Totally OT -- Let's talk about food!

We've discovered a couple of quick-and-easy marinade recipes recently that I'd like to pass along for anyone else who might be interested.

Easy Barbecue Sauce

1 can condensed tomato soup, straight from the can Equivalent amount of honey 1-2 tbs. each Penzey's "Barbecue of the Americas" and regular barbecue spice mix

Mix all ingredients, let stand preferably overnight before adding meat. Terrific on chicken or ribs -- haven't tried it with beef. You can get the Penzey's spices online from

if there's not a store in your area. This is a basically sweet sauce with a hot "kick"; if you don't care for heat, use less of the Barbecue of the Americas and more of the regular barbecue mix. Leftover sauce keeps well in the refrigerator for several weeks. Apple-Mesquite Marinade This one's *really* easy -- just make up McCormick's Mesquite Marinade according to the package directions, but substitute apple juice for the vinegar! Use as many packages as you need for the amount of meat you're going to cook. We've only tried this on chicken so far. Let the chicken marinate for a few hours, then put into a baking dish, pour in the leftover marinade, and bake covered at 400 degrees for about an hour and a half. We find it also helps if you pull the skin away from the chicken while it's marinating so that the marinade can get in between. And save the pan drippings to make chicken soup!

The easiest way we've found to marinate meat is to seal the meat and the marinade into a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag. You can pick it up, turn it over, and shake it around to make sure that all parts of the meat get well coated.

Celine