Here is the midway update: The house smells absolutely wonderful. I went out to dig out my car from the snow and when I came in the aroma was amazing. It took about 3 hours for the tenderloins to be falling apart. It was less meat than Pat uses, so they got done faster plus tenderloins are already tender. So, I am going to shred the meat and re-bake in the sauce very soon. I used half the amounts since I only had 1.5 lbs. of meat. I also lowered the oven temp after an hour and a half, because it seemed to be cooking too fast rather than simmering. Again I think this is because I wasn't using a Butt Roast. The final taste test will come at dinner, so I will check back. (and you will be happy to know my thumb finally stopped bleeding although it kind of resembles ground meat. Oddly, it doesn't hurt at all. That's probably TMI.)

I recently posted my dressing here on another thread. I normally stuff it into the neck and lower cavities of a whole turkey but I've also done it separately in a covered pan in the oven when cooking just a whole breast. My family loves this dressing which I've been making this way for many years: 1 small loaf stale firm bakery bread (white or brown) 3 - 4 stalks celery- including some green fronds - finely chopped 1 medium onion - finely chopped 2 - 3 lg cloves garlic - minced 3/4 medium-sized leek, white and some green tops - finely chopped handful - chopped 2 cups fresh mushrooms, cleaned & sliced 2 cups chicken broth (or 2 C water & 2 chicken stock cubes) 1 TBS dry rubbed sage 1 TBS dry thyme 1 teasp salt 1/4 teasp fresh ground black pepper 1 teasp poultry seasoning eg McCormick's (optional) butter & oil optional - 2 small fine-textured English breakfast sausages, meat squeezed out of casing Utensils needed: large mixing bowl, frying pan, mortar & pestle (optional) 1. Tear the loaf of bread into small pieces (around 1/2 inch) into the mixing bowl. I usually include the crust, unless the full loaf is more bread than I need. 2. Put equal parts oil and butter in the frying pan and gently saute the chopped vegetables to soften a little - about 5 minutes: - celery, onion, leek, garlic, parsley. Note: if using optional sausage mixture, add it here as well. 3. Add these to the bread crumbs in the mixing bowl. Add a little more butter to the pan and put in the sliced mushrooms. Cook gently for a couple of minutes to soften then add them to the mixing bowl. 4. Put the dried sage & thyme in the mortar with the salt & pepper and optional poultry dressing spice. Grind all together to release the aromas of the mixture, then add it to the mixing bowl, stirring it in. 5. Prepare chicken broth - either fresh or using hot water & stock cubes or powder. 6. Add the stock to the mixing bowl a little at a time, mixing well with fork, stopping when half the liquid has been added. Check that the mixture is not becoming too wet. Add the rest of the liquid in very small amounts and keep stirring and checking that it is moist but not wet. A wet dressing becomes even wetter when it's stuffed inside the turkey so don't overdo the liquid. You may not need it all. 7. Let dressing rest and cool a few minutes then either stuff the turkey, neck and bottom cavities or cook the dressing separately on a foil covered baking pan in the oven, opening the foil a little to allow the top to crispen if desired. For the above photo I cooked my dressing in the oven at the same time as I did the turkey breast, about 1 hour at 325F. You may need a shorter time - just check it after 40 minutes. Note: The time I made this and took the above photo I had been in bed with the flu and cooked just a breast rather than a whole turkey. I didn't get out to buy fresh mushrooms so used a tin of very small whole baby mushrooms. I always prefer to use fresh. SharonCb

These are some of the specials that have been around here the last few weeks, but not all at the same time or at the same store: Red grapes 99¢/# Taters 10#/99¢ Turkey 89¢/# Apples 89¢ for a 3# bag (one day only) Tide 100 oz $4.88/coupon Canned veggies 10/$3 Brown/powdered sugar 99¢ Sugar 5#/$1.49 Pillsbury flour $1.39 (5#) Several Name brand coffees (Maxwell House, MJB, Yuban, Hills Bros) $4.88-$4.99 for what USED to be a 3# can! Now it's what, 33-35 oz? Don't recall offhand Ground beef around here is relatively expensive, but usually pretty good quality. Ground Angus $1.99, Ground chuck $1.89, and often ground beef for around $1.89-$1.99 is the going "sale" prices. Minnesota here. And we don't have a lot of competition in the grocery market. The average person has essentially two options, Cub and Rainbow. I do have a Festival which is close by but they are higher priced. There's also Lund's/Byerly's (now same merged) but they're the yuppie/upscale and high-buck places. I sure miss the days of Country Club, Kroger, IGA, Applebaum's, National and the like. There was competition then. Aldi is growing in the area. I like it, but it's not a place you can get everything you need. They have great meat. Also have a pork sausage patty that is terrific. Bag salad is cheap. Don't care for their canned soups and the other thing is that the items vary often. So if you find something you like, don't bet on it being there in two weeks. But that's the nature of the store.

Pattisue, did you read the .. study(?) that compared canned veggies with frozen and fresh? The canned came out no worse than frozen. Now, I can't remember if they were looking at no sodium ones, but I remember being pleased as I ate a can of corn with a spoon from the can. BFelton, shame on 'ya. Everyone has to have a guilty pleasure and some of ours is Velveeta. At least no one is eating space food sticks now. Rest assured, had someone hoarded them they'd still be fine. Total chemicals. No wonder American bodies didn't decompose in the Vietnamese heat like locals did. (Now that's a picture for the morning.) I wanted you all to know I'm on my 4th meal (breakfast, dinner, repeat) without any Reese's cups. That's 1600 delicious, empty calories of waist fat. No sugar withdrawal, which is surprising. And I'm noticing already the HABIT it is to grab one of these packs of heaven-in-orange-plastic. "Awareness is everything," said every yoga teacher I've ever had in 35 years. I also went to the grocery store after work. 10:30 at night. I bought stuff to make some freezable dishes. Soup, grain dishes, maybe some spaghetti. $149 later I had: Kamut, barley, amaranth, quinoa, cous cous (N. African kind, not Israeli), brown rice, millet, and a couple other kinds. Whole wheat pasta (not sure about this). Soy milk (can you cook with this like regular milk? Will it freeze?) Raisins, apples, pineapple, Savoy, Chinese, green cabbage and bok choi. Onions, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and lots of colored bell peppers. The latter I can cut up and freeze, too. Some 93% fat free ground chuck for a monstrous vat of soup I plan. Some hot Italian sausage. and Lentils. I've never eaten a bean in my life I didn't spit across the room. But. (Big But) I tried the Carraba's spicy sausage and lentil soup by accident and absolutely loved it. I've looked up some copy cat recipes and think I'm going to try it. If it bombs, I'll pour it in the garden. So wish me luck in cooking, better choices, and that they "stick."