Keeps in the 'frige for days as a handy snack or part of a real meal. Incidentally, I've made this simple 5-minute dish using cheese ravioli, too.

They have my stamp of approval.

I could eat an entire box of them. In fact, I almost did, yesterday. I'm paying for it today on the scale.

My favorite boxed pasta seems to be Rigate in various sizes although ghod knows I love Elbow too.

One simple dish I often make is just the pasta, with diced chicken breast and broccoli, some cut-up tomatos, and a simple olive oil or Italian dressing, although Ranch dressing works well for me also.

The whole preparation time is about 15 minutes including pan frying the breasts. I usually make enough to get additional lunch or the next night's dinner out of it.

Making these pasta salads once every couple weeks might actually be the healthiest meals I cook.

Care to share your own pasta salad ideas?

BTW, I'm just curious; have any of you ever used things like Hamburger Helper or Tuna Helper? Do they suck? Is it easier and better to just roll your own? I've never tried them because it just seems like they're so -- de classe but maybe I'm missing out on a tasty, easy meal.

I'd be curious, though, what alternative dishes you folks offer besides or instead of turkey. Thanksgiving Day Ribs? I'd go for that...

Normally, I'm invited to family or friend's homes for Thanksgiving and this year I'll volunteer to make the stuffing. Naturally this means I'll be baking it in a glass baking dish the morning of the gathering. I know all of one recipe, but I think it's a good one, handed down to me through the ages.

The only pre-preparation is pretty easy: The night before, leave out half-a-loaf of sliced bread, slices spread apart, the night before.

Simmer 1 1/2 cup of celery about 12 minutes -- until just before it's the tenderness you would want since it'll cook a tiny bit more when baking.

Melt 2/3 stick of butter.

Lastly, finely chop a medium sized onion and cook in butter in a pan but DON'T BROWN IT. Cook it just until it gets sort of transparent.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Okay, here are the other ingrediants:

2-3 cups diced apples (peeled, of course)
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon max. of salt (remember that most chicken broths have a lot of salt).
Dash of ground pepper.
2 tablespoons of suger.

and...
7-9 cups of bread crumbs. You can just crumble the slices in your hand or (stacking a couple slices at a time) cut them into more formal squares with a knife. Make sure you include the crusts!

Combine all the ingredients, mixing well, and then spread into a large buttered baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and continue cooking (10-25 minutes) until the top looks browned and the "moisture level" suits your needs. If you're going to be smothering it in gravy or meat (meaning bird) juice, you might want it dryer. Else, you want it to be moist. If (as I am) you will be reheating it at your destination, make sure you leave it moist and not totally browned on top yet. Does that make sense?

The nice thing about this stuffing is that there are several flavors at work but they all seem to get along. Adding the cranberry sauce on top of it makes it both sweet and tart. Well, to me, anyway. The gatherings I go to typically have about 8-10 people in them and this works well, portion wise.

Okay, since this is a reader participation blog, feel free to offer all of us your favorite recipes for stuffing.

U.S. chocolate lovers in growing numbers are discovering how to pander to their addiction and simultaneously help the environment by buying organically certified chocolate.

With $70 million in annual sales, organic chocolate is a tiny part of the estimated $6 billion U.S. market, but like organic coffee, it's rapidly becoming mainstream, said Chris Samuel, spokesman for Green & Black's USA Inc., at the 9th Annual New York Chocolate Show on Friday.

Organic chocolate industry revenue is growing by 40 percent a year, with Green & Black's controlling about 20 percent of the U.S. market, Samuel said.

[...]

While most consumers focus on taste and health, manufacturers also point out the environmental benefits.

Made from cocoa grown in sustainable rain forests, free of herbicides and pesticides, and purchased from farmers who receive guaranteed prices under fair trade agreements, organic chocolate helps protect the environment, proponents say.

Seriously, I'm a chocoholic. I consume about 1/2 pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Ice Cream every night before going to bed. It literally puts a "glow" on me. As I'm typing this I'm eating Reese's White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.

The BEST chocolate I've ever had comes from Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington, Vermont. Every Christmas a bunch of employees buy a mass order of them and folks, the truffles are to die for!

So far as which crock to buy, you should read the comment left by htom [in this post --js]. A clear lid is important so you can check on the status of your stew without losing any heat. 5-7 quarts will hold enough stew to easily feed 4 big hungry guys. Cook up some egg noodles on the stove in a separate pot if you have more guests, and have them spoon stew over the noodles to stretch things.

Think it's too big? Some crocks come with an extra earthenware insert that is divided into two compartments. Or you can just put a shallow layer into the big insert and make less stew. Be warned that cooking times will be much shorter if you don't fill the pot up all the way, though.

Cheap is okay for your first crock. It just applies heat while a timer is on, so anything fancy is kind of redundant.

But what I really want to talk to about is safety.

Most people just put the slow cooker on the counter. I did it myself, until I noticed that I was smelling something that was very similar to a soldering iron. (I have a very acute sense of smell.) The counter was made from a sheet of linoleum over a pine board surface. The heat was actually charring the boards!

