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Post by Gracie on Nov 20, 2006 12:59:34 GMT -5
Gracie, what kind of glass jars do you use and where do you get them? Your pantry sounds wonderful, so I might like to try to copy. Bookie, that is a great idea about cleaning out the fridge for Thanksgiving. I have a lot of work I should be doing today, so I think I will procrastinate on the work and (ta da!) Clean The Fridge. Then I need to go get a turkey. I have everything else ready to go (courtesy of Dream Dinners, not because I am earth mother) HI DoctorK! My jars are (blush) old pickle and olive jars. Yep. Comes from more than a decade of catering and camp cooking, and I just saved every jar. I got dill pickles in the gallon jars, and sliced pickles, pickle spears, sweet pickles and relish in the half-gallon jars. I still do, but of course don't empty them at such a fast rate. These were all bought at Gordon Food Service, so they 'match.' I also find them at yard sales and thrift shops now and then, where I'm always keeping an eye open for glass juice bottles (remember the half gallon apple juice bottles we used to be able to buy?) because that's what I make sun tea in every day. (Well, moon tea too....) I've been known to get creative and cover the lids with fabric or spray paint them, but not always. It really does make a nice looking array...I have a lot of open shelves in my kitchen. What I like most, apart from the recycling aspect, is that it reminds me to cook and eat more of these good-for-us good things, you know, when the soup is simmering, 'oh yeah, barley!' or when the chicken is grilling, 'hey! couscous!' But I did see at K-mart the other night that Martha Stewart has some great looking glass storage jars. They cost more than recycled pickle jars, of course, but if you can afford them, it would be a nice way to go. I would buy them, if I could. They're pretty.
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Post by Jane on Nov 20, 2006 13:16:00 GMT -5
Yes, Martha suggests lovely glass bottles in place of one's plastic dishwashing liquid container. And she's right. Pretty little bubbles show through the blue glass on my sink ledge. It takes so little to make me happy.
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Post by doctork on Nov 20, 2006 17:03:12 GMT -5
No need to blush about recycling glass jars. I live in Washington State, where we recycle everything. I will admit that I personally do not compost, but I'm probably the only one in town who doesn't.
The problem is, my recycled glass jars are spaghetti sauce jars (an admission that I don't make it from scratch) which aren't very big. But the point about those half-gallon juice jars is a good one. We can still buy them here, but for some reason my husband has been buying the frozen concentrate lately. I'll suggest the change - he likes to shop, I don't.
I was wondering Gracie if you used those Ball canning jars, the ones with the two piece lids, and/or paraffin wax seals? That is what my mother used, but I haven't seen any in ages. I probably need to get out more.
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Post by liriodendron on Nov 20, 2006 17:33:17 GMT -5
You can probably find them at your local grocery or hardware store. I bought some last year to make jam. If you do can with them, however, you need to buy new lids (the flat piece) each time. You can reuse the bands as long as they are in good condition. They also look cute when you put squares of fabric between the lid and the band.
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Post by booklady on Nov 20, 2006 22:11:32 GMT -5
My fridge is empty of turkey. I'm going to be helping at our Interfaith Council's Thanksgiving dinner for the Village. This is its third year - my first, and I'm excited to see how it goes. One wonderful woman, a great community member of both the Village and the college, who was widowed a few years ago - and she has quite a few family members here - comes to this each year and brings her family. A good-spirited affair. It's hard not to exalt you for that, Carolion.
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Post by booklady on Nov 20, 2006 22:15:02 GMT -5
Thanks for all your good ideas on glass jars, Gracie. I'm going to work on that!
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Post by hartlikeawheel on Nov 20, 2006 23:46:57 GMT -5
Cleaning the fridge is not my idea of procrastinating, Doc! And helping others to heal is one idea of Earth Mother!
Rereading my post I can only see 1/4 C. milk accounted for. Guess we're on our own on that one. Dang, Connie, if you just didn't have to be so insistent on doing your job. I'd suppose the majority goes into the filling with the flour. Any ideas on that one Gracie?
So much for the multitasking. Maybe I should just forget it and do the spanakopita. Is anyone eating spinach again?
I've a good recipe for cheese and onion pie with a butter and saltine crust but it isn't untested.
At one time in our lives we had to make regular trips to St. Cloud, MN. where there was a fantastic cheese store and we decided to test every type of bleu cheese we could find. We tried Danish, English Stilton, Italian Gorgonzola, WI Treasurecave, So. IA Maytag. More which I don't recall.
But our favorite is the Maytag. Believe it is made in the Amana colonies. It's less bitter than some.
