ruthie, you're probably back by now, I hope you had a great trip. I've been doing "international" cookies too, LOL, but not because I decided to, just because that's what struck me. I just made cuccidati, a fig filled cookie that a friend sent me and I loved them. I've made Venetian rainbow cookies with almond paste, and I've made good old American toll house cookies and grandma's molasses cookies and peanut butter cookies. Elery and I are making cannoli tomorrow, and I've done the Scottish shortbread and the spritz and the pfefferneuse. I think I'm not going to do any more baking except cut out and frosted sugar cookies with the grandkids! Now, that pannetone. Here is a recipe from King Arthur Flour for a traditional pannetone, it requires an overnight resting of the "biga", which is just the yeast with a bit of water and some of the flour, kind of like a sourdough "starter". The bread is made using the biga the next day. I didn't have orange oil or the special seasoning thing you can only get from King Arthur Flour, LOL, so I used the vanilla and some orange extract. My family loves this recipe and since it uses dried fruit instead of the candied stuff, I like it too. I do not like candied fruit at all. Anyway, it's easier than it looks and the recipe came from King Arthur Flour: Overnight Panettone This traditional Italian holiday bread will stay fresh longer when it's made with an overnight starter. Biga (Overnight Starter) 3/4 cup (3 1/8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/16 teaspoon yeast (just a pinch) 1/3 cup (2 5/8 ounces) water Dough all of the biga (above) 2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1/4 cup (2 ounces) water 2 large eggs 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia flavoring OR 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1/8 teaspoon orange oil 2 1/4 teaspoons SAF Gold instant yeast OR 1 tablespoon instant yeast 1/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) sugar 1/2 cup (3 ounces) golden raisins 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) slivered dried apricots 1/2 cup (2 ounces) dried cranberries or flavored fruit bits 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) dried pineapple, chopped 2 tablespoons orange or lemon zest The Biga: Combine the biga ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl, cover, and allow them to rest overnight (8 to 12 hours). Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and mix and knead them togetherby hand, mixer or bread machinetill you've made a soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until it's puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk). Gently deflate the dough, and knead in the fruits and zest. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a panettone pan or other straight-sided, tall 1 1/2- to 2-quart pan. Cover the pan and let the dough rise till it's just crested over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour. Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes; reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake an additional 10 minutes; then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 25 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil if the crust appears to be browning too quickly. Remove the panettone from the oven and cool completely. This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. III, No. 2, December 1991 issue. Annie

I actually was so intrigued with "Asian meatloaf", I looked up a recipe. I know you asked stinky, but here's another (while not tried and true, it's rated highly): Asian Pork Meatloaf with Red Wine-Mushroom Gravy Copyright, 2000, Ming Tsai, All Rights Reserved Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min Serves: 6 servings Ingredients ï¬ Canola oil, to cook ï¬ 1 tablespoon minced garlic ï¬ 1 tablespoon minced ginger ï¬ 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped ï¬ 3 carrots, peeled and 1/4-inch dice ï¬ 4 stalks celery, 1/4-inch dice ï¬ 2 onions, 1/4-inch dice ï¬ 1 zucchini, 1/4-inch dice ï¬ 1 tablespoon sambal ï¬ 1/2 cup hoisin sauce ï¬ 2 cups cooked long grain rice ï¬ 2 pounds ground pork ï¬ 4 eggs, lightly beaten ï¬ Salt and black pepper, to taste Red Wine-Mushroom Gravy: ï¬ 1 tablespoon minced garlic ï¬ 1 large onion, roughly chopped ï¬ 1 pound button mushrooms, sliced ï¬ 1 bottle dry red wine ï¬ 2 cups chicken stock ï¬ 2 tablespoons soy sauce ï¬ 2 tablespoons butter ï¬ Salt and black pepper, to taste Directions In a large saute pan coated with oil, add the garlic, ginger and black beans. Stir and season. Add carrots, celery, onions, zucchini and stir. Add sambal and hoisin and continue to stir. When the mixture is cooled, mix in the rice, pork and eggs. Season with salt and black pepper. (Test for seasoning by cooking a small piece in boiling water, a frying pan or even nuking it.) Spray a nonstick meatloaf pan and fill with mix. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 to 60 minutes or until a knife/poker comes out clean. For the Red Wine Mushroom Gravy: In a saucepan coated with oil, caramelize the garlic, onions and mushrooms. Deglaze with red wine and reduce by 75 percent. Add the stock and soy sauce and reduce by 50 percent. Check for seasoning. Using a hand blender, puree the sauce and add the butter. Check again for seasoning. Keep warm. Plating: Sauce the plate completely then top off with a thick slab of meatloaf. Wine Suggestion: Rabbit Ridge. California Zinfandel, Barrel Cuvee, 1997

I agree that I'd skip regular bread with an asian salad. You can buy the crispy wonton noodles at most grocery stores--saving the mess and time of frying them yourself, although, freshly fried is always nice. Besides making sure peanuts are okay with your guests, you may also want to warn them that the salad has fresh ginger in it--I'm fine with the grated spice, but the fresh? Can't eat even a little bit of it. I do love asian salads, but I get some funny looks from waiters when I order them with honey mustard instead of the usual ginger dressing. Maybe, to be on the safe side, you could serve the dressing 'on the side' and have another option for anyone who prefers to skip the fresh ginger?

Yeah, clueless. Looks familiar. My sister and I carpool so this morning when the forecast came on the radio we paused to listen. After it was over there was a 3 second pause and I said, "You know what just passed through my mind? 3 below doesn't sound all that bad." And she said, "I was thinking exactly the same thing!" So we've lived in Iowa too long apparently, when 3 below sounds like something positive. And since it was "only snowing" and not blowing we stopped at the grocery store where I bought panko crumbs, golden raisins, farmer's cheese, 18# of cat chow, bananas & grapes for the parrots, day old bread for the chickens, sure jel (in case I finally get around to the elderberry jelly) and a bunch of other stuff I probably didn't need . Think I'm set until the feed semi comes on Monday. Yes. I get most of my critter stuff on a semi. Sigh. And I wonder where all my money goes.