Recipe

Karen Blood from Center Point, Iowa, was looking for a recipe for chili that she said was once printed on the wrapper of Aldi's brand canned tomatoes. She said the "healthy and nutritional" chili contained pinto beans, kidney beans, green pepper, celery and canned tomatoes and she would like to be able to make it again. She contacted the Aldi company about the recipe but they were unable to help her. I also searched the Aldi website, which contained many good recipes, but unfortunately there were none for chili as she described it. Danielle Adler from Austin, Texas, saw Blood's request and sent in her favorite chili recipe that she thought sounded like it had everything Blood was looking for. She said she frequently makes this when she knows she is going to have friends over to watch football, and because it is made in a slow cooker she can make it in the morning and forget about it the rest of the day. Using a slow cooker to make chili makes perfect sense.

The folks at Conde Nast's ZipList sent along an interesting glance at the different food tastes of Baltimoreans and San Franciscans, as revealed by their respective searches for game-day recipes. In their search for the most popular game-day recipes, ZipList says that Ravens fans in Baltimore head for chicken, while Niners fans in San Francisco lean toward vegetable-based creations. Baltimore's favorite recipes are: Crispy Asian Wings Skinny Chicken Enchiladas Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken Crock Pit Beer Chicken San Francisco's favorite recipes are: Zucchini Oven Fries Baked Jalapeno Poppers Beef and Black Bean Chili Cucumber Shrimp Toasts ZipList is an online and mobile universal shopping list and recipe management service that enables shoppers to create and share grocery lists with family members.

Harold Lauer from Spearfish, S.D., was looking for a recipe for the Coney dog sauce that was served at many A&W drive ins in the 1960s. John Van Meter from Dickeyville sent in a recipe for the sauce that was given to him by his late sister. He said the recipe is attributed to Hank's A&W root beer stand in Wabash, Ind. He sent the recipe to me exactly as it read, but he thought it needed a little tweaking, which I did without much difficulty. I tested his recipe on a day when my house was full of hungry football-watching boys, and it was a resounding success.

This is one big game. That's going to mean one big tailgate party, too. Celebrate the Ravens' playoff game with a recipe from the folks who feed the team. Chef Jonathan Lindenauer at Classic Catering People — the exclusive caterers of the Ravens' training facility in Owings Mills, the 200,000 square-foot facility known affectionately as The Castle — developed this burger recipe with a decidedly Ravens bent. It's a burger, yes, but the Black and Purple Burger is dressed with a bright (in color and flavor)

Carol Frey from Baltimore was looking for a recipe she has lost for making a ricotta cheesecake. Thomas Scavuzzo from Rosedale shared an old family recipe from the Renna Dairy Co. in Rosedale, Pa. His grandparents owned the dairy, which closed in 1965. The instructions that came with his recipe were very basic. While cheesecakes are not difficult to make, there are a few golden rules one should try and follow when making them. Start by making sure all your ingredients are at room temperature; take care not to overbeat them; and because cheesecake is essentially custard, it is best to bake it in a water bath.

Now that we have gorged ourselves on holiday meals, it's time to get back to healthy eating. The latest healthy recipe comes from Jay Wilson, senior program director at the Dancel Family Center Y in Ellicott City. It is butternut squash chicken salad. Wilson said he has been cooking since age 12 and you can often find him in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes. He loves to share his creations with colleagues. His duties at the Y include coordinating sports and fitness activities and teaching boot camp classes.

Michael Voltaggio is letting his fans pretend that one of his recipes is their own. Priceless, right? Through a promotion with AT&T called "Gifts That Money Can't Buy," the celebrity chef and "Top Chef" champ, raised in Frederick, has agreed to let people send an e-card featuring one of his recipes. The Voltaggio recipe is just one option people can choose from. There's a joke from comedian Richard Lewis, a fashion top from Joan Rivers, a guitar solo from Richie Sambora and a longing look from Luke Perry.

Matt Miller from Cockeysville was looking for a recipe for making a lamb stew in a white gravy similar to the one his grandfather used to make. Audrey O'Bryan from Easthampton, Mass., sent in a recipe for a lamb stew that, though it does not have a white gravy, she thought Miller would enjoy. It comes from the February/March issue of Eating Well magazine. She said this stew is very easy to make as nothing requires browning, and she particularly likes that she can throw it all together in the morning before heading to work and come home in the evening to a hearty supper that everyone in her family, even her 7-year-old, gobbles up. I found that this particular recipe makes a rather soup-like stew.

Whether your tailgate includes a custom grill setup and team color-coordinated tents, or a simple picnic on a well-worn blanket, no pregame ritual is complete without the spread. This is one party that's as much about the food as it is about fans and football. With a little advance preparation, you can add a pressed muffuletta sandwich, a perfect portable meal, to your tailgate spread. It doesn't require anything too complicated, just a little planning. Just pile a hollowed-out loaf of bread with purchased or homemade olive relish, lettuce, cheese and a medley of sliced meats, then wrap and weight the sandwich at least a few hours to compress.