I wish I would never have heard the term 'chicken fat'. I think it has me negatively influenced about the DLs that are very ruffled in yellow. I might have a few among my many daylilies, but right now I cannot think of any. LSO is definitely one of the prettier one I have seen. Maybe I will change my mine like I did about spiders. I still do not like the bagel shape. I want mine to be big, open and voluptuous. I did have Startle once, but it was so ugly I tossed it. I showed photos in the daylily forum and you thought it might be a tissue culture. I only paid $8.00 for it so it probably was just that. It was when I first started to include DLs in my garden. This winter when the DLs are hopefully burried under snow, every form, shape, size, color, & ruffle will start looking pretty good. Jean has a good suggestion. Jane

Ginger, that sounds GREAT! Thanks. Linda, you remember right about gribnes (for some reason, my family pronounced it "GREE-vin" -- don't ask me why). It is such a delicious flavor, so maybe if I make mofongo without a sauce, it'd be great. I think that for a recipe like Ginger's, though, I might not want the rich schmaltz flavor. Here is what I had come up with before I read your posts. It worked really well -- tasted just like what we ate in PR, although my texture was a little too dry and didn't hold together well, but I think that may be because I sliced the plantains too thick, so the edges got too cooked before the insides did. Next time I will slice the plantains 1/4" as ginger's recipe says. By the way, peeling green plantains is TRICKY! I started to peel them like bananas -- NOPE. But before resorting to using a knife, I googled the problem and found out how: 1) cut off the ends 2) cut each plantain crosswise into 4 pieces 3) score the peel lengthwise in 3-4 places -- like along the ridges of the peel 4) peel off sections of the peel CROSSWISE (like peeling off the back of a sticker). What was impossible is now easy. No way would I ever have figured out to peel it crosswise. Okay, here's a basic recipe I found, plus my changes: 4 green plantains, peeled & sliced [1/4"] 1 garlic clove [I will use more next time, especially if I don't use adobo seasoning] 1 "tsb" adobo seasoning (below) [don't ask me whether that meant teaspoon or tablespoon -- it didn't matter, because I thought it needed all that I made -- the recipe below] 1 1/2 T butter [I used margarine] 2 T olive oil [I used more] Fry the plantains in a skillet turning once. Place in a mortar, then season to taste with remaining ingredients and mash well completely. [I don't have a mortar, so I used a bowl and an old wooden knife sharpener handle that I use to pound meat. You can use the bottom of a clean jar, too. I also added most of the oil from the pan, because mine seemed too dry.] Serve as is or line a serving container with mofongo, then fill with cooked whatever. Adobo seasoning 4 cloves garlic 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp peppercorns [I just ground in plenty of fresh pepper] 1/2 tsp paprika 1 tsp salt I am excited about this because Passover is coming, and this has the consistency of stuffing!

Carol heres one for you if you like italian sauces I make up a big batch of this tomato sauce and freeze it in serving sized containers. You can use any vegetables that you have on hand 1 large onion clove garlic crushed stick of celery small green capsicum small red capsicum mushrooms carrot, brocoli large tin crushed tomatoes couple of spoons of tomato paste bottle or tin of tomatoe puree chicken stock cube herbs fresh or dry It doesn't matter if you chop them up fine or chunky, its up to you and what you prefer Start with the onion and garlic in a big pan with no oil, sweat them, just stir it till onion is clear then add the other vegetables till combined and stir to stop them sticking Add the crumbled stock cube tomatoes and tomato paste and puree and allow to simmer with lid on pan for an hour or so. Take lid of pan and continue to simmer until sauce thickens stirring occasionally. When done you cook up some pasta 10 minutes only drain put it in the base of a deep baking pan. Put leftover chicken on top then the sauce on top and bake in mod oven for 15 minutes. No fat at all except whats in the chicken! Also grated low fat cheese sprinkled on top before baking if desired and you can use this with veal and other left overs or just use the sauce on its own for a vegi meal.

Ann ~ i don't actually have a recipe, but here's what i do for my soup. first, boil the bird until meat is tender. cool until fat solidifies. i remove the lovely fat and divide into portions of about 2-3 tablespoons into sandwich bags. then i finely chop the meat and make that into 1--2 cup portions (give or take). these all go into the freezer to be used whenever i wish. a pack of fat and one of meat = enough for a pot of soup. the broth gets strained and concentrated a bit by boiling down. here i add one or two grated carrots and a couple of onions finely chopped (any size -- i like lots) and a good handful of very fine egg noodles. there is never enough broth to make more than one or two batches of soup, so when it is gone, i just use regular store broth. (the fat gives much flavor, of course!) for the soup. i melt the fat and add flour to make a roux -- amount of flour is variable, as chicken fat will absorb more flour than butter in a roux. when the roux is thick enough for my taste, add broth/water/noodles and cook until of medium thickness. i also add some Savory Choice Liquid chicken broth Concentrate if the flavor needs boosting. salt and pepper to taste. this gives me a fairly thick soup, and is so good and comforting. many folk would not like this method, as i do use the chicken fat. that's how i get a thick-style end product,. at my age, i just will not worry about the extra calories -- i just want my soup the way i like it! of course, any other chicken soup ingredient you like could be added, or leave out the onions if you wish, or larger noodles, i suppose. whatever you like! Roxanna