I don't know how close I came to a fire, but it probably wasn't that close since most people use their crock on the counter without anything bad happening. I am not a guy who likes to take chances, though.

The way to avoid any problems is just to clear off the top of your oven and place the crock there. Ovens are, after all, big metal boxes designed to heat up to temps the slow cooker can't match. Nothing to burn, you know.

If the electric socket is too far for the cord to reach, just use an extension cord. I always use one of those orange heavy duty extension cords, but there is nothing wrong with a regular cord.

My crock is one of the greatest kitchen devices I ever purchased. Soups, stews, roasts, even barbecue brisket. Toss in the ingredients, set the timer, and go look up porn on the computer. Set the timer in the morning while leaving for work and walk in the door to a house that smells wonderful because there is a real, honest-to-Betsy home cooked meal waiting for you on the stove.

It saves money because I'm not eating fast food all the time, and I eat better for the same reason. And it really buoys up my rep as a great host when I have people over. Cheap and tough cuts of meat are tender as butter after being slow roasted for 12 hours, so I can get plenty of protein without paying those high prices for the prime cuts.

Cleaning is a breeze. The crock is a machine designed to apply heat over a long period of time, right? So just put soapy water in the crock and set the timer so it roasts off the mess at low heat for 4 hours. Dump out the water and all you have to do is rinse and wipe with a sponge.

Get a crock. You won't regret it as long as you use the thing.

Am I missing any?

1) Favorite peanut butter? For me, Skippy smooth. And, being single I can eat it by spoon right out of the jar.

2) Favorite ketchup/catsup? I used to insist on Heinz (that's what I grew up with) but to be honest, I rather like Hunt's Catsup nowadays. It just seems spicier, or maybe a bit more tangy.

3) Mayo? Got to be Hellmann's. Cains doesn't cut it and I never liked Kraft Miracle Whip although a lot of people where I work prefer it.

4) Mustard? I'm not a huge mustard fan in general but I keep both French's and Grey Poupon Honey Dijon in the fridge.

5) Cream Cheese? Is there even another brand besides Kraft Philadelphia? I don't think I've ever seen another choice on store shelves (besides Shur Fine, which sucks).

There. An easy post to respond to. Maybe I'll do one of these (with different categories of course) each Monday.

1) How do you make your pumpkin pie?

2) Does anyone really start with -- a pumpkin???

3) Suggested toppings?

Thanks!

Update 11/4: Robert (see comments) sends this simple recipe:

I can go to a page like this at Yahoo Shopping and my eyes just glaze over with all the choices. I'll probably be going to one of the big-box stores this weekend (I'm off from work) and buy one and I want to be an informed consumer.

What features should I look for? How much should I spend? Are they easy to clean? What do you use yours for? What's the deal with BBQ Crock Pots?

Thanks!

A diet containing curry may help protect the aging brain, according a study of elderly Asians in which increased curry consumption was associated with better cognitive performance on standard tests.

Curcumin, found in the curry spice turmeric, possesses potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

It's known that long-term users of anti-inflammatory drugs have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, although these agents can have harmful effects in the stomach, liver and kidney, limiting their use in the elderly.

Antioxidants, such as vitamin E, have been shown to protect neurons in lab experiments but have had limited success in alleviating cognitive decline in patients with mild-to-moderate dementia.

In their study, Dr. Tze-Pin Ng from National University of Singapore and colleagues compared scores on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) for three categories of regular curry consumption in 1,010 nondemented Asians who were between 60 and 93 years old in 2003.

Most of the study subjects consumed curry at least occasionally (once every 6 months), 43 percent ate curry at least often or very often (between monthly and daily) while 16 percent said they never or rarely ate curry.

After taking into account factors that could impact test results, they found that people who consumed curry "occasionally" and "often or very often" had significantly better MMSE scores than did those who "never or rarely" consumed curry.

"Even with the low and moderate levels of curry consumption reported by the respondents, better cognitive performance was observed," Ng and colleagues report.

Mostly I just enjoy it when going to Indian restaurants. There are several decent ones in the area. I really don't know how to cook with it yet. Any suggestions on simple dishes? I especially like curried chicken or lamb and rice type things. Do they actually use yogurt in that? The restaurant menu always seems to indicate that they do.

Update 11/11: Triticale has a recipe for Curried Lentil Soup on his site.

Anyway, I have some questions about potatoes that I need you to answer.

1) Why do people cut the "eyes" out of them?

2) Why do potatoes seem to start turning green as soon as I get a bag of them home? Are they still safe to eat?

3) I tend to like the red potatoes best for making potato salad, and those rough brown ones for baked potatos. By the way, I find nuked baked potatoes just fine. No need to waste an hour baking them in the oven. Your thoughts?

4) Like everything else, my potato salad is rather lame; cut up boiled potatos (peeled, obviously) and mayo and some cut-up hard-boiled egg. Salt & Pepper. That's it. Time for you all to share your award winning recipes with the rest of us!

And Thanks!