I see there's another difference. The Bergeron Apricot recipe has an 8-hour first maceration, then another overnight one. The apricot-vanilla recipe has a 1-hour first maceration. That's what I was planning on tonight. I can't extend this to Thursday, since it's going to be 102 then. Only 95 tomorrow. LOL. I have some Fruit-Fresh and may just freeze some of them... But I'm never as happy with that as with good home-made apricot jam.

In defense of the Army, and based on my own experience making up my college syllabus every year, I would say a lot of that verbiage is due to the atmosphere in our society today, a resistence towards accountability, i.e., "I didn't know that the flour wasn't supposed to have cockroaches in it, that wasn't in the manual." I imagine that the original recipe was about 5 pages long and each end every extra comment got added as time went on and somebody screwed up. Every year my syllabus gets longer and longer, as I have to cover every possible scenario so a student can't say, "That wasn't covered by the syllabus." For example, I have to specifically state that there is to be no cheating in class, (as if that wasn't a given) and then I have to go into great detail to describe specifically what constitutes cheating and what the consequences will be in each case. I not only put due dates for all my assignments but I break them up into "milestones" and tell my students, "At this point you should have your paper half done" etc. Also, since people only read about 25% of the instructions anyway, I'll bet that accounts for a lot of the repitition. Also, I'll bet the reason this absurdly detailed recipe was allowed to flourish is that the military has other better things to do with its time than go through the process of editing the brownie recipe! I'll bet the instructions for assembling a rifle are a lot more suscinct!

Here's what the link says: More From The Birmingham News : Subscribe To The Birmingham News TV chef Paula Deen to appear at luncheon, bake sale Wednesday, October 19, 2005 JO ELLEN O'HARA News staff writer Paula Deen was a star with a lot of people before she ever saw the bright lights of Hollywood and took a role in "Elizabethtown," now showing at local theaters. Deen, who is currently enjoying the status of the Food Network's most popular personality, stays busy with her two restaurants in Savannah, her TV shows on the Food Network, her magazine that should premier next month, and her busy speaking schedule. She will be in Birmingham Nov. 17 for two appearances, both benefits for Hannah Home Shelby County. The first is a ladies luncheon and holiday bake sale at The Club at 11:30 a.m. Patsy Riley, wife of Gov. Bob Riley, will be among the guests at the luncheon. The luncheon, themed "A Recipe for Hope featuring Paula Deen," will be $50 per person. All attending will receive the first issue of her magazine, Cooking with Paula Deen. The magazine is being published by Birmingham's Hoffman Media. That evening Alagasco will present a cooking demonstration by Paula Deen, who will be assisted by Birmingham chef Clayton Sherrod. The cooking demonstration will be from 6 until 9 p.m. at Metropolitan Church of God at 2800 Metropolitan Way. Tickets are $75 per person. There will be open seating. Box suppers are available for $10 each. Doors open at 5 p.m. All those attending the evening presentation will receive a copy of Deen's latest book, "Paula Deen and Friends." For lunch and evening tickets or lunch tickets only contact Mrs. John Moore, 3352 Afton Lane, Birmingham, 35242. For evening tickets contact Mrs. Robert Alden at 3329 Afton Lane, Birmingham, 35242. Checks should be made payable to Hannah Home Shelby. For more information, call 678-8331, ext. 238. Deen, who began her career in food in the '90s when she prepared sack lunches that her two sons delivered in Savannah. It was through this venture that she named her business "The Bag Lady." While she had suffered for some years with agoraphobia, she overcame this and opened The Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah. That business today has thrived with a lot of work on the parts of Deen and her two sons, now in their 30s. Last year she and her brother, Bubba, opened another restaurant near Savannah, called Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. She remarried in 2004 to Michael Groover, a tugboat pilot in the Port of Savannah. She has received many awards for her entrepreneurial accomplishments in the past decade. She has a small role in the current film, "Elizabethtown," where she plays the role of a strong aunt in a quirky family.

Clax, pumpking cheesecake is one of my absolute favs. You will definately have to try it. It is delicious! IChick, I will be cutting and pasting and trying your award winning recipe. Raisin wives! Yup. That is what was posted. I live in the raisin capital of the universe. When I first moved here, they said they grew raisins. I said, grapes. They said, no raisins. I gave up after that. We supply about 1/3 of all the food for the US, within the borders of our county. BIG ag area. Lots of stone fruit, melons, nuts, grapes, raisins and wine! Not to mention turkeys, chickens, eggs, beef and milk. Recipes--BTW, although I submitted this pie crust recipe and this is the one I made (it is easy), I have moved on and have another favorite one that is far better than this one. Makes three pie crusts 1 ½ Cups Crisco (regular, not butter flavored) 3 Cups All Purpose Flour 1 Egg 5 Tablespoons cold water 1 Tablespoon white vinegar 1 Teaspoon salt In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about three or four minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add up to five tablespoons ice cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Separate the dough into thirds. Form three even sized balls of dough and place each into a large Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. If needed immediately, put in freezer for 1520 minutes to chill. When ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from freezer and thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way to the end. Sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough if it gets sticky. If the dough is sticking to the counter top, use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it is about ½ inch larger than your pie pan. With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter onto the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge. Pie crust is ready to bake or fill. Coconut Oatmeal Pie Heat oven to 350 degrees 2 Eggs 1 Cup sugar ¾ Cup oats ¾ Cup corn syrup ¾ Cup plus 1 tablespoon melted butter 1 Cup coconut 1 Tablespoon vanilla Pinch salt 1 9" unbaked pie shell Chocolate (optional) Beat eggs and sugar until thick (3 minutes). Add salt, syrup, butter and vanilla. Stir in coconut, oatmeal. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. If desired, drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the pie. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream. Auntie Floras Raisin Pie (This truly was my Aunt Flora's recipe) Heat oven to 425 degrees 2 Cups raisins (I like to use the flame seedless raisins) 2 Cups water ½ Cup white or brown sugar 2 Tablespoons cornstarch ½ Cup finely chopped nuts 2 Teaspoons grated lemon peel (Meyer lemons are great) 34 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 Cup pineapple pieces (cut to small bite size) Sugar and cinnamon sprinkle (if desired) Heat raisins in water to boiling and cook five minutes. Stir together sugar and cornstarch. Stir into raisin mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts, pineapple, lemon peel and juice. Pour hot filling into pastry lined pie pan. Cover with top crust. Make slits in the top crust (or can do a lattice crust). Seal and flute. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture if desired. Place on cookie sheet to catch any spills! Cover edge with 23 inches of foil. Remove foil last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 3040 minutes at 425 degrees until brown and juice begins to bubble. Best served warm. Hopefully, the board police won't remove this! Enjoy!