Linda Lou, For what its worth, I asked the local wine hobby supplier to find out if their acid blend has a comparable acidity to citric alone, and she told me that the two other acids are granulated just like the citric. The drying and granulation process is the same. The tarteric acid she sells is not a powder like cream of tarter. She also used a pH test meter and made a solution of water (distilled) and mixed an exact amount of citric acid, and compared that with the same amount of acid blend and water. She saw no difference in acidity, and when each was diluted, they both appeared to be the same equal levels even after several dilutions and mixings of more water. Her granulated acid source is a major manufacturer of the granulated acids, and even though one is a tarteric and the other is malic, they all have the same acidity when mixed with the same water. The local supplier actually buys the granulated products seperatly and blends one third by weight with the other two. The actual amount of each acid might vary slightly, but this has little to no effect on the final acidity, only a slight flavor difference. I have used a few cider vinegars at 7%. Also, I still have 20% distilled vinegar here as well, and use that in canning mixtures where adding more water is not acceptable.

I understand that the oven door on older versions of the BlueStar RNB could get quite warm (I've heard this described as "very warm" and "surprisingly warm" by two personally-known owners and in various ways by folks posting on the internet). My range is from this spring, 2011 -- I wouldn't say notably warm for either the door or the knobs. I can place my hand flat on the oven door, while the oven's in action, without any discomfort -- half a second, ten seconds, it just doesn't matter. It's not hot. Three kids and two small dogs and it's a non-issue. The culinarian is probably a very fine product -- certainly the specs look good and far be it from me to dispute anybody's happiness with his or her purchase. Folks should keep in mind that problems and praise for that range or any other on this board -- for all of this board's virtues -- represent a very small number of reports that may be more or less representative (or wildly unrepresentative) of the larger universe of consumer experience. With the culinarian, especially, we're talking about a very small number of reports on a fairly new product. Reported problems have not been many, but they have not been zero. Reports on Trevor's interventions have been very, very favorable, but not everybody has been instantly pleased by the company itself. I really don't mean to suggest that there are any major problems with the product or the company -- not at all. And for any particular person, for all I know, this may be an excellent choice -- maybe the best one possible. But surely folks know that the record is limited?

Yes, I am glad I found this out. So the F1 etc. isn't as overly complicated as I expected it to be. It was a way to catalog it all. I'm glad hybridizing with the dream of creating smaller blues was pursued because they add so much to the garden. I have another one of Smith's, Hadspen Blue, which is TF2x7. So that's a second generation plant with six other "siblings" before it, possibly others beyond 7. But that's the one that turned into and was stable enough to market as Hadspen Blue. So how long does it take or how many plants do they "trial?" in order to know if a plant is stable? Or with the tissue culture method, is it not necessary to do it that way? My knowledge is foggy in this area. One would have to love doing this because it seems like it would take so long. ..Like Benedict taking it to TF6 would have taken some time. But if you hit on something, a great plant, it would be pretty satisfying. I can see why so many people enjoy growing their own hostas from seeds to see what you might get. Ken said......"BW is IDable on sight.. with that little ripple as the leaf bottom turns toward the stem ......" Hmm, that's pretty subtle, and another layer of detail to pay attention to for IDing. Interesting!

Take heart, always1stepbehind, there are good deals out there to be found. I bought my current car when I was in the market for a vehicle that would get good gas mileage for my daily work commute. At the time, I was driving a vehicle that went through a tank of gas a week at $100 every time I filled the gas tank. It was costing me a fortune to go to work! I expected to end up with a beater, but I didn't care as long as I could get my commute cost down. Imagine my surprise when hubby stumbled across a sweet, low mileage, in perfect condition Jetta that had been warehoused for a couple of years because Grandpa quit driving. We stole it for $5000 which was several thousand below blue book, but the sellers were happy to get rid of it. That little car really helped my budget and I really enjoyed driving it. I only had to fill it every two weeks at a cost of $30 per fill-up. The car finder service mentioned by aok is also something worth looking into. We bought our last new vehicle that way and it was as painless a transaction as I've ever experienced when it comes to purchasing a vehicle. Good luck, when you least expect it, you'll find just what you're looking for!