The Woods Hole Library is holding its plant sale this Saturday. They're always looking for plants, including the common ones that transplant well. The sale features some donated flats of annuals from local nurseries but also divisions of some uncommon plants from local gardeners. I usually have flats ready to go but a family situation has prevented me from doing much of anything in the garden so far this year. Bill, there's probably a similar event near you, and if you look at fliers on community bulletin boards or a local paper you're sure to find it. Or, you could always pot up your extras and come down to Woods Hole early early on Saturday morning. They always welcome people with experience to help the new gardeners make selections. I usually bring my small 'Taylors Guides' so I can show people what the plants look like in flower. The down side is that no matter what you've donated, you still have to pay for whatever you want to pick up - at least I think that's how it's supposed to work. Come to think of it, I never asked for a freebie. I've gotten some great stuff at this sale, but I'm not making any promises about what it will be like this year!

The dishes were dirty (greasy bowls, etc.) AFTER the restarted cycle completed? Or you checked it part-way through upon restarting and saw it wasn't doing a good job? I assume the machine has a mechanical timer, as an electronic control probably wouldn't have remained "paused" for an extended period and would begin the cycle completely over upon being restarted. Since the cycle was interrupted, and restarted presumably already filled with water ... it may have already been in the main wash phase (after a prewash and/or prerinse during the first 15 mins you said had passed) ... and I assume it continued on with the COLD water (since some time had passed with it turned off) already in it. Perhaps, for whatever reason (high-temp option not selected, etc.), it didn't extend the remaining cycle time to reheat the water, resulting in bad performance. Did you try rewashing the load? Have you had opportunity to run the machine again, with a different load, and got the same poor performance?

Like anoriginal says, the bugs were already there. The female weevil lays eggs in the wheat kernel and it can sometimes survive the milling process. The eggs will hatch if they’re in warm or humid conditions, or have reached their maturity. The flour bugs eat the grain and then seek to mate… while eating more grain. How do these pests get into our food? Occasionally, some may find their way inside from outdoors; however, the majority of these pests are in food products brought into the home. The initial infestation can originate at the processing plant, the warehouse, the delivery vehicle, or the retail store (chances of becoming infested increase the longer a food item is stored at the same location). Beetles and moths have four stages in their development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. All stages may be present in the food, but the eggs are so tiny they are seldom seen. The larval stage is most destructive, but the adult stage is most often seen. DOES FLOUR GO BAD? The short answer: Yes. The long answer: The more processed the flour is, the longer it takes to go bad. Whole grain flours should be kept in a refrigerator for the short term, about 2-5 days. If you need to store whole grain flour for longer than a handful of days, the freezer is the best place. If the flour will be used within a month or two, it should be kept in a sealed container. One to two months is considered “quick” in terms of flour usage, so you can keep your flour in a container that is NOT sealed (i.e. the same thick paper bag, rolled down) but the chances of the flour going rancid increase. If the flour will not be completely consumed within two months, it should be stored in a sealed container. Freeze newly purchased grains and flour for at least three days to kill any eggs. Some sources recommend freezing for up to one week. (Note that freezing will kill the eggs, but not remove them.) As a general guideline, don’t buy more grain than you will use within four months. Store grain in a tightly sealed container, not a bag. Weevils are HUNGRY little devils and can eat through bags. (See my storage recommendations above). Adding whole bay leaves and garlic cloves to the area seems to deter flour bugs from setting up shop in your pantry. Garlic may leave a trace flavor in your baked goods, so if you don’t want that, go for the bay leaves instead. You can also apply tea tree oil to a few cotton balls and place them throughout the pantry. WILL EATING BEETLES HARM ME? Other than give you the heebie jeebies, they’re harmless. In fact, the heat from baking kills the eggs and any beetles that may have made their way into your batter. So while the odds of us eating weevils – or have eaten weevils in the past – are high, the mortality rate is low.

I've discovered butter like that. Even if not rancid, it almost always tastes "refrigeraty." If you unwrap one of these still-cold sticks and slice an end off, crosswise, you'll see that there is an oxidized "rind" that has a somewhat translucent appearance. That darker, transformed layer is pretty fridgy tasting. I use it in my bird fat freezer basket. If I am very desperate for butter, I have been able to peel off the oxidized portion and after tasting, use the inner part for cooking if what I'm making has a bit of savory flavor. I save butter and other facts like this for wild bird "suet" mix fat cakes. I save in the freezer unused fat from chicken, roasts, butter and ham. In the winter I melted down, perhaps add a few sunflower seeds or peanuts, and that is solidify into a blocked that I put into a suet feeder outside, away from the house and out of maple tree. The birds and woodpeckers enjoy it in February. I doubt it would make good engine fuel because it is too viscous.