Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I definitely second (third, fourth?) the votes for mashed potatoes, pancakes/waffles, red velvet cake, etc., but I made these doughnuts from SE the other day and they were AWESOME:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/10/glazed-buttermilk-cake-doughnuts-recipe.html

Also, this chicken recipe (marinated in buttermilk) is outstanding:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Oven-Fried-Chicken-103512

And a great homemade cilantro ranch dressing recipe:
http://www.feedyourkids.com/2008/07/taco_ring_rice_beans_and_salad.html
(scroll down for the dressing recipe)

Here's a GREAT recipe for french toast from Gourmet (boo, hoo!) magazine (seriously, SO easy and really startlingly good):
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/11/buttermilk-french-toast

and a fabulous biscuit recipe:
http://www.feedyourkids.com/2007/01/easy-buttermilk-biscuitschicke.html

we have "friends" that do this all the time, to the extreme! Down to figuring out what some couples should pay if their children eat...it sickens me. They are not really our friends, more like friends of friends, so its not something I feel comfortable bringing up. We try and avoid anything at their house anymore. Last New Years Eve they charged everybody $12 a head for a dinner that none of asked for or wanted! On a more recent camping trip they tried to charge all the couples for the fire wood they brought! We thought it was a joke (no way I'm paying for firewood that you cut down on your dads property!). They earn nearly double what the rest of the couples in our circle does btw...

*lord i hope they don't read this*

I was once invited to someone's house for dinner. We get there with a nice bottle of wine in hand. They show off their new house, give us a couple hors d'oeuvres with the wine we brought, then say - where do guys want to go for dinner? I was flabbergasted. I have not accepted invites to their house since then and that was a couple years ago.

I don't have much to add, but ... I don't know what pork tenderloin you were looking at, but it wasn't kosher. Pork isn't kosher no matter how the animal is slaughtered.

Here is a decent description of kosher slaughtering - you may have to scroll down to find it: http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm#Shechitah . I think this covers mostly everything, though it doesn't mention that the animal cannot be slaughtered in front of its children or parents.

I would probably do what AyeEat did LOL

fully agree with you... you either fully invite someone or not invite anyone at all.

I once worked for a VERY WELL-KNOWN multi-national packaged goods company in which all beauty care marketing employees were "cordially invited" by our Department Director to a Xmas lunch on a workday. And the written invitation said our attendance was expected.

After we finished our lunch, someone at the top of the table let all of us know that the contribution from each for the lunch came out to $25. We were dumbfounded... and each had to fork out $25 to pay our way. Even the assistants, who earned well below what us managers earned.

From that day on, when someone invited you for lunch we would ask for clarification - are you inviting me??? or are you CORDIALLY INVITING me??

I think the neighbor was rude in asking for your friend to pay for dinner, but you did also say that this neighbor has been taking advantage of her for years. Am I the only one who thinks her friend should have expected this kind of behavior from her neighbor. It shouldnt have come as too much of a surprise. Next time, just kindly say "I'm sorry, but I don't think I will be able to make it", instead of putting yourself in these situations and then being shocked about the rudeness coming from the rude person.

Since when did an invitation to dinner become room and board?

I wouldn't burn bridges, but I would have definitely confronted the neighbour about his behaviour -- even saying something along the lines of, "Next time, I'd really appreciate if you'd let me know that we're splitting the cost of the meal." Snowballing a guest like that is just plain rude.

If it's the first invitation, I'd give the person the benefit of the doubt. If it's happened more than once, I wouldn't go back -- at that point, the neighbour is taking advantage of you. And heck yea, I'd get my change (or an IOU) before I left. I don't care how good the pizza was, $20 is a ripoff.

My husband will also drink it straight; so do I, when I remember. Our commonest use for buttermilk is RANCH DRESSING. We always make our own, never buy it. Half buttermilk, half mayonnaise, a splash of cider vinegar, a little salt and plenty of minced garlic. Herbs to taste. Fresh basil is good, but I'm thinking a pinch of chipotle flakes next time.

I've ordered both powdered yolks and whole eggs from the King Arthur's Flour catalog. Don't use them too often, but they come in handy sometimes.

If you go with the flax, I suggest trying it once at home, before you make a big batch for camping. Not just to see if it works, but for taste as well. It would be unfortunate if you had a supply of muffin mix and every time you made them, the rest of your camp buddies decide it would be better to go gnaw on some bark, instead.

And maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't flax oil go rancid really fast? Or am I thinking of something else? But I'm pretty sure the flax products are all refrigerated at the heath food store. It's something to keep in mind if this is a long camping trip and the weather will be warm. If you're going out on a more snowy venture, then never mind.

@lilyb-I don't see why not, it appears that your recipe will contain water and oil, so just add flax with the dry ingredients and you should be good. One thing to remember though, eggs act as a leavening agent, so since you aren't using them be sure your mixture includes a leavener, typically that would be baking soda &/or baking powder. If not, your muffins will be hockey pucks