Chef says it is a common choice in the nicer restaurant kitchens. And it certainly is an acquired taste.
I have some frozen puff pastry. Any vegetarian ideas for that?
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Post by juliastar on Nov 21, 2006 8:12:52 GMT -5
I have some frozen puff pastry. Any vegetarian ideas for that? Wrap it around a hunk of brie, bake it and serve with sliced apples and wine. I also mix a little cream cheese and egg; spread it on the pastry; sprinkle over it salt and pepper and fresh parmisan and cut into narrow strips. I wrap a strip around a short asparagus spear and bake to serve as appetizers.
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Post by carolion on Nov 21, 2006 9:30:17 GMT -5
A dash of HomeGirl, a sprinkle of Farm Two cups of MotherLove, steamy and warm Four cups of Fairy Dust, three tsp of Honey Granny's good Bread is far better than money.
Mix all together and knead until right; set aside, set aside - let it Rise in the Light.
Oh, for the hymns and the hummings of Granny; Oh, for the laughter and whacks on the fanny - Oh, for the Sisters all cookin' together - Oh, for the Beautiful Hands as we gather.
Mix all together and knead until right; Set aside, set aside - let it Rise in the Light.
Many's the time there's been sorrow stirred in to the lives of the family; yet once again Granny and Auntie and all the Home Girls are Cookin' in Beauty and healin' the World---
Mix all together and knead until right; Set aside, set aside - let it Rise in the Light.
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Post by Gracie on Nov 21, 2006 11:14:51 GMT -5
No need to blush about recycling glass jars. I live in Washington State, where we recycle everything. I will admit that I personally do not compost, but I'm probably the only one in town who doesn't. The problem is, my recycled glass jars are spaghetti sauce jars (an admission that I don't make it from scratch) which aren't very big. But the point about those half-gallon juice jars is a good one. We can still buy them here, but for some reason my husband has been buying the frozen concentrate lately. I'll suggest the change - he likes to shop, I don't. I was wondering Gracie if you used those Ball canning jars, the ones with the two piece lids, and/or paraffin wax seals? That is what my mother used, but I haven't seen any in ages. I probably need to get out more. Yes, Doctor, my mom taught me to can when I was just a kid. In junior high, just for fun, we made a notebook of all the hundreds of things we canned so I could show my home ec teacher how I'd spent the summer. As near as I can recall, that year we put up --Chicken & Chicken Stock (canned separately is what I mean) --Beef & Beef Stock --Green Beans (about 500 quarts and I am NOT kidding, and that was just a one year supply) --Great Northern Beans, cooked and ready to use when we made baked beans --Tomatoes --Carrots --Peas --Sliced Apples (I'd give anything to be able to do these again, we did them with a few aspirin tablets in each jar and the apples were just like freshly peeled and sliced when you opened them! amazing!) --Applesauce --Peaches --Pears --Plums --Sweet Cherries --Tart Cherries --Blueberries --Grape Juice --Jam & Jelly --Pickles (five kinds) --Maple Syrup --V-8 Juice And I can't remember what else. And that's just what we canned. We also put things in the freezer: --Asparagus --Broccoli --Cauliflower --Sweet Corn --Cooked Mashed Squash --Morel Mushrooms --Raspberries --Blackberries --Applesauce (we canned AND froze this, depending on space limitations) --Peaches (these were sliced for pies) --Beef --Chicken --Fish (all the kinds we could get) --Turkey --Pork (including ham, bacon, sausage) --Venison --Rendered Chicken Fat (we used this in place of shortening for some of our cooking --Homemade Noodles --Homemade Cookies and Cookie Dough, ready to bake --Homemade Pies --Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and again, I can't remember what else. We had a fruit cellar, floor to ceiling shelves on three of the walls, plus potato and apple bins, and two freezers and two refrigerators plus basement storage of dry goods, store canned things and so on. We did huge quantities of everything, because at the time my aunt and her three children were living with us, too, and so there were 9 people to feed on one paycheck. We lived in town, but we might as well have been a farm family when you think about all the preserving we did. My daddy hauled chickens for slaughter at the time and could buy them for something like ten cents each (and eggs just about that cheaply, so we ate LOTS of those and it's why we always had homemade noodles in the freezer). We bought all our other meats from farmers in our church, so we got all this wonderful organic stuff for very little money. We got a lot of our fruits and vegetables from a local farm market, and when Charlie learned about how many we were feeding, he gave us, every day, whatever wouldn't keep, was bruised, whatever. That was when we began making so much jam and jelly, all of them mixed fruit, no two batches the same mix, all delicious! It's also when I learned to sew. My mom and I still make a lot of Betsy's clothes the way she did for me