Lemon Steamed Pudding With Berry Compote Pudding Softened butter for ramekins ¾ cup granulated sugar plus additional for ramekins 1 cup buttermilk ¼ cup lemon juice 3 eggs, separated ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt Zest of 2 lemons, finely chopped Berry Compote* 2 cups blueberries 2 cups raspberries 1/4 cup sugar *I used a berry sauce, instead of the compote. Pudding Grease the insides of eight 4-ounce ramekins with butter and coat with granulated sugar. Combine in a mixing bowl the buttermilk, lemon juice, and the egg yolks. Mix the flour, remaining sugar, salt, and lemon zest in another bowl. Whip the egg whites in a third bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk the dry ingredients with the buttermilk mixture, and fold in the egg whites gently, a third at a time. Ladle the batter into the prepared ramekins, filling them almost to the top. Place the puddings in a roasting pan, and pour warm water around them until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover with foil, and bake for 18 minutes or until puddings begin to rise slightly. Remove the foil, rotate the pan front-to-back, and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until pudding is golden and springs back when touched. Compote While the pudding is baking, place the blueberries in a saucepan with the sugar and cook over medium heat until berries just start to burst. Remove from heat and fold in raspberries. Serve puddings at room temperature, or reheat in a warm-water bath before inverting onto plates and surrounding with compote. Courtesy: Craft _________________________________ Meringue Daisies with Lemon Curd For the meringue base I drew circles (about 2 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper. I turned the paper over and anchored it onto a cookie sheet with a tiny dot of meringue on each corner. Using a medium star pastry tip -#21 is good- quickly piped the discs onto parchment, then piped the daisy petals on the base. Pipe the petals close together onto the base itself, to build a "wall" for the lemon filling. Bake for 2 hours. Make sure the meringues do not take on color - they should remain white. Lemon Curd 4 large egg yolks ½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 3 fluid ounces lemon juice 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened Pinch of salt 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the yolks and sugar until blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, but still liquid enough to pour. Dont allow the mixture to boil or it will curdle. When the curd has thickened, pour at once into a strainer. Cool, and store in airtight container. Meringue 4 large egg whites, room temperature ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar 1 cup superfine sugar ½ cup confectioners sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 200°F. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until mixture gets frothy. Gradually start adding the sugar. Beat for a couple of minutes after each addition. Once it forms soft peaks, add the confectioners sugar and vanilla and beat another 2-3 minutes, until stiff peaks form. Immediately put meringue in a large pastry bag, and pipe the discs. Bake 2 hours in a preheated 200°F oven. Turn off the oven and leave meringues to dry out 1 hour longer. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for about 6 months. Courtesy: Sol Sol

I learned to make a spaetzle thingy my dad always called a dumpling. Much the same as Linda's recipe only a bit more simple. Beat eggs like you would for scrambled eggs. A large pinch of parsley. Add flour until it forms a stiff dough... it should not run off the spoon. Must be exact in proportion... okay maybe not. About two eggs per person or three eggs per teenager. A splash of milk will make them more fluffy but I seldom have milk around. I like them thick and heavy. Extras keep in the fridge for a few days just fine... warm in a microwave or by putting hot soup on them. Unlike the other I never boil them in the soup... yucky slimey starchy things I don't like. I boil them like a noodle. Drop them from a wet teaspoon into boiling water. While spooning them into the boiling pot keep a small bowl of plain water... dip the spoon in the water between each scoop of dough and the dough won't stick to the spoon. We push them off the spoon with a finger. They are done when they float... fish them out with a slotted spoon. You will get all sizes and some fines. If making a large batch drain the whole pot into a collander. About half the size of an egg is the perfect size but the tiny fines eat well. Large ones may have to be cut with a knife to eat. This makes an all purpose "dumpling". At soup time put some in a bowl and ladle hot soup over top. A family favorite is to put chicken gravy over them. My youngest sister likes butter and parmeasan cheese on them. They are simple, filling, inexpensive. With chicken gravy they are the #1 family favorite and we always make them for my middle sister when she comes back to Michigan. We so enjoy them the chicken we cook to make gravy gets pushed aside and is eaten later. Lots of protein in the eggs so with a side of veggies this makes a complete hearty meal that will stick with you out in the cold. A common soup we make other then chicken is beef bones, a can/few tomatoes, celery sticks, carrot sticks, and some black pepper. Boil it all until it smells good and ladle over a bowl of dumplings. Being homemade it will take lots of salt... I seldom salt while cooking but pour it on at the table. : ) lyra

i was talked into getting publix's turkey dinner complete w/ extras and the best part of the meal was the cranberry sauce LOL and the fact it was cheap and made few dirty dishes. even then i had to tell myself the cranberry sauce was full of vitamin c and antioxidants lol it was soooo tart. so i hope the turkey recycles better in turkey pot pie and zesty turkey lime salad...i've never made chicken/turkey n dumplings maybe i'll try that instead since i made chicken pot pie last weekend ~ liz

Like anoriginal says, the bugs were already there. The female weevil lays eggs in the wheat kernel and it can sometimes survive the milling process. The eggs will hatch if they’re in warm or humid conditions, or have reached their maturity. The flour bugs eat the grain and then seek to mate… while eating more grain. How do these pests get into our food? Occasionally, some may find their way inside from outdoors; however, the majority of these pests are in food products brought into the home. The initial infestation can originate at the processing plant, the warehouse, the delivery vehicle, or the retail store (chances of becoming infested increase the longer a food item is stored at the same location). Beetles and moths have four stages in their development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. All stages may be present in the food, but the eggs are so tiny they are seldom seen. The larval stage is most destructive, but the adult stage is most often seen. DOES FLOUR GO BAD? The short answer: Yes. The long answer: The more processed the flour is, the longer it takes to go bad. Whole grain flours should be kept in a refrigerator for the short term, about 2-5 days. If you need to store whole grain flour for longer than a handful of days, the freezer is the best place. If the flour will be used within a month or two, it should be kept in a sealed container. One to two months is considered “quick” in terms of flour usage, so you can keep your flour in a container that is NOT sealed (i.e. the same thick paper bag, rolled down) but the chances of the flour going rancid increase. If the flour will not be completely consumed within two months, it should be stored in a sealed container. Freeze newly purchased grains and flour for at least three days to kill any eggs. Some sources recommend freezing for up to one week. (Note that freezing will kill the eggs, but not remove them.) As a general guideline, don’t buy more grain than you will use within four months. Store grain in a tightly sealed container, not a bag. Weevils are HUNGRY little devils and can eat through bags. (See my storage recommendations above). Adding whole bay leaves and garlic cloves to the area seems to deter flour bugs from setting up shop in your pantry. Garlic may leave a trace flavor in your baked goods, so if you don’t want that, go for the bay leaves instead. You can also apply tea tree oil to a few cotton balls and place them throughout the pantry. WILL EATING BEETLES HARM ME? Other than give you the heebie jeebies, they’re harmless. In fact, the heat from baking kills the eggs and any beetles that may have made their way into your batter. So while the odds of us eating weevils – or have eaten weevils in the past – are high, the mortality rate is low.