rstoyguy, thanks for all of the info. I'm a noob when it comes to cooking ROMs and this thread has been very helpful. Let me know if you ever find out why you can't use some previously cooked ROMs as the base for your method. I'd love to use the ROM found here
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=36924 as my base, but like some others here I just get to the second startup screen and it locks up. And I don't see any .hv files in my kitchen directory either...