream frosting.