This is beefy cheesy something casserole. I didn't even save the recipe, just wanted to share the photo because it looks like such a junk food delight. I see a pea or two in there, so maybe that makes up for all the fat from the 'tots and cheese.

Have I told you about my recipe database lately?

It's a FileMaker database I designed to hold my recipes. A few years ago I typed in all the recipes I'd saved out of the newspaper and various other sources for many, many years. Then, I entered all my favorite recipes from my many cookbooks. Now, I'm working on good-sounding recipes I'm finding in magazines I want to get rid of because they take up too much room.

Right now there are around 5500 recipes in the database. It works well for me because given what ingredients I have on hand, I can search for the recipes that use them. And I can keep track of the recipes that are family favorites and the ones I've tried and liked.

My ultimate goal for it was to test all these recipes and figure out the best one of each kind, like the best meatloaf ever, or the best cornbread. And that would be my cookbook. But I don't plan to publish a cookbook, and I'm not going to test all these recipes in a systematic manner, I'm just going to try the ones that appeal to me and delete any that turn out to be not so special.

Here's a recipe for one of those puffy baked pancakes sometimes called Dutch Babies. A former friend (the 'forensic botanist' in the Casey Anthony trial) was raving about this recipe one time, and all I could think about was how I used to make it every Sunday for a year or so, and no doubt 10 or 15 of my extra pounds are the result. But you go ahead, give it a try. It's yummy.

Baked Pancake

2 cups milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, put 1/4 cup of the milk, the eggs, flour, sugar, and salt. Beat with a hand beater until mixture is very smooth, then beat in remaining milk. In a 10 inch nonstick skillet with high sides, melt butter and swirl it around to coat bottom and sides; get pan very hot. Pour in the batter and place in the hot oven for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cut into 4 to 5 wedges and sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Serve immediately. Makes 4 to 5 servings, so don't eat it all by yourself.