Somehow I missed the brisket gene and only recently cooked my first one. The trouble? The family recipe calls for dried onion soup mix and a can of mushroom soup, not what a "real food" cook like me wants to use. Lucky break - The Brisket Book to the rescue. Now I can make brisket with 'real food'. No more canned mushroom soup! No more onion soup mix! When I cooked my first brisket a while back, I was primed to use the family recipe, the one my dear cousin Sharon makes all the time. You see, Sharon’s brisket flew off the platter at a family party when her daughter was married. Oh, it was so tender and good! In the back of my head, the column for what I would call “Wedding Brisket” was already half-written, including the family trick to freeze the brisket before slicing, ensuring thin slices and great flavor. But when I called Sharon for the recipe, I learned that after side-by-side comparisons, she thinks her brisket tastes better without freezing. So mu

A quick-fix appetizer, whether for hungry party-goers or a quick snack if supper's a little slow to the table. Yes – it's bacon, wrapped just one-layer thick around a plump dried apricot which turns sweet and creamy. Because a single strip of bacon makes three (and often four) appetizers, because the fat is cooked off, Bacon-Wrapped Apricots are surprisingly low in calories. It takes three appetizers to get to 100 calories! ~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~ BEST RECIPES! Bacon-Wrapped Dried Apricots Made the List! Best Recipes of 2012 My Number One Party Tip? Here it is. When people walk in the door, have something small and tasty waiting on the table or island or wherever people gather. It’s finger food for immediate consumption, no forks required, napkins optional. But these bite-size bacon appetizers make up so quickly, I’m also happy to fix a small plate for two using a single slice of bacon, two bites for him, one for me. It’s a good solution to fe