I'm home and I survived another holiday! We went to friends' in rural north San Diego county - we are both child-free couples so this has become a tradition. One more couple joined us, as they did last year. I was ordered to bring a delectable dessert - ME! Dessert! Hence the thread, blah-blah. What did I end up making? First I was going to do Nancy's pumpkin creme brulee. But the hostess said she was making smoky pumpkin soup. And it wasn't something I could easily make in advance, according to me. So I changed my mind and made Sharon's pears in port with stilton whipped cream, and a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry ganache. I also made mini pumpkin and walnut scones with a maple icing for the long weekend. And I brought a roquefort tort with cranberries and roasted hazelnuts, from Costco. When I got there, I found that there was a change - no smoky pumpkin soup. It was going to be pear soup! LOL. We had too much stuff, so I refrigerated the pears to eat another time during the weekend. They were delicious by the way - thank you Sharon! I bought a huge bottle of tawny port so I will be making these again for ourselves this winter. The flourless chocolate cake was served with a generous dollop of whipped cream and garnished with fresh raspberries. It was delicious too. It was too easy to make in advance and will be added to my limited dessert repertoire. The friends had a new 75-pound Pyrenees puppy (I had seen her earlier in the year when she was a lot smaller), and four egg-laying hens. Along with the existing Pyrenees, Retriever and four cats, it was a full house and I don't think I'll get the dog hair out of my clothes for a few washings, LOL!

I keep frozen peas, green beans and corn in the freezer all the time. Corn, is from the farmers market, that I freeze myself. I chop green, red and yellow peppers for winter use too, but also as a time saver. It's nice to be able to grab what I need, already chopped. To go with our New Years ham tomorrow, I'll be making creamed red potatoes and peas. The peas will be from the freezer, no other choice, we have to have our "peas for prosperity"! Another favorite here is peas and peanuts. All that is, is frozen peas with about an equal amout of salted redskin peanuts and a little mayo to bind. You don't cook the peas, just rinse in a colander under cold running water. This is a local favorite from a very nice resturant that has been in business for about 40 years. Just thinking about it is making me hungry for some... Frozen corn I sometimes doctor with a little hvy cream and a pinch of sugar. Brussels sprouts are another veg that I pick up frozen in the winter, especially when fresh is really expensive or when I'm just plain lazy. Plain with butter is fine, but make a very tasty side dish with B sprouts, maple syrup and bacon. Add a chopped apple if you have one that needs to be used. Yummy! Nancy

goulash with lots and lots of finely diced onions that caramelize. And then you can make the left overs into stew or beef bourguignon. Possible additions/combinations thereof: carrots, peas, celery, shallots, mushrooms, peppers, green beans, wine, tomato paste, or even make a beef chili with it. Another favorite is an "Italian" Shepherd's Pie. Make like regular recipe, i..e onion, minced meat, carrots, peas made into a thick sauce, then covered with mashed potatoes, and baked in an oven, but use it with some tomato sauce and hot pepper. And spicy pepper jack cheese on top of the mashed potatoes.

Plllog, I think your comment about grits being served at any meal in the South is absolutely accurate, at least in my experience. I commented that we served Gruyere Grits to our Chinese guests as a side dish for filet mignon. I also listed Shrimp and Grits as a dish that I would serve as representative of my region. Just this morning, I was thinking that I needed to make up a batch of Gruyere Grits to freeze in meal size portions. P, your comment about salad on a burger reminded me of our trip to Australia. On a couple of occasions DH or DD ordered a burger. It was listed as coming with salad. We expected a small side salad. We finally learned that “salad” meant lettuce on the burger. I regret that we never chose to have a slice of beet on our burger. When we returned, a woman who worked for me who was married to an Aussie told me that it was pretty classic. I also agree with Outside Playing, that grits are not served every day at breakfast in the South. My momma never served them, but my daddy would eat them every chance he got. Nevertheless, I would say that grits are often served at breakfast in the south, see pic below of instant grits in individual packets. Just for fun, I googled “Southern Living grits.” Boy, are there lots of ways to cook grits! I’m not sure, but I think grits became less regional when Jimmy Carter went into the White House. I have a vague recollection of people trying to figure out the singular of grits. Annie, my mom must have been kin to your grandpa. She thought the finest breakfast was a piece of chocolate pie! I just looked up “peameal bacon.” I found it is what the North American Meat Institute calls “Canadian bacon.” I’ve had plenty of Canadian bacon, except I’ve never seen Canadian bacon rolled in cornmeal. Interesting. Thanks for sending me on the quest to figure it out! Elmer, bless you little trollish heart, you’re just not happy until you’ve insulted someone, are you?