A change in the AMOUNT of vinegar will affect the taste, and maybe safety. A SUBSTITUTION for another type of vinegar like a little bit of apple cider vinegar and a little bit less of Balsamic, may give you a similar product, but maybe with more fig taste, as opposed to an aged Balsamic and an red wine vinegar overtone trying to get to the milder fig taste. There was recent mention of using cheap Balsamic as its much smoother than a $50 bottle of 100 year old. Many wine vinegars and a few balsamics are less than 5% acidity, so always be sure there is enough acid. My brown turkey figs are so sweet when fully ripe they are almost like candy. Nothing like the fig newton filling. Lemon juice goes well too. Star anise, is quite strong if fresh. My mom had a small jar of whole and I grpimd up only one for a mild anis taste and it was a bit too much. In this, it maight need more to push the vinegar taste aside a little bit. As you see I am gettng creative here and have not really changed any safety issues. Black pepper.. Hmm, it might depend on its type. I have 4 different types, some are great and bold, others are just hot and peppery. The more recent pickle fig recipe posted, uses water and no wine based vinegars. It would probably give a milder more mellow 'figgy' flavor. It all depends on your favorite spice combinations, and the preferences for a specific goals.

Here's my recipe which is pretty well a standard soup recipe and nothing original other than that I like to roast the bones, the garlic and onion when making the stock. Here packaged in twos in the supermarket, after they've removed most of the meat for their trays of wings, breasts etc. But there's still enough meat on the bones for a great and flavourful soup. Soup Ingredients: Homemade chicken stock - about 2 quarts 2 carrots - diced 2 stalks celery - diced 1 leek - diced 1 cup diced rutabaga or orange squash 1/2 cup fine soup noodles salt & pepper oil or chicken fat Ratio of solids to stock should be about 2 cups stock to 1 lb chopped vegetables. Add any more chopped veg if you don't have enough. Stock ingredients: 1 meaty chicken carcass or piece of whole chicken 2 heads of garlic 1 onion - cut in half celery stick - sliced 1 carrot sliced fresh thyme - large sprig 1 bayleaf black pepper & salt MAKING STOCK: 1. Early in day or day before: Preheat oven to 350F. Cut top off heads of garlic. Place on roasting pan together with chicken carcass and sliced onion and drizzle a bit of oil over top of all. (I had two carcasss to roast as they are sold this way in pairs at our supermarket. I also added a couple of beef bones.) Roast in oven about 40 minutes or until all is toasted. and juices from pan. 2. Put bones into a very large pot. Squeeze one head of the buttery garlic cloves into the stock pot, saving the other head of garlic for adding to the soup. Add the rest of the stock ingredients and fill pot with water to cover. Grind in fresh pepper. Bring to boil, turn down heat, put on lid and simmer for a couple of hours. Skim off any grey residue that rises to the top. 3. Afterwards, strain the solid debris from the stock ---(REMEMBER you're saving the stock so don't pour it down the sink - as has been done LOL !). I look through the solids and pick out the meaty chicken pieces to save for the soup. Throw away all the rest of the solid material. Here I let it cool and refrigerate until next day when it's easy to remove solid fat from top. Otherwise continue to make soup. MAKING THE SOUP: 1. Sauté the chopped ingredients in a frypan in a TBS of chicken fat or oil until lightly golden. Squeeze out the buttery cloves from the 2nd head of garlic and add to pan. 2. Put soup ingredients including small bits of chicken into large saucepan and add an appropriate amount of stock - about double the amount of liquid to vegetables. Put on lid and simmer with lid on for about an hour. Add soup noodles during last 5 minutes. 3. Check seasoning, add salt. Also good for the end of the Christmas turkey. SharonCb

Microwave meatloaf?! I love it. And thanks gmom for sharing your recipe; but I've already done the deed (will save all recipes though) and I gotta tell ya'. First, I bought Sweetened Condensed milk instead of Evaporated Milk (!) and discovered my mistake after I poured some on the bread and bread crumbs in the bowl. Uh-oh. "Mom! Condensed milk isn't the same as evaporated is it?" "No, dear". Hang up the phone, scoop as much of the thick creamy sweet stuff off bread crumbs. So I ended up using some skim milk I had in the fridge cause the roads are ice and I didn't want to go to the store. Then I added onions, the milk-soaked bread, 1 egg (altho it turned out to be a double yolk)and then went to the spice cupboard and gathered up some hopefuls: dry mustard, marjoram, oregano, salt and pepper. Threw them in. For the topping I mixed yellow mustard and ketchup, but didn't have the honey I thought I had; so - ready? - I remembered the bag of frozen egg rolls had some packets of sauce in there. Squeezed a couple of those into the topping mix as well. Put it in the oven, and girls it smells wonderful in the kitchen right now. There's just something about meatloaf isn't there? "C" for comfort. Thanks again, all.

