grainlady, the odds of that happening are miniscule, your friend should buy a lottery ticket! The odds of one egg in the supply being infected with salmonella is one in 20,000 or so, so your chances of being exposed to salmonella is one in 20,000 also. Fewer people than that actually become sick. However, at a public function, I would not risk it, it's my choice to do as I like, and everyone else should have the same choice. I eat my eggs over easy, but Eileen should be able to have hers hardboiled if she likes. Hoever if you have only one choice, then there's really no choice. Custard must be cooked to 160F, if I remember my food safety classes. I find that ice cream without eggs freezes really hard and isn't as creamy, it has ice crystals. I can't conjecture on eggbeaters I've never used them and have no interest in trying them. You don't save very many calories or fat grams and you lose a lot of the nutrients. If a 1/4 cup serving of Egg Beaters has 30 calories and an egg has 70, I'll keep the 40 calories and get all the vitamin e, the beta-carotene, the antioxidants that come in the real egg naturally, thank you, instead of paying for someone to remove the nutrients and then add vitamins back in. I'll save 40 calories by leaving the whipped cream off the mocha or something... Annie

Here is a link for the Fountain Jet Home Soda Maker (see below). "Costs: The machines, several models, including one whimsically shaped like a penguin, start at about $100. C02 canisters are less than $20. The syrups are $3.99 or about 33 cents per serving. Everything is available through the company." I'm not sure what they call a "serving"? You can get a 12-oz. can of Sam's Club pop for around 15-18 cents a can when you purchase it in 12 packs or flats of 24 cans. I priced it last summer when I supplied soda for a group picnic. I occasionally make homemade root beer or ginger ale in recycled 2-litre soda/pop bottles - for pennies. You can find instructions on the Internet. All it takes is water, sugar (I use low-glycemic agave nectar), flavoring, and a small amount of yeast (used for bread-making). A good book on the subject is "Homemade Root Beer Soda & Pop" by Stephen Cresswell. Carbonated beverages are NOT cheap! They are yet one more costly habit really frugal people try to avoid. That and quenching thirst with copious amounts of fruit juice and milk. What a waste of money when they really need WATER! -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Fountain Jet Home Soda Maker

I've heard the artificial sweetener they use in diet drinks dies. There was a piece on the History channel that showed how they made those aluminum cans and they spray a coating on the inside of the cans to keep the contents from being contaminated by the can. I'm pretty sure that the liquid eventually eats this coating off. DH had a boss once that wouldn't drink anything out of a can. He said they find aluminum residue in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. And plastic must deteriorate with time, also. Otherwise why would we be told not to re-use plastic water bottles (although I wonder if that's not just a marketing scare to keep people from refilling and make them buy more).

Well, there are cheaper carbons and better uses for peat moss but with a C:N ratio similar to leaves you could use it. tj