Didn't do well but fun. The problem being that I don't have some of the hosta described and don't know as much as I probably should about the hosta breeders and who introduced what hosta. Connie

Kitchen garden here. Figures I'd end up where ever the food is! You are a kitchen garden! A practical mix of healthy vegetables to feed your family, plus a few colorful flowers to feed your soul, you are neatly groomed, well cared for, and luxuriously rich in nutrients. You're healthy and vigorous, meticulous, and yet creative. "you are neatly groomed, well cared for".........Not. "meticulous, and yet creative".....If that means anal and a dreamer, it's spot on :). Hope ya'll are all doing well and hoping these clouds turn into rain. Poor Houston though, the news reports of it look like New Orleans did. Kristi

Aha! Using the Love it Or Hate It on the right side of the screen to point out specifics, I came out to what I *think* is my style - or would like to be if I had the $$. I'm 86% Arts and Crafts "You tend to prefer simple to ornate and natural materials over man-made. Warm tones found in wood and brass make you feel comfortable, and good craftsmanship excites you like nothing else. You enjoy patterns that highlight our natural surroundings such as plants and trees. You prefer rectilinear forms and straight lines, however you love to find intricate details (ooooh, stained glass!) where you least expect it." Especially since it seems like I don't like WTs at all! And I've bought very ornate patterned (though tone-on-tone) drapes for LR and DR thinking they were my "formal" rooms so should have heavy drapes, plus I want to screen out strong light not to change color of BC floor and leather sofa. Maybe they'll look OK hung high on simple rods, no valance (at least in LR)? 14% "French Eclectic"? Never thought of that, though I do like fine antiques, I'm not really comfortable with them in my house. But the part about "French Eclectic somehow manages to be both formal and casual, classy and unassuming at the same time. You like your spaces to feel inviting from the moment you (or your guest) opens the front door and this feeling should continue even after you've entered your most formal room...the rustic country elements provide a balance and warmth that seems to say, "come in, relax and stay a while." Your love of antiques leads you to flea markets, garage sales and hours of eBay hunting." is right on!

The judges liked the flavors the contestants came up with. I don't make a lot of fancy desserts. Simple ones, yes, but not fancy. I still found the challenge intriguing. We're home cooks, here, not pros, so I'm only asking about the flavors--no time limit, open book (don't need to only use memorized proportions, but no fair finding an existing recipe for the special ingredients). Also, The visual design is a separate kind of trouble, which requires non-cooking skills which we can skip. ;) For me, the odd one out was the sauerkraut. I don't like it, which makes it harder, and it's the only one that isn't naturally sweet. My only thought was to rinse and brown sugar it, then taste. Probably, blend it up into a cake batter and choose some fruit to go with it, like I do for popsicles. Thinking some more, I'd bet pineapple would go well and the acid might pair well with the brininess, offset by the sugar, with a pineapple chili sticky glaze. The beets and chilis are obvious for red velvet cupcakes. (I'm good at improvisational cakes so I guess that's my first thought for anything.) Perhaps the long popular chocolate tomato soup cake is too obvious. On the show, what they had sounded like what I remember--acidic and metallic tasting. I don't have enough knowledge to turn it into a pleasant wobbly along the lines of a panna cotta, so I'm thinking more like a a granita, or maybe even an ice cream. The chilis can only improve it and help with the metallic taste. Tamarinds--one of my all time favorite flavors-- are jammy sweet. The paste they were using was very dark. Usually, tamarind paste is just the goo boiled off the fibers then reduce back to its original texture. I think I'd like to make a bonbon with a pistachio in a dried cherry in a shell of white chocolate, covered by tamarind, enrobed in a chili infused chocolate. Dang. I want to taste that! But spinach? It's sweet, for greens, but it tastes green. I haven't done it, so I don't know if it would work, but I'm thinking I'd like to soak them in simple syrup then dry them at low temperature, hoping for something crisp and sweet. Maybe infuse the syrup with the chili. Stand them in bases of gingersnaps. It depends on how the leaves came out. Crumpling them into the gingersnaps might work well. The main thing is that they have to be dry enough so that when they get wet they won't be chewy. Another approach might be to make a dessert take on stuffed grape leaves, with dried fruit and nuts, and chilis chopped for the filling, maybe with some spinach stems--perhaps go full on charoset with sweet wine--and wrapped in the larger leaves. Maybe with a fruit reduction dipping sauce. Parmesan. The obvious, given the salt level, is caramel, but I didn't think of it until they said it on the show. This is the only flavor that wasn't successful. I'm toast it, perhaps as tuilles, to get the nuttiness and sweetness to come out. They;d go well with chili jam. Maybe crushed and rolled into a nut ball. Or perhaps better a parm and chocolate cookie crusted cheesecake with a chili glaze. That might be a good way to manage the funk. It might be fun to try making all these things and see if they come out well, but I'm not going to. Given the continuing heat, I'm not baking at all, and cooking minimally. This can't continue. I must start cooking some proper meals...