One more thought - or recipe to put away for "someday". I made this for a brunch about a year ago and it got raves from everyone. Bonus, it was really easy to make and has a dramatic look! Mushroom Spinach Souffle Roll Ingredients: 4 T. butter 1/2 cup flour 1 tsp. salt Pepper to taste 2 cups milk 6 eggs 2 bunches cleaned fresh spinach OR 2 10-oz packages frozen spinach 1 lb. mushrooms 8 oz cream cheese Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Melt butter in a sauce pan, blend in flour, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the milk, bringing the mixture to boil. Stir constantly until thickened. Cool mixture. Add the egg yolks and beat. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold them into the cooled sauce. Line a greased jelly roll pan with waxed paper, then butter and flour the waxed paper. Pour the souffl� mixture over the waxed paper, spreading lightly to form an even layer. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until nicely browned. While souffl� is baking make the filling. Saut� the spinach and mushrooms in butter until tender and liquid has been reduced. Add the cream cheese and mix well. Season to taste. Set aside but keep warm. Turn souffl� immediately onto a towel. Carefully remove waxed paper. Roll up lengthwise with the towel inside. After a minute or so, unroll. Spread filling evenly over the souffl�. Roll up jelly roll style with the help of the towel. Serve immediately! This can be made the night before and reheated at 325 degrees in the morning. ******************************************************** Roasted Red Pepper Coulis Ingredients 3 large red bell peppers 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar Salt and freshly ground white pepper Directions 1.Roast the red peppers directly over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning occasionally, until the peppers are blackened all over. Transfer the peppers to a bowl and let cool completely. Peel the peppers and discard the skins, seeds and cores. Coarsely chop the peppers. 2.In a food processor, combine the peppers with the olive oil, shallot and vinegar and puree until very smooth. Season the coulis with salt and white pepper.

Triciae, you are right. It would be better made fresh, but it is a time consuming recipe. First you have to caramelize the onions. I do that very slowly. Then you have to cook the sweet potatoes until soft. It takes me about an hour to do all of that. Maybe I'll caramelize the onions and freeze them. Then all I have to do is peel (unlike the recipe, I peel my sweet potatoes) and chunk up the potatoes. That might cut it in half. I use frozen garlic. ann_t's was beautiful, but I've never seen fresh garlic in my life! None of the farmer's markets or vegetable stands around here carry it. All we get is garlic that has been shipped in here. It think it is referred to as cured. I am in zone 8. It may not grow well here. After the other thread about chinese garlic, I'm considering calling the local ag school for advice. If I can grow my own, I just might!

Sharon, I'm glad your pot roast turned out so well. I agree, leftovers are perfect "hot beef sandwiches", with some mashed potatoes and gravy over everything. As I've mentioned before, I'm also one of those poeple who doesn't put the carrots and clery in the pot roast because the vegetables flavor the gravy. I like potatoes in pot roast, but I'd prefer them mashed and so they get cooked separately too, usually. The only difference of opinion we have is on the use of sirloin. Sirloin is one of my favorite pieces of beef, not fork tender but juicy and flavorful, so I like it rare and sliced very thinly, I'd never "waste" good sirloin on pot roast, LOL. round? Now round is imminently suited to braising. Annie

Biscuits with sausage gravy, grits. Marlen's Pull Apart Bacon Bread 1 pkg (10 oz) bacon 3/4 c green pepper, chopped 3/4 onion, chopped 3 tubes (7-1/2 oz each) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits 1/2 cup margarine, melted 1/2 c (2oz) shredded cheddar cheese Cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving drippings. Crumble and set aside. In bacon drippings (or vegetable oil) cook green pepper and onion until tender. Cut biscuits in fourths and place in large bowl. Add sauteed vegetables, crisp bacon, margarine and cheese. Toss until thoroughly mixed. Place in a 10" tube pan coated with Pam. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Immediately invert onto serving plate. Serve warm. MAPLE APRICOT GRANOLA Gourmet, February 2003 Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr serving size Makes about 10 cups. 1/4 cup flaxseeds (1 1/4 oz) (I omit this) 6 cups old-fashioned oats (18 oz) 2 cups sliced almonds (8 oz) 1 cup hulled (green) pumpkin seeds (not roasted; 5 oz) 1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds (not roasted; 2 1/2 oz) 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup pure maple syrup 1/3 cup crystallized ginger (2 1/2 oz; optional), finely chopped 2 cups dried apricots (11 oz), finely chopped Accompaniments: plain yogurt or milk; honey or maple syrup Special equipment: an electric coffee/spice grinder preparation Preheat oven to 350F. Finely grind flaxseeds in coffee/spice grinder, then stir together with oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, salt, oil, and syrup in a large bowl. Spread mixture evenly in 2 large shallow baking pans (1 inch deep) and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, stirring and switching position of pans halfway through baking, until golden brown, about 30 minutes total. Cool granola completely in pans on racks, then stir in ginger (if using) and apricots.  Granola can be made 1 week ahead and kept in an airtight container at cool room temperature, or frozen 1 month. PECAN PRALINE BACON Gourmet : March 1996 user rating 100% would make it again user rating: 4 forks Quick & Easy appears in this menu Bed & Breakfast Brunch yield: Serves 6 Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Ingredients 1 pound thick-cut bacon (about 12 slices) 3 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder 1/4 cup pecans, chopped fine Preparation Preheat oven to 425°F. On rack of a large broiling pan arrange bacon slices in one layer and cook in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until it just begins to turn golden. In a small bowl stir together sugar and chili powder. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle bacon with sugar mixture and pecans. Return pan to oven and cook until bacon is crisp and browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon, praline-sides up, to paper towels to drain. My cousin just gave me this Ina Garten recipe - he made them the other day after seeing on tv - said they were easy and delish. INA GARTEN'S EASY STICKY BUNS (from Good Morning America) Makes 12 We used to make really delicious sticky buns at Barefoot Contessa, but they took two days to make because the yeast dough needed to rise overnight in the refrigerator. I was dying to find a way to make them easier, so I decided to try baking them with Pepperidge Farm puff pastry dough, instead. OMG are they good ... and they're really easy to make! Light, flaky dough filled with brown sugar, toasted pecans, and sweet raisins -- my friends go crazy when I make these. 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces 1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted for the filling 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 cup raisins Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture. Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.