when I was little: good quality adult clothing, thrift shop purchased, cut down and made over into new things for little girls. Geeze, it's no wonder I became what I became, reading back on all this. I don't do any of these things in these quantities, of course, and I do things my mother didn't (grow herbs to freeze and/or dry, for one thing) but I still do most of these and I genuinely love doing it. We did some of this open kettle and some pressure canned, Mom had reasons for everything we did just the way we did it, and I pretty much still do it all the same. But yes, now that I've gone all the way 'round the mulberry bush AGAIN...I am well-versed in the use of the two-piece canning lids. It's true that you can reuse the bands as long as they look good and aren't rusty. We used to do jams with melted paraffin to seal them. Now when I do them I use old jelly and jam jars, collected from friends and family, and boil the lids on the stove--you fill the jars with hot jam, screw on a hot lid so fast your fingers don't have time to blister, and turn the jar UPSIDE down! and it re-seals! It's so cool! you get to hear the jar 'pop' when you open it, just like you bought it! Lucky you that you can still get the half-gallon glass bottles. We can't, it's all plastic here. But get some, and then if your husband wants to he can still buy concentrate and refill the bottles. (I like them for that, as well as tea, because you can give them a good shaking to re-blend anything that might have settled.) I personally think that things stored in glass taste better than those in plastic, because glass is impermeable and nothing picks up other tastes. (It's why glass can be used in a kosher kitchen, because it's pareve.) We were big on liver when I was a kid, before you heard of cholesterol, and mom always stored it in glass jars in the fridge. She felt it kept better. (I STILL do that, even though I'm the only liver-eater in this house and so I don't buy it much.)
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Post by Gracie on Nov 21, 2006 11:19:29 GMT -5
Cleaning the fridge is not my idea of procrastinating, Doc! And helping others to heal is one idea of Earth Mother! Rereading my post I can only see 1/4 C. milk accounted for. Guess we're on our own on that one. Dang, Connie, if you just didn't have to be so insistent on doing your job. I'd suppose the majority goes into the filling with the flour. Any ideas on that one Gracie? So much for the multitasking. Maybe I should just forget it and do the spanakopita. Is anyone eating spinach again? I've a good recipe for cheese and onion pie with a butter and saltine crust but it isn't untested. At one time in our lives we had to make regular trips to St. Cloud, MN. where there was a fantastic cheese store and we decided to test every type of bleu cheese we could find. We tried Danish, English Stilton, Italian Gorgonzola, WI Treasurecave, So. IA Maytag. More which I don't recall. But our favorite is the Maytag. Believe it is made in the Amana colonies. It's less bitter than some. Chef says it is a common choice in the nicer restaurant kitchens. And it certainly is an acquired taste. I have some frozen puff pastry. Any vegetarian ideas for that? My guess, Hart, is that after you've made the roux with the flour and the 2 T. milk, you add the rest (except that last 2 T. for brushing) to it and make a white sauce. It seems like this would be too sloppy if you just added liquid milk so I'm thinking a sauce is what you're after, to bind the filling together. But it's only a guess. It's what I would do, though, if I were noodling with this recipe. I LOVE spinach and I'm hoping to find some for the lasagne I'm supposed to make for the family thing tomorrow....
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Post by doctork on Nov 21, 2006 14:37:42 GMT -5
About the spinach - I received an official CDC pronouncement recently that spinach is now OK, usual disclaimer about washing carefully, etc.
Gracie - WOW, that is an incredible array of resourcefulness and production! Makes me realize just how narrow doctoring is - one gets on the track, and much of life goes by the wayside. Although doctoring and healing is an honorable and useful profession, and enables considerable freedom; mostly I like it. Never much of a cook, but I used to be a very good seamstress.
My mother always called herself a homemaker, and corrected those who made reference to the term "housewife." She was not married to a house, she created a home. That sounds like your philosophy and your home, Gracie. And you are a poet too! WOW again.
I always cringe when a physician asks a female patient, a mother of children, "Do you work?" Of course she works, the issue is whether she is also employed outside the home. Many of my patients would decide to stay home after the second baby; with one baby, many chose daycare + employment outside the home. Then, invariably, after "quitting their job" they would say, "You know I work much harder now than I am home full-time 'not working', than I ever did when I was employed."
Making a home and raising the next generation is a big job, and not as easy as it appears. "Objects in the rear view mirror may be closer than they appear."
