I liked being an owner and the intense joy that my incredibly loyal following enjoyed from my hard work. I had many people who just stopping by my garden center could revisit the feelings they had when they walked in their grandmothers garden. Some came as a form of therapy. Others came at night when I advertised in advance about the opening of the Night Blooming Cereus. Still others loved the fragrances, oh how I loved finding new and aromatic plants. Hummingbirds loved my place for they knew dozens and dozens of tasty plants awaited them in all sorts of colors not just red. For some I was the home greenhouse they wanted but could enjoy none the less. The joy I felt in treating the poorest customer just like I did the customer who (literally) was a millionaire and founder of a NYSE listed company. Being in the greenhouse in the quiet of January and feeling warm and seeing beauty all around me. Working harder than I knew I could work and feeling pride and fulfillment. Sharing moments of excitement with a customer who for the first time saw an American Goldfinch or Red Breasted Nuthatch at a feeder I sold them with the correct food to attract them. Being well known in a 6 parish area(county for those of you not from Louisiana) for the fantastic diversity and quality of the plants I sold. I had the pleasure of dining with the late J.C. Raulston of North Carolina. Knowing the late Dr. John Griffin of Louisiana Tech University, a man who made you feel like the most important person in the world,at least to him, every time you visited with him. It was about me but it was also about connecting with all kinds of people.I have been out of the business as an owner for 7 years and I miss the people the most.

Grilled Tomato Sauce From Steven Raichlen Like soup, tomato sauce is one of the dishes you're least likely to think of grilling. But there is a powerful reason to try this sauce. Beyond the mere novelty factor, grilling imparts a gutsy smoke flavor to the sauce and heightens the natural sweetness of the vegetables. Don't take just my word for it. For thousands of years, Mexicans have grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers to make rich-tasting salsas. I have adapted the technique to make an exceptionally flavorful tomato sauce. Serve the sauce over grilled polenta, with any simple grilled fish, or with just about any cooked pasta. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. 5 lucious, ripe red tomatoes 2 - 2 1/4 pounds total, cut in half crosswise, and stem ends removed 1 medium size white onion, peeled and cut into quarters 1 rib celery 4 cloves garlic, peeled and skewered on a wooden toothpick or small bamboo skewer 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes 1 bay leaf 6 fresh basil leaves coarse salt (Kosher or Sea salt) freshly ground black pepper 1/4 to 3/4 cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water Cook the tomatoes, onions, celery and garlic in greased and preheated grill (George Foreman grill) until nicely browned. You may need to cook the vegetables in more than one batch. Transfer the grilled vegetables and let cool. Finely chop the onions, celery and garlic by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, run machine in spurts. Heat olive oil in large non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, oregano, hot pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Coarsely puree tomatoes and juices with the basil in a food processor. Add the tomato mixture to the sauce pan, with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then let sauce simmer gently until thick and richly flavored 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. The sauce should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add a little stock or water. Remove and discard the bay leaf. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered up to 4 days. Or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the sauce come to room temperature then reheat it in a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often.

Our doves did try to eat some of the rice I threw out for them as I had read that someone had said they liked rice. Yesterday I noticed that our baby doves were sitting alone but we were also aware that the Mom and Dad were close by watching over them. Late in the day a Blue Jay was after the two little ones sitting in thier nest. Both parents decended on the Blue Jay until he flew away. Neither of the parents went back to the nest; we were concerned that they wouldn't make it to the next day. To our joy we found the Mom sitting on the nest early in the morning. However later both parents were away from the baby doves. Late this afternoon I was thrilled to witness both the Mom and Dad at the nest; Mom was feeding the little ones. And later - no parents, no baby doves. They had left the nest. My previous witness of all four of them together must have been the LAST family gathering. My question is: Do the parents stay with thier young long enough to teach them full flying lessons or do they kick them out of the nest and expect them to survive on thier own?

Sonnie, I don't know what "rapid pre-heat" means . All I do it turn on the oven to convection bake and change the temp to 350. I don't ever lower the temp due to convection. My understanding is that it means nothing unless you are baking something for a long time. As soon as the oven reaches temp I put in whatever I am baking. The only time I do a long preheat is if I am doing my artisinal breads and then I do preheat for 45 min-1 hr since I am using my cast iron pots or my steel baking stone...those need a good long pre-heat. As an example of convection speeding up baking I messed up last night and didn't take out my roast chicken soon enough. I used convection roast and it was a 5# chicken. It was in at 375 and I left it too long...sigh...dumb. The oven roasts very well and I should have paid attn but had company and got side-tracked. As far as quick breads drying out or not rising on convection I haven't had that happen. I always bake all quick breads at 350 for 45-1hr.15min...depends on size of pan and recipe. Usually 1hr. They always rise nicely and are very moist. I know in the past there have been complaints about the newer Miele ovens. Mine is 7 yrs old and rococco girl's is about that too. We have the same ovens. She never has a problem either. I hope you get good results. PLease do let me know. c