I've recently visited my grandmother in Guangzhou China and during my visit there she introduce me to a veggie I've never had before. I believe she called it fan gua. My Chinese still needs work but I think it means sweet potato squash( or melon or gourd. I don't think there is a distinction in Chinese). Anyway it's a small squash with an oblong shape a bit like a small spaghetti squash. It's green with a bit of yellow to it and it taste a bit like sweet potato. My grandma likes to just steam it and eat it. Has anybody else heard of this? If so does it have another name? I tried to do a search on fan gua to learn more about it but the searches came up empty.

Bobby -- Just saw this thread -- This is THE BEST apple cake recipe... What makes this recipe so special is that the cinnamon isn't mixed into the batter, but instead coats the apples. The batter has some orange zest in it... So when you eat the cake you get this great cake and then these little bursts of apple and cinnamon throughout... It is just divine. Note that this makes a BIG cake -- requires a large (12 cup) bundt pan, not one of the smaller (8 cup) ones. Apple Bundt Cake Bon Appetite, Dec 1999 4 medium Golden Delicious apples (about 1 1/2pounds), peeled, cut into 1/3-inch pieces 5 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 4 large eggs 1 cup vegetable oil (Emily replaces with 1/2 cup oil / 1/2 cup applesauce) 1/4 cup orange juice 1 tablespoon grated orange peel 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 cups all purpose flour 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Powdered sugar Preparation Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Mix apple pieces, 5 tablespoons sugar and ground cinnamon in medium bowl. Combine 2 1/2 cups sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, orange juice, orange peel and vanilla extract in large bowl; whisk to blend. Stir flour, baking powder and salt into egg mixture. Spoon 1 1/2 cups batter into prepared Bundt pan. Top with half of apple mixture. Cover with 1 1/2 cups batter. Top with remaining apples, then batter. Bake cake until top is brown and tester inserted near center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen. Turn cake out onto rack. Cool at least 45 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

I've tried a lot of them over the years. I like Life but it gets so soggy so quickly. I love Smart Start or the new Curves cereal. Mini shredded wheats are good, too, with Sweet 'n Low & 1% milk. Good old corn flakes are a nice break once in a while but I like something mixed in with the flakes for variety. I eat Cream of Wheat and/or oatmeal on the colder mornings. Before surgery yrs. ago, my dr. recommended I have Cream of Wheat for a week before to help the iron in my blood. Turned out they never had to used the blood I donated for myself, which was a good thing.

After you taste lots of wine you will know the answer. The reason I suggested lighter fruiter wines is because my experience shows that most people prefer those initially. If you want to age the wine, that is an entirely different issue and not something you are going to do without knowing a thing about wine! So to your question - the region is what some people hold to be most important. Others disagree. The French have a word - terroir, that doesn't perfectly translate but it cna be understood as the microclimate - the slope of a hillside, whether the sun reflects from a nearby river, the type of soil, the fact that the trees at the top prevent the cold winds from coming down, etc. That is why some winemakers prefer grapes from one vineyard or one section of a vineyard to another. Throughout the world there are many sites where wine can be made. But in Napa for example, some people like to be high on a mountain, say Howell Mountain, while others are in the valley and others are on slight slopes in Rutherford. The soil types vary, the fog effects vary, the winds vary, etc. In the Mosel in Germany for example, the area is cold but the Rhine river reflects sunlight on to the steep hills and the vineyards are a few degress warmer than they might otherwise be. That really matters. So the gross regions (Napa, Bordeaux, Long Island, Rioja) matter and so do the smaller subregions within those areas. And they matter for more reasons than those I just mentioned. In some countries, the law dictates what grapes can be grown in certain areas. So in Rioja in Spain for example, you will find tempranillo, some garnacha, some manzuelo, and some cabernet sauvignon, although not too much. In Napa on the other hand, you will find almost no tempranillo, very little garnacha, probably no manzuelo, and a whole lot of cabernet sauvignon. These grapes produce very different wines. In Napa they can grow whatever they want, in Rioja, they cannot, at least if they want to sell the wine as a Rioja crianza, reserva, or gran reserva. They would not be allowed, for example, to plant zinfandel. In addition, there are aging and vinification requirements in many areas. Germany for example, might require that certain grapes be picked at a certain time if they are to be made into a Spatlese. In Australia, they pick whenever they want. Spain dictates how long a wine must sit in wood and in bottle before release. Argentina for example, does not. In general, the European countries are more restrictive. They limit the choices to certain grapes in certain areas. How zinfandel would do in Piedmonte, for example, is an existential question because I doubt that it will ever be planted there. As a result, things like the country, the region within the country, the producer, the winemaker (who may be hired by the wine producer), the vintage (year the wine was made), the varietal, and a hoste of other factors really make a difference! So far from not mattering, all of these things matter a whole lot. Back to your choices. You don't like the "bite". I agree with the poster who suggested that you are probably referring to tannins. So go with a wine having fewer tannins. That is why I suggested a cru Beaujolais. Or a young, sometimes called "joven" Spanish wine. Or a wine from the Barossa valley in Australia. Or a wine from Mendoza in Argentina. All of them produce examples for under $20 or even under $15 that should be good choices. If you want to try something aged, you will need to spend a little more. That will be an entirely different experience and you will need to find a store that can source these wines or buy them at auction or from private parties. There are a few places that sell some older wines - Lopez de Heredia, for example, is a Spanish producer that is perhaps one of the most traditional in the world. They have released 1964 and 1973 vintage wines from their winery. They are NOT going to be like the others I recommended. In addition, they will be about $250 or so. Best of luck.