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Hoisin braised pork belly!

Certain brands do offer better quality and substitutes will NOT do:
Kellers or Hotel Bar butter
Vermont Creamery creme fraiche, quark & fromage frais
King Arthur's flours
Guittard chocolate
Valrhona cocoa
Philadelphia brand cream cheese
Fage greek yogurt
Brown Cow "cream on top" yogurts
AND always reading the labels for heavy cream...should only be heavy cream & milk- those other kinds have carageenan, diglycerides and palmitates, what icky things are those?

Freshly coarse ground La Columbe coffee into my french press.

Did you beat the butter and sugar by hand or with a mixer? You usually need to beat the butter till it's light and fluffy, so the sugar is incorporated in the butter ( no longer gritty) which is about 2-3 minutes with a mixer.

Your procedures were spot on...
Sometimes it's the quality of the butter. too- where there is too much water compared to the butterfat. I always use Keller's, Hotel Bar or Land o'Lakes.

When I sent meals to the firefighters after 9/11- they really appreciated non casserole, non pasta dishes. I sent roast pork loin and stuffing. Made baked chicken with olives and rice pilaf, meatballs with gravy and rolls, chicken paprikash, etc... still easy to reheat, and tasty.

chicken broth with egg drop and pastina, yogurt (good bacteria for their tummies, to get rid of all those germs), ginger ale, tea with honey, a souffled omelet...light and tasty...they'll feel better in a few days!

Cream scones with dried tart cherries and dark chocolate chips...you can have a warm one with tea, coffee or a nice glass of milk...OR with vanilla ice cream.

Fage 6oz is about $1.89/ $1.99 at Trader Joes.

Sorry your potluck was a disappointment. Your tart sounded delicious.

We used to do "cook-offs" where I worked. Those who wanted to participate, had to sign up. If you signed up, you made a commitment to bringing your dish. One day, we had 10 different variations of Mac and Cheese. Another time, we had 7 different kinds of your "favorite" soups. We had a great time tasting each others' variations AND those who did not "play" missed out on a good and fun time.

How about a corn pudding, corn fritters, corn chowder or roasting the ears on the grill?

@ healthy food
I did not appreciate a posting that just lead me to some random food site that did not have what I was looking for.

Go for it! Make a good rouille, have that crusty bread and wine, you'll have a fabulous meal.

the only time we have soda is when one of us is sick. flat coke and ginger ale with ice chips are really good for those tummy troubles. if we want an ice cold fizzy drink, we mix seltzer with some homemade lemonades or fruit juices we have in the fridge. ( honestly, Coke scares me- it really does work as a rust and paint remover- if you soak something in there long enough!)