Brad - something else occurred to me this morning. You've mentioned health issues that prohibit you from having too much salt. And you've also mentioned using the packaged onion soup mix in several dishes. Something occurred to me that might be a good solution. Penseys offers two types of dehydrated onions. One of them is called California Toasted Onions. I think these onions might provide the flavoring you find appealing in the onion soup mix - WITHOUT any sodium. My mother has heart issues and cannot have any salt. For years she also made many recipes that contained the package of onion soup mix. I bought her a package of the toasted onions from Penzeys and it is a great substitution. Do you have a Penzeys near you? Of course Penzeys sells on line also. However, a trip to a Penzeys on a cold winter day might be a really fun thing for you and your Mom to do. All of their seasoning and spices have a sample jar you can smell. And there are free recipe cards and a free catalog which also contains recipes. Teresa

i don't enjoy making a potato salad but i certainly enjoy eating it! however, if you want something different and good, i do have a couple of T & T recipes posted by forum friends: Bruschetta Orzo Salad cindy ny 1 cup orzo pasta 2 tomatoes, chopped 1/2 cup chopped red onion 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil opt: kalamata olives, feta, tuna 3 T Balsamic vinegar 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 T olive oil Freshly ground pepper, to taste Cook pasta according to package directions for about 8 minutes, or until just tender; drain. Combine dressing ingredients. Place hot pasta in large bowl and toss with a little dressing; cool about 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add remaining ingredients and dressing to bowl and toss to mix well. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Serve chilled or at room temperature. White Bean Dip with Pita Chips -- Lori 1 (15-ounce) can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed 2 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/3 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons 1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves Salt Freshly ground black pepper 6 pitas 1 teaspoon dried oregano Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, and parsley in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the bean puree to a small bowl. (Note: The dip will turn green in a relatively short time due to the fresh parsley.) Cut each pita in half and then into 8 wedges. Arrange the pita wedges on a large baking sheet. Pour the remaining oil over the pitas. Toss and spread out the wedges evenly. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt, and pepper. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until toasted and golden in color. Serve the pita toasts warm or at room temperature alongside the bean puree. Spinach Brownies sheshebop 1 pkg. (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed 16 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded **I used 8 oz and that was plenty. 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder 1 cup flour 2 eggs, beaten 4 T. butter, melted 1 cup milk I also added 1/8 tsp nutmeg Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8 x 12 baking pan with cooking spray. Drain spinach in colander and squeeze out excess moisture. Combine cheese, spinach, and onion in large bowl. Mix. Stir salt and baking powder into flour and mix with the spinach. Mix eggs, butter, milk and stir into other ingredients. Pour into pan. Bake for 30 minutes Pizza Rustica (4 whole pies!) From Sue (Cookingrvc) 4 lb Whole-milk ricotta 1 C Grated Romano cheese 8 Large eggs 2 lb Whole-milk mozzarella -- cubed 1 Italian pinwheel sausage - plain -- cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces -- (Can use regular sausage - remove casing, cook in fry pan) 1 lb Genoa salami or Supresata -- sliced 1/4" thick, diced. 8 Hard-boiled eggs -- diced 8 Pie crust - deep dish -- 4 will be used for upper crust 1 Egg wash (1 Egg - beaten w/2 T. water) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thaw pie shells for 15-30 minutes. In a large mixing bowl (I use a Kitchen Aide mixer) add ricotta and grated cheese - mix well Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add mozzarella, pinwheel sausage, and salami - mix well. Fold in hard-boiled eggs. Divide filling among 4 pie shells. Cut the crimped edges off the remaining shells and invert over each filled pie shell. Be sure to cover all of filling. Cut 8 slits in each top crust. Brush crust with egg wash. Place in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 325 and cook for 45 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate. NOTES : The pie will taste salty straight from the oven. Flavors need time to mellow. Tastes best when cooled and refrigerated for 24 hours.

Jessica, I've also made a chocolate beet cake, although mine didn't have the spiced creme anglaise that this one has, which sounds like a really nice addition. Other than that, our recipes are identical. Oh, the cake is very good, really it is, but I'm not sure it's all that healthy, LOL. Chocolate Beet Cake From Straight From the Farm 1 cup butter, softened, divided 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar 3 eggs at room temperature 2-3 oz. dark chocolate 5 medium beets (2 cups pureed) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg confectioners sugar for dusting Make the beet puree by trimming the beets and simmering them until tender. Drain the liquid and cool the beets (you can run water over them to cool them off.) Slide the skins off, then place them in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Let the puree cool slightly before using it in the cake. Cream 3/4 cup of the butter with the dark brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Melt the remaining butter together with the chocolate, either in the microwave or in a double boiler over simmering water. Cool slightly, then add the chocolate mixture, beet puree, and vanilla into the butter/sugar mixture (it may look separated at this point.) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 10-inch springform pan; bake at 375 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (I started checking around 50 minutes.) Cool the cake in the pan 15 minutes before unmolding and removing to a cooling rack; cool completely before dusting with confectioners sugar. Spiced Creme Anglaise 1/2 cup whole milk 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup sugar 4 large egg yolks 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger Set a bowl over ice water and have a strainer nearby youll want this ready so you can stop the sauce from cooking when its ready. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar and set aside. Combine milk, cream, and spices in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat just until the mixture starts to simmer. Whisk some of it slowly into the egg yolk mixture, then slowly add the rest of it while whisking. Pour the whole thing back into the sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until its thick enough to coat the spatula or spoon this usually takes about a minute or two longer. Dont boil it or the egg will harden. Strain into the bowl set over ice water to stop the mixture from cooking further. Chill in the refrigerator until youre ready to use it. Oh, and I used leftover beets that I had cooked for supper and didn't eat all of, I didn't cook beets especially for this recipe! Annie

OK, I caved in. I had to taste the shortbread, just to be sure it was....um.....OK. Yeah, that's it. It was pretty darned good, but I think the dark chocolate on top had something to do with it. Just because, I also made a dozen blueberry muffins for the office for breakfast, because I am the boss for the clerical staff and they deserve it for putting up with me the last couple of months! LOL, marlingardener, my cat THINKS she's the boss.... Annie