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Good morning to all of you gardeners. I hope all of you are doing well this first week in November. This past week has been beautiful here in Miss. Highs in the mid 70’s, clear and dry. Great weather to clean up the yard and add to my compost pile but I just could not get motivated to do it. The indexing/archiving of this past year’s posts is still on going. Please let me know if there was a particular post that you found helpful or just interested you.

The Italian minestra refers to a variety of moderately thick soups. Minestrone is a hearty vegetable-filled minestra that often contains beans and sometimes pasta. We've omitted the pasta here but added some Italian sausage. With minestrone, it seems, there is no end to the delectable variations.

I make really good soup. The only reason I'm thinking about it now is that we're going from hot, dusty haying to cold and wind-blown leaves. That brings out the need for warm, homey food, and nothing fits the bill like soup. I make such good soup that complete strangers have asked me for my recipe. That's where the problem arises. I don't have a recipe, and there's no way that this week's soup is going to be anything like next week's soup, no matter how hard I try. If that statement sounds familiar based on other things I've written,...

Good morning to all of you gardeners. It looks like the rains have finally passed by my area at least for the next week. October is typically one of the driest months here in Mississippi but we have had rain from 4 to 16 inches above normal. It will take a couple of days for my garden area to dry out before I can get in there and clean up a little more and then till in my compost.

Yield: 24 servings (serving size: 1 bar) RECIPE INGREDIENTS Non-stick cooking spray 3 cups favorite granola 1 cup wheat germ 1 1/2 cup almond butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour 3/4 cup honey 1 cup dried cherries or dried cherry-flavored cranberries 1 cup slivered California Almonds

Beer? Chocolate? Cupcakes? Yes, yes, and yes: say hello to Trophy Cupcakes' limited-edition flavor of the month for October: the Chocolate Stout Cupcake with Caramel Stout Buttercream! Here's the 411, per the owner Jennifer Shea: Made this season with Hale's Cream Stout, our Chocolate Stout cupcake is topped with Caramel Stout Buttercream and a stout caramel drizzle. A cupcake made with beer? Absolutely! The flavors from the roasted and chocolate malts in this stout match so well with our Valrhona Chocolate cupcake…and the caramel made from this beer makes an unbelievably delicious buttercream. Even burly guys (who would usually not...

Good morning to all of you gardeners. Running a little late with the post this morning. My garden area is now clear of plants. If the daily rain showers will just by pass me for a few days I will do a final tilling and remove a few more of the roots left behind. To all of you with Fall/Winter gardens I wish you the best.

You've read in my five previous columns history is all a matter of perspective. Well, today I'm going to challenge your perspective with the most serious topic you'll ever see in this space. Chili. That's right. With the season just changing from the vernal to the autumnal equinox, a steaming pot of chili looms on my horizon, and on many others. There's nothing better on a cool day than a bowl of chili. It’s more American than apple pie and the hot dog. And, in that same context, I'm going to break one of the cardinal rules of journalism. You...

Good morning to all of you gardeners. I started the clean up of my garden this past week. I am taking my time doing it. I started with my tomato plants and decided not to use them in my compost pile. I do plan on pulling up my landscape fabric and saving it for next season. I would like to plant winter rye grass in the garden but would like other advice from y’all. What would be a good cover for this area until spring?

Good morning to all of you gardeners. For most of us this summer’s gardening season is almost over and some of you have started fall/winter gardens. I thought it would be interesting to find out what you have planted in your winter gardens and also what you are doing now to prepare for next springs garden. If you have a favorite recipe for the foods you have grown or just a recipe you would like to share please feel free to post it.

This is a hearty soup exploding with so much flavor! The family will be coming back for seconds...and thirds....

I had a girlfriend who once said, "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'." We're talking about food, of course. Time is a commodity. Let's face it, we're all maxed out. Whether you're a working mother (who isn't), a single mother, a stay-at-home mom, or an empty-nester, we are all busy! Our busy schedules don't have to mean take-out or drive-thrus every night, though. Here are some tricks I've found that save time (and money!): 1. Since I don't grow my own vegetables, I have found that frozen or canned work just fine. 2. I don't make my own dough...

