Okay, 2 questions. What are "serranos" and what are "shmatas"? I thought "shmatas" were rags. Thanks, Jillis!

Cathy, I'm glad to make you laugh! Sometimes I need to go stream of consciousness to figure out what I'm trying to say and don't always bother go back and make a proper paragraph. :) BTW, making cheese is fun! PM, I didn't think to look in it before your suggestion, but I have a Betty Crocker binder style basic cookbook. It was a present when I was ... single digits? I'm thinking 7-8. My first cookbook of my own. :) I have a later edition of Joy, too, but don't always remember to open them. :) I'll definitely take a look for the frosting. 'Course, I knew why the recipe sounded familiar when I saw the name on it. :) Debrak, I'm not really a spaetzle maker--just someone who has made spaetzle. So then I thought it would be a great alternative to matzah balls for Seder since it's so quick to make and I found a good recipe as soon as I had the thought, so I did a few rounds of matzah spaetzle, too. I have to say that one of the most useful gadgets I've bought is the spaetzle screen thing. I've tried various traditional methods, including the colander with spoon, and piping, and they don't make the right size easily, and take too much effort for dozens of people. For $14, and not much space in the pot drawer, spaetzle using the thing becomes dead easy, bing, bang, boom. How I do it: Thick sticky batter. Big cooking spoon. Pot of boiling water. Pan or colander lined with paper towels. Skimmer spoon (big flat round like a wok spider and a cooking spoon had an ugly offspring--you could use a strainer or slotted spoon, but don't use a wire spider! I know a guy who...made a big mess). Put the spaetzle thing on top of the boiling pot. Use the spoon to put a blop of batter on the spaeztle thing. Use the scraper that comes with to pull the blop across like pulling sodium alginate thickened dye across a slik screen. Continue until blop is gone. Move the spaezle screen and use the skimmer to fish out the spaetzle (don't overcrowd). Transfer to paper to dry--make sure your paper towels don't shed! You could use a large flat mesh sieve and no paper if you have one. Too big holes and they try to squirt through while they're tender. Repeat until batter is finished, shifting drained spaetzle as they're finished to a container as you go. Reserve for soup, or put them in the oven to dry out a bit and pan fry them. If you're not going to use them right away (same day), it's better to oven dry them a bit anyway, or they'll revert to blob form. JC

Gooster, this is the Spaetzle maker I used - it is very inexpensive and it worked very well for me. It was also easy to clean. It has a small hole at the top for hanging, and so I can store it away in my overhead rack, which is now, however, pretty much full. I haven't made gnocchi for a while because they are a lot more effort (although significantly better than Spaetzle), and the dough does not keep in the fridge. I do not like to freeze leftover gnocchi, although I will cook extra and then reheat them the next day. I make Spanish rice on a regular basic, but mine is usually vegetarian. However, I sometimes add spicy Italian sausage to it. If I add uncooked sausage, I cook the sausage whole in the rice, remove it when cooked, chop it up, and then add it back. If I use cooked sausage, I add it after the rice has cooked, during the "fluffing" stage. I always cook mine in the pressure cooker, however, as it seems to cook a bit faster and is a bit more convenient. Kevin won't eat beef, but I could use ground turkey instead to make a recipe similar to yours.

DH pulled our carrots last week. This carrot soup was one I'd tried at a soup fundraiser years ago. I bought their community cookbook because it had the recipe in it and never got around to making it. Tried it and now I'm wondering why I took so long. The author says it's her go-to soup when someone's sick. Making a big batch to freeze next weekend. Carrot Ginger Soup 3/4 stick butter 1/4 c. grated fresh ginger (I used a little more) 1 c. white wine 1 1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced 1 lg. onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic (I used 4) 6-7 c. chicken or vegie broth (I used my homemade vegie broth paste and a little salt) Lemon juice, curry powder, chives, for garnish Saute onions, ginger and garlic until onions are soft. Add carrots, wine and broth and simmer until carrots are soft. Puree in blender (I used a stick blender). Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of curry powder and a sprinkle of snipped chives. (I added some lemon juice and curry powder directly to the soup. Didn't have chives...topped it with a little dollup of sour cream.) From: Spirit Valley Cookbook