thanks everyone for the ideas! the weekend went by too fast as usual, so not enough time to cook as much as i thought. it sounds like others will be bringing pasta dishes to pass, so i decided to make contessa's recipe for some variation. i'm not sure how well it is made in advance, overnight anyway, so i plan on making this tomorrow morning before work. tonight i'll be making my banana muffins and brownies. thanks again for coming through with some great sounding recipes!