I have a lot of experience with the Sunset recipe with making a biga first. The recipe explains very throughly the reasons why it needs to be so wet.

If you can find the back issue (the article can be found on Sunset Magazines web site) the pictures really help.

I agree that it was a horrible, horrible sticky mess. If it didn't taste good, I would never make it again, it is that much of a mess. I think using a ton of flour when the dough is first laid out would help. I learned as I went and added a bunch of flour, which has resulted in my kitchen covered in a fine flour dust.

I will add less water next time to hopefully combat the stickiness. I noticed in the recipe itself it says 1 5/8 cup (which I used) but in the online video 1 1/2 cups water is used.

You can also make a sort of lazy man's goetta just using ground pork, onions, sausage seasoning, and the steel cut oats. A little easier than bothering with the pork shoulder business. Goetta essentially tastes like sausage with steel cut oats in it. It's so delicious you'll be outraged that you've spent your whole life without it.

There's also something called "panhaas" or "panhaus", which is a southern Ohio variant of Scrapple. I'm not so into that. My southern Ohio boyfriend described it as being "like a loaf of bread, only made out of meat!"

As far as buckeyes go, I've always hated the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, so I've been thinking about trying to make them with chestnut paste instead. It could be a spectacular disaster, or it could be good.