Something quick and easy but absolutely delicious. That kind of recipe is a real find. Making my mom's sugar cookies and Christmas dumplings. Since my mother passed away recently so the tradition of Christmas and New Year's dinners fall to me by default. My mother was an excellent cook. This year my kids said, "Wow, this tastes just like Grandma's" and "This is the best pumpkin pie I have ever had". What higher compliment could I ask for? As a child, my mother made chocolate gravy for us as a special treat. When my children were small, they asked for it on a regular basis. When my pastor, who had never heard of chocolate gravy, interviewed them about breaking the fast in his children's sermon, my whole congregation wanted the recipe. It progressed from there to the women's convention and they published the recipe for our women. It is still the best recipe for chocolate gravy I have ever come across. When I was first married, I attempted to cook duck with orange sauce as requested by my husband for some friends of ours. It was a disaster. I did not have a rack to cook the duck on and it turned out very greasy and burnt on the bottom. The flavor was okay and the sauce flavorful, but I think we all would've liked to order a pizza afterward. Years ago my husband was given a salt cured ham from his job for the holidays. It was bigger than any pot I had and I had to soak it in a borrowed pot that didn't quite accomodate its size. After cooking, the ham was still so salty we couldn't eat it. I hated to waste it and tried various things to use it up but ended up having to throw the bulk of it out.