This sauce is one that my middle one uses as chocolate milk syrup. It kept very well in an old syrup bottle, but was very thick and he'd have to really squeeze to get it out. Kept for quite some time too with no growths or problems. Mocha Satin Sauce from Hershey's 1/2 c butter 1 c sugar 1 c whipping cream 1/3 c cocoa 1 t instant coffee (I used Espresso powder) or omit 1 t vanilla extract In a small saucepan over low heat melt butter. Add sugar, whipping cream and cocoa. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in coffee and vanilla. Serve warm or cool. Cover and refrigerate leftover sauce. About 2 cups. To reheat: place sauce in small saucepan, stirring constantly over low heat. Here's another from the same book. Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce 2 c semi sweet chocolate chips 2 blocks unsweetened baking chocolate 1 c whipping cream 1 1/2 t vanilla In double boiler combine all ingredients except vanilla. Cook over warm water, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Serve warm. Cover and refrigerate leftovers. Makes about 2 cups.

What I've done with refrigerator cookie recipes is to lay the plastic wrap out on the counter before rolling the dough, and roll it into the logs inside the wrap. You might even use parchment paper or wax paper instead of or between the plastic wrap and the dough. Just brainstorming here. I've also heard a trick to wrap the cardboard paper towel tube around the log of dough to help keep it round. I haven't tried that yet because I don't use enough paper towels to have those tubes available. That recipe reminds me a lot of Ina Garten's Outrageous brownie recipe. Maybe you could make this recipe as bar cookies. Sally

Ann H., traditional Chanuka foods vary with the community. Jews of Eastern European descent eat latkes (but never agree on how to make them). Israelis eat fried filled doughnuts. As you see in the string, and can find on many web sites, everywhere in the world, Jews come up with something different for Chanuka. The one constant is that it should be something cooked in oil; that's the point. The idea is to commemorate the story about the oil for the menorah. lpinkmountain, if you use a mix for matzo balls, you will go to hell. JUST KIDDING! But really, I have never understood what the point is of that mix. I mean, matzo balls contain matzo meal, salt, egg, water or broth, and fat (chicken fat best if you are not a vegetarian and your cardiologist isn't looking). So what's in that mix? I think it's just matzo meal, salt, and some bouillon powder (which I don't like anyway); you still have to add the rest -- doesn't really save any time and just costs a lot more and uses more packaging. Lakeguy, here is how I (a genuine Jewish mother) make chicken soup and matzo balls. It's a very simple recipe, without even any dill or garlic, but it really doesn't need it, because the strongly developed chicken flavor holds its own, so try it this way first. Really, you can make any kind of chicken soup your family likes, but make sure to follow the two essentials about the type of chicken and the length of cooking. Try to find a kosher chicken -- the bigger, fatter, and older, the better. The taste is just much, much better. It's not that the kosher slaughtering makes a difference. But they grow them bigger, and they don't feed them chemicals (not for kosher purposes, just to broaden their market to foodies), and the soaking and salting of kashering is like brining it. If you can't find a kosher chicken in your town, then go for an organic one, I guess. Lindac taught me the money-saving tip of using a package of wings instead of a whole chicken (kosher chickens are not cheap). Gellchom's Jewish Chicken Soup (eat! eat!) 1 cut up kosher chicken, or a large package of wings, necks, etc. 2 stalks celery, NO LEAVES, scraped and cut into sticks 2 large carrots, scraped and cut into sticks one whole onion, peeled Salt and pepper Rinse the chicken and put it in your soup pot. Cover with water to about 3/4 inch from top. Bring to a good hard boil, reduce the heat, and skim. Then add the vegetables, 1-2 T salt, and some pepper. Cover and simmer a LONG time -- absolute minimum 1 1/2 hours, but I like to let it go to much longer, even to 6. If it cooks too far down, then just add some water; the taste will still be plenty rich, I promise. Remove chicken and use for something that can have seriously overcooked chicken! Discard onion (and celery, if you want, but I like it in the soup). Remove carrots and set aside. Strain soup and return carrots, celery, and maybe some of the chicken. Chill and remove some but not all of the fat before reheating. Serve with matzo balls, kreplach, noodles, or rice. Matzo balls (this is just the old recipe off the back of the Manischewitz matzo meal box, before they changed it from schmaltz to oil) 2 T schmaltz (rendered chicken fat; buy frozen in kosher market or make your own) or oil (if you must!) 2 lg eggs, slightly beaten ½ c matzo meal 1 t salt, optional 2 T water or broth (use broth if no schmaltz) Mix schmaltz and eggs. Mix matzo meal with salt and blend. Add water and mix. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes. Boil slightly salted water. Reduce heat to low, form balls (with wet hands, and note that they will enlarge as they cook), and add to soup. Cover and cook 30-40 minutes.

Yes, it's dough that I colored with food coloring. I have some cookie cutters in little leaf shapes and one is a holly leaf. The "berries" I just roll into balls. I cut them a little thick this year and boy did they spread a bit. Those are some big holly berries! Anyone have any good tips on coloring dough? I use my hands to knead after putting drops of color on, and of course end up with a mess.