I promise to take pics and post them y'all. They won't be the best but pics none the less. I've already warned my family and friends. LOL! Some in my group just don't get the whole pic thing yet, but they love the food! Ann, I agree, it was great talking to you! Sherry, if you ever want some more HC just let me know. Linda, I will try to post that recipe in the next couple of days. This will be one of our new ones to try this year. I hope to fool BIL with the spinach. It is still on page 63 Karen. Thanks again Karen for a super swap box! It will go down in history with me and my family and friends! BTW, the Mayhaw Jelly is fantastic! David

Thanks Plllog and trixietx! Wow so many people have tried gator meat. We don't even have an alligator in our zoo let alone in a grocery store! Lyra, that's a great idea! Maybe I can try making mini piggy bread stuffed with ground pork for little man's lunch next week. Islay_corbel, I have considered making some cooking videos with little man in the kitchen. I have not figured out how to do that Youtube thingy... so it will be a while before I can come up with something. It may be easier for me to just publish a book on bread sculptures. I think there's a need for it. Lowspark, thanks! Since I use sourdough to make the gator bread, I did let it rise twice before baking it. You probably can pretty much use just basic dough for that purpose. I would make the homemade dough a bit stiffer than your regular bread. In that case, the bread will still hold its shape after the final proof. If you use frozen bread dough, don't let it rise for too long for final proof. The animal will rise some more during baking. The more rise it has the bigger the tunnel you will get if you stuffed the body with cheese and meat. Thanks Ruthanna! I have never seen that book. Did a google search only came up with the title but no sample pictures whatsoever. Wonder how good it is. Spinach skinned alligator? That sounds interesting! So the gator is green? Hubby and little man will never touch that! LOL LOL Annie. It' so true about making rattlesnake bread. In fact, little man had already tried making a snake bread but he didn't like how "simple" it looked. Strange thing about kids, eh?! I actually let my dough rise in the oven for 2 hours (final proof) before baking it. It did lose some shape i.e. droopy jaws. But other than that, the animal actually held up its shape pretty nicely. Of course, it really depends on how you prepare the dough. I made mine a bit stiffer than usual and let it rise in colder than usual temperature. But, if I used store bought dough I definitely wouldn't let it rise a second time for too long or I would have to call my gator "Droopy". :-) Jim, I notice that too, not too many people make bread sculptures. It's not as difficult as it seems. I find making reptiles or crustaceans easier because I don't have to come up with ways to prop them up. They stand on the ground with all limbs, naturally. :-) I have tried making Godzilla and let me tell you how it didn't look like Godzilla when it was done! LOL Awww dcarch, many thanks! I wished I had received some training; it would make me a better bread sculptor. I pretty much got trained by many attempts and failures. Anything that didn't quite look like what it was intended, turned into bread puddings on the table... never waste! Served gator bread with Gatorade? What a witty thought! Al

Thank you everyone. I’m making a list of the suggestions here so I can narrow it down. Annie – They replace pieces? What if I showed up with my two sets (minus cups that I donated years ago)? I had a piece break in the dishwasher years back and they mailed me a new one. I figured they’d chalk the edge thing up to ‘oh well’ after 8ish years. Crl – I have a friend who works in a nice restaurant. I never thought to question her about plates. I’m not sure if it’s the heaviness or the rough bottoms of some plates that bother me more. I really like that my Corelle dishes take up less room in the cabinet when stacked. It’s quite a difference from my other plates. They also seem to stack very nice in the dishwasher. I have some random plates I picked up at yard sales and TJ Maxx and Marshalls, but I have odd numbers and should finish trying to complete a set. Jen – I didn’t know Fiesta came in ivory, thanks! Whatever I end up with I will definitely have to do well in the microwave. Jlj – I have these plates from the dollar tree. I bought a bunch for a shower I threw some years back. I think they’re pretty, but they’re uneven and you can really see that when stacked in the cabinet. That bugs me even though they’re not on display. At the time I bought them I even picked through and selected what I thought were the ‘best’ ones. They’re heavier, of course. Edited to add the picture!! Good to know about the Hue dishes being smooth on the bottom, thanks! Funky – Those serving dishes are very pretty! Joanie – Thanks for the info on the Ikea plates being smooth too! Oakley – I really like those holiday stitch plates! They have a nostalgic look to me. These are the Corelle dishes I have. The edges are scalloped. I’m disappointed the print has faded, unevenly I might add, in some places. I never actually noticed how far the edges of the plates come up until today. What should I do with these? Trashing them seems wasteful, but donating with funky edges... Are using plates with the glaze missing on the edges sanitary? There doesn’t appear to be food there. I didn’t buy any new drinking glasses yet. Back when I asked about pans I did end up buying a ceramic Calphalon pan when they were restocked.

I have one wood chest dedicated to memories. It rarely gets opened, but I do feel good knowing the memories are in there. Most others I throw away or donate after I have had them for awhile. I am doing a major decluttering now to make room for recent purchases. Read the Marie Kondo book to learn how to let go of stuff that does not "spark joy". I have been purchasing a lot of colorful dishes and decor to decorate the dining table with and it makes me really happy. I can change up the table when I feel like looking at a new color palette or theme. I love putting new combinations together - it makes the house feel like home, and gives me something new to look at when I feel like I need a change. Most importantly, it is a creative outlet. So, it may not be memories that make you happy when you are older. It may be color, shape and form. Or scenery or photography. Or kitschy stuff. Or little toys, or flowers or candles or shiny things or antiques. It's ok to let go of stuff and replace it with new stuff. Down the road, you may want to replace the new stuff with different stuff. Anything you donate has the potential to make someone else happy for a time, then they may let it go, and so on, and so on.