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Post by Gracie on Nov 21, 2006 15:19:28 GMT -5
I like you, DoctorK, and I can tell your mom was a great woman, because look at the woman she raised. Good for BOTH of you.
I love it when someone asks my daughter what she wants to be when she grows up, and she spins a list of things (teacher, ballerina, nurse, the usual things little girls say) but then always adds, 'and a mommy, like my mommy.' I was exactly the same way when I was a child: I always knew I wanted to be a good wife and mother.
I've worked in and out of the home throughout our marriage, and I've liked most everything I did, some more than others, of course. But it's certainly true that the juggling act I do now to keep Betsy's needs met and the housework done and bills paid and errands run and all those things, so Grizzy needn't do more than his job (his days are so long, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. is not unusual at all) when he's home... is more involved than anything I had to do when I was 'working.'
And because of that, because we need a second income, I've researched it carefully and am now training to do medical transcription at home. I am also taking copywriting courses, so I can freelance, because these two jobs can be dovetailed in and around laundry and meals and other things. And on snow days, or sick days for Betsy, or whatever, I can still work without spending most of what I earn on daycare. I love to write, and I HAVE to write if I'm going to be able to breathe, so it only makes sense to get paid for it.
As far as the resourcefulness, it's just more common sense to me: you make the most of what you have, instead of bitching about what you have not....and being happy with the choices.
And I am!
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Post by carolion on Nov 21, 2006 18:52:11 GMT -5
One of my stepnieces does medical transcription at home, and it's working quite well for her. With all your multitalented multitaskiness, you'll do very well. But you already know that!
I loved your description of your mom's bringing you into canning and sewing. Are you doing any freelance writing (for money - not "just" here)? Because you could write that up and sell it several ways to Sunday, and people would be hollering for more.
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Post by Gracie on Nov 21, 2006 21:44:33 GMT -5
Caro, I am open to ANY suggestions about where I could sell what I write. I had a newspaper column when Betsy was tiny, called "Mom's Beat" (because caring for her was my 'beat,' and boy was I...beat ...)and it never ceased to amaze me that I could get paid for something I so loved to do and that was so well received. But that paper folded, no pun intended. You think people would want to read the kind of stuff I wrote here today? I don't want to sound like a Martha Stewart wannabe...
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Post by slb2 on Nov 22, 2006 1:10:14 GMT -5
Gracie, you find the right market and sure, folk'll wanna read your stuff. The hard part is finding the market.
I'm lucky to have landed with a couple newspapers, but the pay is low. otoh, I can write what I want, mostly, without interference. As in, I don't have an editor saying, "write it this way or that way," which I suspect could happen with a larger paper or if I worked on staff. Now I freelance. And although the rejection is hard and I pitch a dozen places before I get accepted, (though all my stuff for the two newspapers is taken), it's worth the artistic freedom that I have within my writing.
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Post by slb2 on Nov 22, 2006 1:14:04 GMT -5
I'm too damned independent to take direction. This has a certain amount of self-righteous smugness, but the truth is, I've got too much pride. You sound much more even tempered and smart than me, so I bet you'd do fabulous with a newspaper staff or a regional magazine. Nat'l magazines, I think, need to be earned with lots of sweat and ink.
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Post by slb2 on Nov 22, 2006 1:15:13 GMT -5
...or is it I?
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Post by booklady on Nov 22, 2006 10:27:30 GMT -5
I have pumpkin and pecan pies in the oven. Next up is the apple.
I plan to get my turkey in the oven by 1 or so. I know Thanksgiving is tomorrow, but for the last few years I've cooked the meal on Wednesday. We'll go to Football Son's game at 10 a.m. tomorrow and then come home to leftovers, naps, tv football games, books, and whatever.
College Boy is coming home today, too, so I'll have all three kids here. Yippee!!
Happy cooking and indulging to all. Feast days are so wonderful.
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Post by carolion on Nov 22, 2006 19:30:24 GMT -5
I'm indulging away, thank you very much - Hope you have loves & jokes all 'round your tables, all.
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Post by joew on Nov 25, 2006 22:15:38 GMT -5
Well, j*, I finally prepared the roasted carrots tonight. I was disappointed, mainly because they didn't brown. I followed the recipe, except that I don't have cooking spray, so I hreased the baking dish with Crisco®. At the end of 20 minutes the carrots weren't visibly browning at all. After 25 there were tiny areas of brown on a very few of them. The only explanation I can think of to excuse it is that I tossed the veggies with the olive oil well in advance of putting them in the oven. Maybe too much of the oil drained off before they went into the oven. Anyway, they were too dry on the outside and not browned enough. But they tasted good.
