Okay - you asked for it! Here are my "dirty little secrets" LOLOLOL! Easy Creamy Peppercorn Chicken Rated: 4 out of 5 by 22 members Yields: 6 servings "A quick mushroom gravy, courtesy of soup and a packet of peppercorn gravy mix, smothers chicken and onions. Rice is a must-have side dish." INGREDIENTS: 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 packet peppercorn gravy mix 1 onion, sliced into thin rings 1 cup water DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). 2. Place cleaned chicken breasts in a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish or casserole dish. Arrange the sliced onion pieces evenly on top of the chicken pieces. Scoop the mushroom soup onto the chicken and onions. Mix the peppercorn gravy with water and pour it over the soup, onions and chicken. 3. Cover the dish and bake for 1 hour, stirring the chicken and mixture after 30 minutes. If desired, serve over rice or with mashed potatoes ********************************************************* Mushroom Pie Crusts for a 9"pie (top & bottom) 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced (optional) 1 tbsp butter 14 16 oz fresh button mushrooms, sliced 1 stalk celery ½ cup onion chopped 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup ½ cup chopped walnuts S&P Saute the celery, onions and mushrooms in butter until they give off the liquid and it evaporates. Remove from heat and stir in soup and walnuts. Place bottom crust in a pie dish. Line the bottom with sliced eggs if you are using them, otherwise pour mushroom filling into pie crust. Place top crust on. Crimp edges and cut steam vents. Bake 350 for 45 50 min. ******************************************************* Golden Chicken Curry 1 (2 to 3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces 1 tablespoon garam masala 1 tablespoon garlic powder 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 onions, chopped 1 cup chicken broth 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed 4 tablespoons curry powder salt and pepper to taste 2 ounces golden raisins Directions 1 Rub the chicken with garam masala and garlic powder. In a large saute pan, over medium heat brown chicken in olive oil in a large pot. 2 Remove chicken and saute onions in the same oil, until golden. Return the chicken to the pan and cover with the broth. Simmer until the meat is tender and can be easily picked off of the bone. Remove the chicken to cool. 3 Mix the soup into the broth in the pan, then add the potatoes and the curry. Simmer until tender. As soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the skin and bones and, if necessary, cut into bite size pieces. When the potatoes are done, add the meat to the potato mixture and heat through. You may add golden raisins at this point if desired, adjust seasonings and serve!

If Chance likes minestrone, she might like this simple soup that you can throw together almost anytime from stuff you have around the house. Most kids like tomato soup and this is a little more sophisticated (and nutritous). It's my favorite tomato soup. Great with a grilled cheese or cheese biscuits. Hearty Tomato Soup, from "Diet for a Small Planet" by Frances Moore Lappe In a heavy pot, saute until onion is golden: Oil as needed 1 clove minced garlic 1 onion, finely chopped 1 stalk celery, finely chopped (this is optional, can omit if people don't like celery. Can sub some other green thing like zuchinni or just leave out entirely) 1 carrot, chopped fine Add, stir and saute until rice is a little toasty 2 TBLSP whole wheat flour 3/4 cup raw rice or 1 1/2 cups cooked rice. Add: 1 28 oz. can tomatoes, chopped 2 tsp. salt 4 white pepper corns or lots of freshly ground black pepper 1 TBLSP sugar 1 tsp. each oregano and basil. Have ready: 3 cups hot milk 1 TBLSP butter Cook until rice is done, if starting with raw rice (I ALWAYS start with pre-cooked brown rice or use instant brown rice which cooks in 5 min. Seems like if you started with raw brown rice you might want to add some broth towards the end if the rice looked dry.) If using precooked rice, cook until all the flavors mingle, at least 15 min. Remove from the heat. For a more elegant soup, at this stage pureee the soup in a blender or use a stick blender. (I never do this). Add the milk and butter. Don't omit the butter, it is the secret ingredient that makes this soup yummy. Adjust salt to taste. Warm soup but do not boil once milk is added.

If you are up this morning, feeling pretty good, except for maybe some monday blues, you are running probably 85/15. A loose healthy number, 85 being a healthy system having no problem dealing with 15% everyday bacteria. The numbers shift a bit if your system is working hard dealing with a 'bug', or the common cold. As a home cook, it is being responsible to make safe decisions if a family member is not feeling well. Or if cooking for a crowd. I remember the NYTimes article. Choices explained. The original question was answered and i think a good choice was made to dump it. Sure you can boil it over and over and 'kill' it. Killing any flavor or food value as well. Our chili was chilled quickly but i still give any re-heats a good time on the stove. We have all dealt with foodborne pathogens. Those little 6-24hr unexplained 'bugs'. Or just a grumbly stomach. Others are more obvious and memorable. I've had a few. Not from our home that i've traced. Usually having eaten something out or at work. Why i like to serve buffet style for a crowd keeping everything hot/cold. Or serve right from the warm oven, in smaller serving dishes, passed around the table that can be re-filled when empty. Ha ha. Mr Sleeven IS sleevendog. We signed up with his screen name when shopping for my garden hog tractor. I remember seeing the other forums, "oh look, cooking people..." 'Sleeven' is a sneaky rascal person in the Newfoundland dictionary. I actually think it has one 'e', as in sleven. Not only is it spelled wrong, it isn't even me. : ) I agree about the hand sanitizers. Creep texture and where does it go?...I don't mind seeing them all over though. I've been in many NYC elevators with sneezy walking flu bombs.

Deviled ham is probably somewhat akin to Hormel's Spam. It was pretty good eating from what I recall. My grandmother always had it out at the family's old lake house, which harkens back to few other things I remember now from summers in MN at the lake: screen porch wood docks Chris Craft large hanging wicker swing and furniture bamboo cane poles cork bobbers Water Gremlin split shot black dacron fishing line worms in a coffee can metal minnow buckets metal clip stringers and metal fish baskets Lowrance green box fish lo-k-tor Mitchell spin cast; Ambassador 5500; Johnson Century; Zebco 202... Bass-O-Reno; Lazy Ike; Daredevil; Hula Popper; Gapen Ugly Bug, Crappie Queen, Doll Fly; Beetle Spin; Lindy rig; Prescott strip-on spinner... and lots of fishing, fish cleaning and fish fries. Crisco and beer batter (Schmidt, Blatz, or Hamms). Still have and use a lot of this stuff and it never gets old…except the cooking oil and beer is changed up from time to time! I haven't seen or had deviled ham in awhile, but this thread will have me looking it up again.