debnj3, The Wegman's near me in Manalapan is in an uproar right now. They have managed to spend at least 3 weeks, at this point, to rearrange just about EVERY SINGLE AISLE in the store. There are people with yellow T-shirts and lists attempted to assist shoppers in finding where everything has gone ...and not particularly successfully, either. The prices on nuts and "grains" (couscous, quinoa, etc) are much cheaper in TJs than Wegmans, but I do find Wegman's prices are lower than most of the other local markets. The Pathmark nearest me in Marlboro closed in October. I heard about the Top Tomato today, too. I have one near me in Freehold, but I haven't been impressed with their veggies and fruits. I actually like Livotis, on 34 in Aberdeen, for fruits, veggies and herbs. Sushipup - the LS organic red pepper and tomato soup is wonderful, too. Helene

Johnliu, matzoh balls do freeze o.k., though like most things, they're better fresh. I do find they are one of those items that having a vacuum seal system of some sort makes a real difference. I generally have a zip lock bag of my chicken soup in the freezer all made up...I think there is less risk of freezer burn when the meat and veggies are frozen IN the stock. I can tremble and dizzy my way through putting a frozen lump of soup in a pan on low...but if I'm capable of making it from scratch, I'm likely capable of eating whatever might be available in the fridge or even going out to pick up a good batch of Caldo De Pollo from my local Taqueria! LOL about the "inVALID" as that actually attracted me to the thread in the first place...how could cooking be invalid, I wondered?

I love eggnog and make a good boozy cooked one. Fortunately (or unfortunately, perhaps) my family doesn't care for it so I stopped making it since otherwise DH and I drink it all. My recipe starts with 12 eggs so daisy_duckworth's recipe sounds much more manageable! I add dark rum syrup - a sugar syrup mixed 50-50 with dark rum - and a good brandy. Then I let it sit overnight in the frig. This softens the harsh liquor taste and smooths it out. Lightly whip 1 cp heavy cream - with daisy's recipe, it would probably be 1/2 cp - and mix into the eggnog just before serving. No extra sugar, please. I always find the commercial stuff barely palatable. Too sweet, too artificially thickened, too weirdly yellow. Freshly grated nutmeg, BTW, should always be used. Once I tried the Real Stuff I was never able to go back to the supermarket nutmeg. It's amazing what a difference it makes.

Interesting stuff about Activia, Lydia! No, I wasn't eating it, and yes, I have a problem with dairy, so I don't drink milk. It's not a digestive problem, though; I'm allergic to a protein in milk. I don't eat cheese either, but that's because I have to avoid saturated fat. Funny, I was taking l-lysine just before this happened. I felt sick on Thursday, and had trigeminal neuralgia. I thought it was warning me of a herpes simplex outbreak, and started pushing lysine immediately. The symptoms went away, so I thought the lysine had worked. Then on Saturday I came down with the fever. Yes, my yogurt is definitely real. I was buying plain, non-fat Dannon or Greek yogurt, in quarts. I'm an inveterate label reader. BBoston, your experience really does sound similar (except for the "both ends" part). Like I said, if things haven't drastically improved by Monday, I think a visit to the doctor is in order. I tried to last until 4:00 without eating, but couldn't do it. I just had some food and am waiting for my blood sugar to rise. It's an awful feeling when it gets terribly low. So I'll go to the reception, bringing the food and wine, and if it turns out that I'm unable to stay, so be it. I gave it my best shot.