So, I did make a rhubarb meringue tart, and it turned out really great. Everyone enjoyed it. I ended up following the recipe I found at the Nothing-in-the-house blog. I would make this again, but with some adjustments. I would not make it with the pecan crust. IMO, the pecan and rhubarb flavors were too competitive. A plain shortbread crust would be my preference for next time. The filling was good. Next time, I might reduce the sugar a bit. My preference would be for the filling to be more on the tart side. I would also add a little lemon juice or zest to brighten the flavor. There was a typo in the crust recipe, as there were no sugar in the ingredients list, but it was mentioned in the instructions, so I just used 1/4 cup sugar. But as I said before, I would substitute a plain crust. Recipe is here: link to blog is below ********************************************* Rhubarb Meringue Tart with a Pecan Shortbread Crust Ingredients For crust: 1 c. pecans, roasted 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 2 tsp. baking powder 9 Tblsp. butter 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used vanilla-bourbon) zest of one small orange (I used a clementine) For filling: 3 c. fresh rhubarb, diced 1/4 c. + about 1/2 c. water 1 1/4 c. sugar 1/4 c. cornstarch 1/4 tsp. salt 5 egg yolks (save whites for meringue) 3 Tblsp. butter, cut into chunks For meringue: 5 egg whites 1 tsp. cream of tartar 1/4 c. sugar Directions For crust: 1. Combine roasted pecans, flour, sugar, and baking powder in a food processor and pulse until pecans are finely ground. Add cold butter chunks to the pecan mixture and process until mix is the size of small peas. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and orange zest and pulse just until dough begins to form. Remove pastry dough from the food processor and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour and up to 1 day. 2. After at least one hour, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Remove the dough from the fridge. I rolled out the dough first(which was a little difficult, as it was crumbly), but you can also just press it into the bottom and sides of the tart pan. The bottom crust should be slightly thicker than the sides. Place crust in the freezer for about 10 minutes, then line with parchment paper and pie weights. Bake for about 20 minutes or until crust is dark brown. Remove pie weights and bake for 5 more minutes. Take from oven and let cool. For filling: 1. Combine diced rhubarb and 1/4 c. water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let cook until rhubarb is soft and begins to break down. With an immersion blender (or a stand blender), purée until smooth and set aside to cool slightly. Once cooled, add enough water to bring purée to 1 1/2 c. (this should be about 1/2 c. of water). 2. Add sugar, salt, and cornstarch to the purée mixture and cook over medium heat until it begins to thicken. Add in egg yolks, whisking after each addition. Continue to cook until mixture coats the back of a spoon, or reads 185 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, pour filling into pie crust, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about 2 hours. For meringue: 1. Once filling has chilled for 2 hours, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, mix egg whites and cream of tartar on high until egg whites begin to form medium peaks. Continue to beat eggs, gradually adding in sugar. Continue to beat eggs until they are glossy and can form stiff peaks. Spread over rhubarb filling, making sure the meringue seals the edge of the pie. Use the back of a spoon to curl meringue decoratively. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until egg whites begin to brown. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Here is a link that might be useful: Rhubarb Meringue Tart with a Pecan Shortbread Crust

The lemon cream cheese balls sound like they could be pretty similar to the cheese cake. I would definitely like a lemon choice, but I'd make it a lemon cookie (have a lemon cornmeal slice and bake cookie that is very good if you want the recipe), a madeleine, a meringue or a macron, lemon bars, lemon tart. Biscotti are a maybe in my book -- assuming they are made smaller and not too hard (requiring dunking) they might work. For a party, I'd try to do more variety and choices that seem a little more special. Pllog's suggestions are more in the direction I would be thinking. In addition to the strawberries and orange peel, you could do dried apricots and other dried fruits) Finger foods can easily include cake bites (sheet cake cut into bite sized squares) as well as mini cakes, pies, tart, brownies, etc. made in mini muffin tins, I've made a crumb topped pumpkin spice cake for crowds and served it cut into small squares set into cupcake liners -- easy to pick up and easy to eat. Any snack cake, pound cake or quick bread is a possibility as well as cake bites with a cute dollop of frosting or whipped cream. I would like to see a cookie with a jam center (apricot, strawberry, raspberry) (thumbprints, a strip cookie, sandwiched cookie or a crumb topped bar. etc.) How about a coffee flavor (coffee meringues, mocha macrons, an espresso brownie)? Gale Gand's Just a Bite might give you some inspiration (I keep trying to find an occasion for making her vacherins with raspberries and cream -- tiny meringue shells with whipped cream topped with one perfect raspberry and a mint leaf -- gorgeous!). She also has creme brulee done on a spoon -- just a bite! Works with finger foods and gives a fun presentation. The ruby raspberry jellies are also on my must try list. Flo Braker's Sweet Miniatures is another book you might want to look at. Consider fudge, caramels or marshmallows -- poured into a pan and cut into squares. Put the square in a mini cupcake liner and you just upped the presentation. Or take the spoon cue and serve by the spoonful -- who doesn't like to eat fudge from a spoon? I think you are getting to the time of year when you can add pumpkin, spice, apple, and cranberry flavors and people will be ready for them. The pumpkin pie reminds me of a pumpkin dessert dip (made with cream cheese, in case that's too much like cheese cake) and served with sliced apples, ginger or orange things. Do some of those ideas work?

That's interesting, Linda, because I think of pecans as having a strong flavor. I could experiment with it and report back. With this kind of experiment, I bet even a failure would be fun to "dispose" of! I don't know if I'd like hazelnuts. Back, when was it - the '80's that hazelnut coffee was ubiquitous, and you couldn't get coffee at a function that wasn't hazelnut, I developed a deep dislike for that flavor. The coffee made me queasy. So, I've avoided anything hazelnut since then. I guess I should try them in something other than artificially flavored coffee. Thanks, Kandm, for the suggestions. I'm too impatient to shell nuts, unless I'm really feeling thrifty. I have a pecan tree in my back yard, and rarely ever harvest them or use them. I've done so when there's a good, healthy crop, but most go to the squirrels. Sally

My understanding is a slab pie is baked in a jelly roll pan, making it a thinner pie, but you can serve it to more people. I've never made such a pie, but it looks to me like something akin to a bar cookie or a layer cookie. If I want a pecan pie, I sure don't want all those other things in it! Pecans are very expensive nuts. I'm not messing them up. I agree, and I am frugal with pecans ... but those things sound like they'd mesh well with pecans. If you really, really want THE BEST pecan pie, though ... make a Butterscotch Pecan pie. Oh, my, yes! will it have a shorter cooking time? I'd investigate several slab pie recipes ... and also some bar cookie recipes. I think the danger is in failing to cook the middle of the slab. Check the temperature too while you're at it.