Sue, I read your pressure cooker post. That sure sounds good. Isn't it a good feeling to eat veggies you've grown yourself? I gardened in Indiana, but this sandy soil and different growing times blows my tiny mind. Green beans are a March/April vegetable. It just doesn't seem right to me! Tomatoes are coming in right now here and strawberries have been in the markets for about a month! Pam, chicken marsala doesn't need anything but it's delicious self! Shirley, I think your dinner sounds good, much like we usually have. I like that pressure cooker in the microwave, too. They have them on Amazon for much less than other sites. Some are used, but who cares, right? They do a good job at that car wash for the money. Tomorrow will be the first day I go along. (Usually it's a good way to get Harry out of the house so I can actually accomplish something ;-)

Glenda, sure looks like a good lunch. I've made that strawberry salad but without the pretzel crust--if we're talking about the same salad. Schoolhouse, those pies look delicious! Sorry you aren't happy with them because they're beautiful! Phyllis, at least you aren't wasting a lot of food. I do much better now that I can see what I have in the refrigerator! Gazania, a whole chicken takes a long time to thaw, as you well know. It must be a pretty big chicken. You shells sound like a good substitute, though. Chi83, I predict your dip is going to be the hit of the board meeting. Yum! LuAnn, I've never had Cuban pork chops--?? Your whole dinner sounds great! I'm hungry for potatoes. Pam, such a deal! That's a really good meal for $5. I am seriously getting worried about my brain. I had even looked to make sure it was Tuesday before I typed Wednesday. I swear I'm losin' it. Marilyn, was your "icky" feeling just a passing thing, or did the chicken soup cure you? Tami, we had meatloaf the other night and it was so good. Wish we'd had scalloped potatoes with it. Oooh, Linda! I think we'd all stand in line of dinner at your house tonight. Sounds delish! Raven, enjoy those burgers--nothing like a burger on the grill. I'd rather have that than steak!

Party_music, here is the recipe. It is from the Robin Hood Flour website. Apple Cranberry Muffins Like most recipes, even using the first time I made minor adjustments. Here is the link to the original recipe:http://www.robinhood.ca/.../Apple-Cranberry-Crumble-Muffins and the recipe with my minor adjustments. Basically using butter instead of oil. Adding a little salt and vanilla and subbing some sour cream for some of the yogurt. Source: Robin Hood Flour With some minor adjustments. Topping ¼ cup brown sugar, packed ¼ cup almonds, chopped 3 tbsp Robin Hood® Oats ½ tsp cinnamon pinch salt 1 tbsp Butter Muffins 2¼ cups Robin Hood Original All Purpose Flour 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1 cup plain yogurt 1/2 cup sour cream 1/3 cup melted butter 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups peeled and diced apples ¾ cup cranberries, fresh or frozen Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease or line 15 muffin cups with paper liners. Topping: Combine all ingredients. Mix well in a small bowl. Set aside. Muffins: Combine flour, brown sugar and baking soda, salt in large bowl. Whisk egg, yogurt, sour cream , vanilla and melted butter in medium bowl. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Stir in apples and cranberries. Fill prepared muffin cups with batter. Sprinkle with topping. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre of muffin comes out clean.

Mamapinky, it doesn't taste "porky", but it does have some kind of chemical they add to make it whiter and some preservative or another, BHA and BHT. The brand most often available here is Armour and it has a list of chemicals, as does Tenderflake. If you can find a refrigerated brand that might be better. If not, try a local Hispanic grocery, they use a lot of lard and it tends to at least be fresh. There are brands available like Proper Foods that are just pure lard. There are also many brands on Amazon, but you'll pay dearly for them. If I didn't have pure lard, I'd probably take a page from AnnT's book and just use butter. It's actually easy to render lard, but the real reason I do it is because if I put all that time and work into a pig, I'm using it ALL. I think it's disrespectful to the animal to be wasteful of it. I do often use this recipe from CanaryBird, who used to post here before her death. It's easy to handle, more malleable than my Grandmother's old pastry recipe! It does call for lard, but I've used butter instead. Like Rusty mentioned, Crisco is worse than it used to be, so I try to avoid it but if you have a good all vegetable shortening you like, it could be used here, I'm sure. I do know that Madonna/bcskye used this recipe in her food processor. It does make a lot, so there's enough crust there for an entire half sheet "slab" pie, that's a plus, but if you don't use it all you can freeze a couple of discs for later use, it freezes well. I find it easy enough to work with that I don't even refrigerate it before I roll it out, that's a plus for me. NATHAN'S NEVER FAIL PASTRY ********************************** These quantities make enough pastry for 3 double-crust pies or 3 1/2 dozen tart shells - muffin size. 5 cups flour 1 teasp salt 2 teasp baking powder 1 lb (454 grams) Tenderflake lard 2 teasp white vinegar 1 egg - slightly beaten. Add water to vinegar and egg to make 1 cup 1) Mix together flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in lard until crumbly (using two knives.) 2) Add liquid and mix gently with hands. (I use a fork to help me here.) Roll into a ball. 3) Roll out amount needed on a floured board. Refrigerate or freeze remainder. Source: 'I've GOT To Have That Recipe' Doubleday Canada - Victoria, B.C. 1986 sharoncb's tip: After step two I often put it in the fridge for an hour to make it firmer and easier to roll out. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving. Pie is always good, especially if you're like me and the filling is the best part! Annie