Ok ya'll. Let me start this off by saying I was raised in the south. A Pure Bred Dust Bowl Okie. My entire family has been fishing for food as long as I can remember and for several generations. Needless to say, we can catch enough as to feed a whole gaggle of family. So in 2000, I got to move up to the Blue state hell of Minnesota. Lots of fisherfolks up here...but they don't fish for catfish...in fact they turn their noses up at the humble whiskered beast. Thus, you can go to just about any body of...

We thought we'd heard some wild diet tips floating around health-obsessed Hollywood. But this takes the cake. According to MomLogic.com, a woman
 named Chrissy Schilling had her first baby over the weekend. And she and her sister celebrated by cooking and serving up the placenta. They put it on pasta and into a panini sandwich and posted some photos of the meals on a Facebook page

. According to Chrissy's sister Kathy Schilling's recommendations and recipe,
 the placenta -- full of lingering blood, vitamins, hormones -- is nourishing for the baby during pregnancy, but the nutrients are also good for moms...

The Freeper Canteen Presents Budget Friendly Cooking Good evening and welcome to our Cooking Thread! Tonight we will share some ideas for great meals on a tight budget! Chicken Chicken is inexpensive, versatile and nutritious! I watch the for sales on whole chickens. Cutting them up and using different parts for your recipes is a great way to save money! The plus is you get to use the bones for a base for stocks and soups! I slice up the breast meat for stir fry and freeze then for meals in a hurry. I use the legs and thighs...

Your investments have disappeared. Your vacation fund has vaporized. New clothes for spring are only a daydream. But you have to eat. Perhaps that's why the charm of Clara Cannucciari and her online show, "Great Depression Cooking With Clara," keeps her popular. Clara knows what she's talking about. She was born in 1915 in Chicago, and says she quit high school to work in a factory as a teenager. These days, she shares her wisdom from upstate New York. Some Los Angeles residents, including Pat Box (at right), recently shared their memories of Depression-era food with The Times.

Ingredients 1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix 1 (12 ounce) package vanilla sandwich cookies 3 drops green food coloring 1 (12 ounce) package tootsie rolls Directions 1 Prepare cake mixes and bake according to package directions (any size pan). 2 Prepare pudding according to package directions and chill until ready to assemble. 3 Crumble sandwich cookies in small batches in a food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup add a few drops of green food coloring...

Pheasant Hunters I need your help. My husband and I went Pheasant hunting this year, but were unsuccessful in our hunt. Our best friends gave us two pheasants for Christmas. Would love to know some "tried and true" pheasant recipes. Happy New Year to all and thanks in advance for your help.

It’s the season to be jolly and we bring you the finest fruit cake recipe that will have you licking the last crumbs off the plate

Feel free to cross-post this to other boards of which you may be a member. In keeping with the Thanksgiving spirit, I thought I'd put this up for those who are going to deep fry their turkey and especially for those who will be attempting to deep fry their first turkey. Make sure you use fresh peanut oil for the frying. You can reuse the oil up to 3 times (2 is preferable) if you're deep frying multiple turkeys. NOTE: If you have a deep fryer that says it can hold an 18 lb. turkey, DO NOT use a turkey...

Post your favorite recipes for Thanksgiving Here for ALL FReepers to share! Pies, Gravies, Stuffings........Squirrel?.....

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. FOOTBALL FACTS Thanks for joining us once again as we look at some football facts. This time we’ll look at "From a regional to a National sport. From 1930-1958" In the early 1930s, the college game continued to grow, particularly in the south, bolstered by fierce rivalries such as the "Third Saturday in October"—a rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee. While prior to the mid-1920s most national powers came from...

Thanksgiving is just around the corner so I thought it would be fun for people to share their favorite recipes. Take one and/or leave one. ;o)

[Archived Chef's Tables Recipes] Back in the ‘50’s when I was growing up no Christmas was complete without the sweet and spicy smell of gingerbread. An almost intoxicating aroma filled the house and you knew, even as a small child, that it wasn’t long before Christmas eve. If you ever dined in our Main Dining Room you probably noticed the full sized figures of colonial looking men & women and decorative large wooden planks that appear to have the same figures carved in them. What most of our guest don’t realize is that these boards are actual hundred and forty...