My hubby and I don't watch the game, he does love the commercials though, my 23 year old daughter and her 3 roommates are hosting a pot luck super bowl party for at least 30 people. She called me yesterday to ask for the recipes for the following. All to be their food offerings for the day and evening. She no doupt will be tripling or more the recipes for their party. Orange and sweet potato stew (from woman's world magazine) chinese chicken wings (from boston globe) Kraft chicken wings Mom's banana bread Pound cake (printed in Ann lander's many years ago) Hershey's deep dish brownies Mom's floating Island punch (from betty crocker) ORANGE AND SWEET POTATO BEEF STEW SERVES 6 INGREDIENTS 1 orange 1 1/2 pounds beff stew meat cut into 2 inch cubes 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon oil 1 onion chopped 2 tablespoons curry powder 1 can (14 1/2 oz) low sodium beef broth 1 cup chopped pitted prunes 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch cubes 1 cup frozen peas, thawed 1/2 cup chopped cilantro or parsley using a vegetable peeler, remove zest, withoug white pith, from all over orange. Halve orange and reserve juice. Coat beef with flour. In large pot, heat oil over mediium heat. Add beer; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 3-5 minutes. Add onion, and curry. Cook until onion is softened, 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth, prunes, and reserved zest in strips and juice. Bring to a boil; cover and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally, 1 hour. Add potates; cook until meat and potatoes are tender, 45-60 minutes. Stir in peas and cilantro or parsely. Remove zest and serve. My changes. I added several peeled russet potates with the sweet potatoes. Also added fresh green beans and sliced white mushrooms about half way through the cooking time for the potates and only used 1/2 teaspoon of curry. I also thinned the thick sauce with added orange juice. CHINESE CHICKEN WINGS ALSO CALLED SILVER SPOON WINGS MAKES HORS D'OEVRES FOR 6-8 PEOPLE. INGREDIENTS 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce 1/4 cup pineappe juice 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 2-3 pounds chicken wings, cut at the joints, tips discarded. Combine sugar, water, soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder. Stir until sugar is disolved and set aside. Place chicken wings in large ziploc bag. Pour in marinade and seal. Marinate wings at least one full day, 2 days is even better, turning bag several times to mix. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lift wings from marinade and place on cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 40 minutes or until tender, basting twice with remaining marinade. Can be eaten hot or cold. KRAFT MARINATED CHICKEN WINGS MAKES 36 APPETIZERS INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 dozen chicken wings disjointed 1 8 ounce bottle kraft catalina salad dressing 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce 2 teaspoons minced ginger Mix marinate and set aside. put chicken wings in ziploc bag. Pour marinade in and seal. marinate wings several hours or over night. Place wings on broiler pan and broil 15-20 minutes, brushing with marinade once. Turn wings once during cooking. Serve with horseraddich sauce. Both wing recipes can be made the day before and reheated in a microwave or oven. Stew is easy to make the day of MOM'S BANANA BREAD MAKES 1 LOAF. BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY OR THE BREAD WILL NOT COME OUT LIGHT AND AIRY, MORE LIKE A CAKE. INGREDIENTS 2 CUPS FLOUR 1 TEASPOON BAKING SODA 2 MEDIUM BANANAS MASHED 1/2 CUP UNSALTED MARGARINE SOFTENED 1 CUP SUGAR 2 EGGS 1/4 TEASPOON VANILLA 1/4 CUP WATER OPTIONAL TO ADD 1/2 CUP FINELY CUT UP DATES 1/2 CUP FINELY CHOPPED WALNUTS Preheat oven to 350 degrees In large bowl, cream margarine and sugar. beat in eggs one at a time until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla and mashed bananas. Add flour, baking soda and mix just till blended. Add water and mix till blended. Stir in dates and/or walnuts if using. Turn into a loaf pan greased or sprayed with pam and bake 65-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean in center. Cool about 10 minutes, then remove from pan. Tastes wonderful when still warm PPUND CAKE FROM ANN LANDERS MAKES 2 LOAVES PREHEAT OVEN TO 275 DEGREES BAKE ABOUT 1 HOUR AND 45 MINUTES BE SURE TO USE AND EXTREMELY LARGE MIXING BOWL INGREDIENTS 3 sticks unsalted margarine or butter 3 cups sugar 5 large eggs 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or l teaspoon grated lemon rind 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 7/8 cup gingerale, or lemon-lime soda Cream margarin until light. Cream in sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in 1 up flour and extracts and a little gingerale. Continue adding flour and gengerale until all ingredients are used. Pour into 2 greased and floured or sprayed with pam, loaf pans. Bake 1 hour and 45 minutes until toothpick stuck in center comes out dry and sides shrink from pan. Let cool in pan. This was always my kids favorite and would prefer this pound cake to a birthday cake every year. HERSHEY'S DEEP DISH BROWNIES FROM THE HERSHEY'S KITCHEN Preheat oven to 350 degrees INGREDIENTS 3/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3 eggs 3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa 1/2 teaspoon baking powder blend melted butter or margarine, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add eggs. beat well with spoon. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended. Spread in grease or sprayed with cooking spray, 8 inch square pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Cool and cut into squares. Tastes really good when served still a little warm MARDI GRAS PUNCH MAKES 14 SERVINGS, ABOUT 1 CUP EACH INGREDIENTS 1 6 ounce can frozen orange juice thawed 1 6 ounce can frozen lemonade thawed 1 quart apple juice 2 quarts or 1 2 liter bottle gingerale raspberry sherbet orange sherbet lime sherbet lemon sherbet in lage punch bowl, stir together concentrates and apple juice. Stir in giner ale; scoop balls of sherbet into punch. You can also add ice cubes to keep cold. My changes. I freeze fruit, such as blueberries, pieces of strawberries and grapes in with ice cubes. Then add to the punch with the sherbet. As the sherbet starts to melt in leaves a foam on the top of the punch which adds to the taste. Hope you try some or all of these. They are all easy to double, triple etc for a large crowd