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Post by juliastar on Nov 25, 2006 22:28:18 GMT -5
Hmmm. Not sure whether to call that recipe a dud and move on to post the next one that sounded good but I've never gotten around to trying or try the carrots myself to see if we can't master the technique. Tasted very good is the part that counts but I was rather imagining company carrots.
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Post by joew on Nov 25, 2006 22:35:06 GMT -5
I was looking forward to having them nicely browned and with a glistening coating of the oil. The only thing I can think to do differently is to put the oil on them immediately before they go into the oven. Maybe 30 minutes instead of 25 would have helped the result, but everything else was ready to go, ad I felt I needed to put the meal on the table. If you do decide to try the recipe yourself, let me know how it turns out.
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Post by joew on Nov 25, 2006 22:36:54 GMT -5
Either way, you might as well give us all another to look at.
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Post by hartlikeawheel on Nov 26, 2006 2:46:46 GMT -5
There is a trend toward roasted veggies these days but I remain a staunch supporter of browining them in a cast iron skillet.
Two issues with that. I usually don't care for my veggies browned, though can think of a few, and that the oven method is supposed to be mored healthy.
There are a few turkey recipes which are not untried but may be for you, if I have time to post them. Three which come to mind are a hot salad, a curried salad and a ham and turkey wild rice soup.
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Post by juliastar on Nov 26, 2006 10:22:34 GMT -5
There is a trend toward roasted veggies these days but I remain a staunch supporter of browining them in a cast iron skillet. One probably gets more or less the same effect. Bill has a new potato recipe that works well with baby reds or fingerlings with rosemary and olive oil he does in a heavy skillet. I think it is kind of fussy so the notion of throwing it in the oven has a certain appeal (if it works). Here are two from the Farm Journal's Meal & Menu Planner Cookbook (1980) which I've bookmarked and never tried: Molasses-Ginger Cookies 1/2 c shortening 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c light molasses 1/2 T vinegar 1 egg, beaten 3 c. sifted flour 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t cinnamon 1/2 t ginger 1/4 t salt Combine shortening, sugar, molasses and vinegar in small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat. Cool well and beat in egg. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Gradually stir into molasses mixture. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Divide dough in half. Roll on foured surface 1/8" thick. Cut into desired shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place 1" apart on greased baking sheets. Bake in 375 degree oven 10 minutes, or until done. Remove from baking sheets. Cool on racks. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen. --------------- Cranberry Honey 2 c cranberry cocktail 3 c sugar 1 t grated orange rind 1 c honey 1/2 c bottle fruit pectin Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in 3-qt. saucepan; simmer 10 minutes. Add honey. Bring to a rapid boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add pectin; skim. Pour into sterilized jelly glasses. Seal. Makes 5 (6-oz.) glasses.
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Post by slb2 on Nov 26, 2006 13:05:09 GMT -5
Cast iron skillets are a good way to add iron to your diet. Men don't need the iron women do, though.
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Post by hartlikeawheel on Nov 27, 2006 16:41:50 GMT -5
The phyllo pastry with peppers from post #24, was a success, but probably bore little resemblance to the original by the time I got done with it.
I used orange, green, red bell peppers and extra jalapenos. The sour cream was replaced by a tater topper with chives in it and the salt was cut back with extra pepper added.
I gave up trying to figure out the confusing idea of folding the dough sheets in half and just did four down, filling and four on top. Next I make this I'd use perhaps six on each layer.
An egg or two extra and some browned, crumbled Italian sausage would make it an excellent brunch dish. And skip the idea of fancy-dancy edging unless you have a pretty idea.
I used the 2 C. and 2 T. in the roux with peppers and skipped the 2T. of leftover milk to brush with more butter.
Lightly top with tin foil and, if not brown enough toward the end, remove it.
Serve immediately. The eggs tended to "deflate."
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Post by carolion on Nov 28, 2006 22:34:41 GMT -5
Back to the carrots: try them again, since they tasted good - but this time baste them once or twice - and/or - stir them halfway through the cooking time, making sure they all get turned and re-coated with oil.
Carrots baked in the pan with a chicken will brown nicely....So these will, too - just stir them up. Good luck!
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Post by hartlikeawheel on Nov 30, 2006 21:55:44 GMT -5
Rereading and see I didn't acknowledge your suggestions J*. Thanks.
I have never learned to enjoy brie but the asparagus munchie sounds yummy.
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