LONDON (AFP) - Squeamish men look away now: a Serbian chef is bringing out Thursday a no-holds-barred guide to cuisine with a twist: "The Testicle Cookbook: Cooking With Balls." Hailed as the world's first testicle recipe collection by e-book publishers YUDU, the cookbook includes author Ljubomir Erovic's favourite dishes, like testicle pizza, battered testicles and and barbecued testicles and giblets. The e-book, available for download from the Internet, comes with handy video guides showing the Serb peeling the skin off testicles and slicing them up into bite-size chunks. + + +

I have grown tired of cooking (and eating) the same meals over & over again. Mostly we eat steak, beef ribs, fried chicken, fried pork chops, tacos, and enchiladas. With the occasional corned beef, spaghetti and (packaged) Chinese food thrown in. I have several cookbooks upstairs that I was considering perusing, then I thought about the fine folks on FR. Please add your favorite recipe(s) to this thread so I can start experimenting. The only thing that I will not cook is liver & onions (YUK). I would love to have a tried & true recipe of pot roast and...

Texas style BBQ, for all to enjoy. Step by step pics included, start to finish.

When I was growing up in southern Indiana my mother used to make a stew. All I can remember was that it had potatoes and beef. I can't remember anything else about it. She called it, "hash." Anybody know anything about it? I'd like to fix it and she passed several years ago. thanx.

OYSTERS MOMBASA Baked with a Wine Garlic Sauce Yield: 8 portions (4 oysters per person) Nowhere are oysters more delicious than on the east coast of Africa (except for the tiny Olympia oysters you get at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco or in New Orleans). In Kenya, the oysters are opened and each one goes on its own tiny china ramekin or tiny container which looks like a miniature coaster. Twelve of these little dishes are placed on a large platter with a bowl of dark, dark-red cocktail sauce and slices of lemon. Mombasa, that lovely city on the coast...

ABC News' Jan Simmonds Reports: While most of the political world has been focused on controversy surrounding Barack Obama's "bitter" comments, there has also been another scandal brewing in the political kitchen. A savvy New York Attorney noted and cited a report on the Huffington Post website yesterday that a batch of recipes listed on John McCain's campaign website, under the headline "McCain Family Recipes", were actually taken word for word from the website of the Food Network. The recipes in question – including Ahi Tuna with Napa Cabbage Slaw, Passion Fruit Mousse, and Farfalle Pasta with Turkey Sausage, Peas...

Recipes came about by evolution 22 March 2008 From New Scientist Print Edition. COQ AU VIN and steak-and-kidney pudding may not bring to mind the principles of evolution. Yet evolutionary mechanisms may well be reflected in recipes for these tried-and-tested dishes. Physicist Antonio Roque of the University of São Paulo in Brazil and colleagues analysed thousands of recipes (arxiv.org/abs/0802.4393v1) drawn from the French Larousse Gastronomique, the British New Penguin Cookery Book, three editions of the Brazilian Dona Benta spanning nearly 60 years, and a medieval cookbook. When they looked at how often ingredients appeared in recipes and ranked them accordingly,...

The Freeper Canteen Presents A Regional and Ethnic Cooking Recipe Swap! It’s cold outside! A perfect time to try new recipes! What’s your specialty? Come share it with us! Here’s a few to get us started! From Mylife: Albondigas(Mexican meatballs) soup or with chili gravy Albondigas (Meatballs) Although albondigas (Mexican meatballs) are usually served in soup, they make a nice appetizer or main dish , too. * 1-1/2 pounds ground pork * 1/3 cup finely chopped onion * 2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, minced or put through a garlic press * 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo...

Would You Eat Your Buddies in a Blizzard? Suppose you were stranded in a blizzard and were forced to cannibalize your friends. This short survey will tell you how likely you would be to eat your buddies. Note: Click onto the link provided to take this self survey. Bon appetit!

I will donate the first $500 in revenue from a video recipe I have on Metacafe. It is a salad I was famous for when I owned a restaurant in Northern California. The dressing was so popular people would come in and buy it in Styrofoam cups to go. The salad also is made with feta cheese, cucumbers, roma tomatoes, walnuts, mixed greens and my famous raspberry vinaigrette. The video is free to watch, Bob Appetit! Mixed Greens Raspberry Vinaigrette By Chef John Guinivere - Awesome video clips here

How prepared are you for Christmas? A lot of singles I know and who live on their own do not really do much for Christmas in the way of decorations or buying any special food etc for Christmas. A lot of them get an invite for the day to spend either with friends or family members and therefore their sole preparation is buying a few gifts for the people likely to be at this event and maybe contributing either monetarily to the host/hostess or taking a few food/drink items on the day. So as a single you think you are...

A Few of FR's FinestEvery Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

Good Bless and Protect Our Troops Worldwide...Happy Thanksgiving!! Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Corps of Engineers Continues Road Projects in Iraqto Protect U.S. Shores Eddy Arnold ~ Any Time Jimmy Wake & Margaret Whiting ~ Slipping Around Hank Thompson ~ Humpty Dumpty Heart Hank Williams ~ Lovesick Blues Slim Whitman ~ Indian Love Call America Supports You: Group Builds Custom Home for Wounded Warrior Michael Flatley ~ Carrickfergus Terry Jacks ~ Seasons In The Sun Ray Stevens ~...

What The Pilgrims Ate FIRST THANKSGIVING In 1621 the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is now known as the first Thanksgiving. While cooking methods and table etiquette have changed as the holiday has evolved, the meal is still consumed today with the same spirit of celebration and overindulgence. WHAT WAS ACTUALLY ON THE MENU? What foods topped the table at the first harvest feast? Historians aren't completely certain about the full bounty, but it's safe to say the pilgrims weren't gobbling up pumpkin pie or playing with their mashed potatoes. Following is a...

Okay, we are just a few days away from Thanksgiving so let this thread be the Official Thanksgiving Turkey Guide. Tips on preparing turkeys and the trimmings. I am really posting this thread out of ulterior motives. I just bought two Thanksgiving turkeys and assured my wife I know everything about how to cook them. She doesn't since she is from Venezuela. Problem is that I fibbed a bit. My main experience in cooking Thanksgiving turkeys before was merely heating up pre-cooked turkeys. This time I will be doing it almost from scratch. Okay, I do have one small tip....

Belinda Goldsmith NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters Life!) - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt liked moose meat with grape jelly, first lady Mary Todd baked a vanilla cake to woo Abraham Lincoln, and Hillary Clinton makes a mean chocolate chip cookie. A cookbook containing over 190 original and favorite recipes from 43 U.S. presidents and their wives - with just the current administration excluded - gives a new insight into their lives through food, their kitchens and their parties. Author Sarah Hood Salomon said she contacted every president or former president's office to gather the recipes and scoured presidential homes...

Lindsay Weiss of Overland Park is the grand prize winner of the Southern Living Cook-Off. She was awarded $100,000 for her recipe Roasted Banana Ice Cream with Warm Peanut Butter Sauce, which is now featured on Southern Living magazine’s Web site, www.southernliving.com. “My husband and I sat through the entire ceremony — two and a half hours — and when my name was called, I was in complete and utter shock,” said Weiss, who traveled to Birmingham, Ala., for the contest. “I was not expecting it at all.” The mother of two created her recipe last spring when she was...

It's fun to repeat things. I posted a food memories thread last year. Let's revise it and talk about old-fashioned recipes.

Freeper Kitchen ping for everyone out there.

For me, I'll be doing up some clams (SHOCKER!) and the usual smoked turkey. Hey, Ben Franklin wanted it to be our national bird, ya know!

Sorry for the vanity but I need Freeper Help!!! Since I just arrived from Phoenix AZ to Maine last year my family wants me to bring a crockpot chili to the reunion on Sat Jun 30th. They also added the stipulation that is should be in a crockpot (to keep it warm) and mild (so everyone can eat it) I have made chili before, (long time ago) but it has never been either crockpot nor mild, and I don't think they will be willing to try anything else. Any help would be appreciated... Thanks... Lost Dutchman aka Sean O.

Hope freepers remember dishes and recipes that were specialties of their moms this Mother's Day.

My oldest niece is graduating from high school next month and we are trying to come up with cool and different things to serve and other ideas for her open house. We'd appreciate any recipes, hints, what not to do, etc. etc..

Homebrewers...don't make another batch of beer until you see this unusual use of malt extract and a most unusual ingredient! Don't tell your friends about the "secret ingredient" until they've had their share.

Christmas: Alone & Lonely? Terrorism of the Soul For so many Christmas is a time of fun, happy preparations & warm memories. For so many Christmas is a time of emptiness, regrets & loneliness. For so many Christmas is the saddest, most depressing time of the year. For so many Christmas is a time of seeing the grass greener on the other side. If you are in the negative arena, you DO NOT HAVE TO REMAIN THERE. The underlying circumstances may not change (dumped by spouse/significant other, kids just rather ignore you, other friends are locked up with family,...