Red pepper dip.... Roasted red peppers in the blender with sour cream anda few drops of lemon.... Just put sour cream in the blender and add canned roasted red peppers until it's bright red...taste it and add salt of garlic of needed. And guacamole doesn't have to be spicy....just mashed avocado and a few drops of lime juice. If you don't like spicy, skip the tobasco. But you could use pesto....however I think a mild guacamole would stand up to wine tasting a lot better than a garlic-ey pesto. Also there is a sundried tomato pesto available in the grocery store that's pretty darned good....and very red! As for the white dip.... 1 cup of sour cream add 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp horseradish. For this I would use the cream style horseradish. It would be cute to arrange it wreath style...and make groupings of cherry tomatoes as holly berries. Also don't forget belgan endive, makes a great dipper! You also could do a filled veggie tray...filled cherry tomatoes, filled mushrooms, filled sugar snap peas, filled cekery sticks and fat pepper slices filled with a cheese cream cheese mix. Lots of possiblities. Linda C

We are planning a small TV to sit on the counter like buehls. I know that DirectTV has a flat screen with the receiver built in, but it's only good for DTV - what if you wanted to change to Dish Network? So I'm not going that route. Now, (as someone else mentioned) when you run your receiver through a working land line (phone), one receiver can work two TVs (DVR too), so your living room receiver could work for the kitchen as well. I'd call your local satellite installer - most do free estimates, and have them come check out your set up. I'm not sure if you are doing new construction or a remodel, but you may consider (if you have had yours for a good while) switching satellite companies when you are in the new kitchen to take advantage of new promotions and the newest equipment. Like everyone else, competition is good for that market and each company is always trying to one up the other. Good luck!

I'll try to give you a description but I suggest you look at the website AND call Dish to see if what you have is enough or if something else is required. I have an older Dish box, the model before the Hopper. For my box, the access feature requires what they call a Sling Adapter. The device looks like a flat red plastic rectangular waffle about 6 by 4 inches. It plugs very easily into the USB socket on the settop box and just sits next to it in my cabinet. If I recall, it connects and configures itself. I got it for free as a new customer. Some Hoppers have Slingbox built in, some don't. For ones that don't, I presume the same adapter I use would also work. Remote access is then made using the feature they call DISH Anywhere. You need to sign up for it (it's free) and then can use the web address (like on a PC) to sign on, or equally one of their free custom apps. They have apps available for both the Ipad/Iphone and also for Android. I believe the Apple ipad app also allows you to download programs to an Ipad to watch offline with no internet connection required. There's no monthly charge or charge for use. Once it's set up (which I just described, nothing else required), you can access your setop box from anywhere. You can then watch any current program (as if you were sitting in front of your TV), or you can watch something you've already recorded. Or you can schedule a recording from a future broadcast. Or you can watch a movie on demand. Quality is excellent. I've watched programs when traveling in both Europe and Asia, the only requirement is a fast enough internet connection on the receiving side. My home internet connection is fast. One proviso - you need to have a fast enough internet uplink connection to make it viable outside the house. In general, DSL is too slow but most cable connections are fast enough. If your internet connection is too slow, you could still use it for TV watching anywhere in the house (on any device) over Wifi. We were able to remove a TV from the kitchen (that was used when cooking, not eating) because we have an all-in-one PC on a desk that can be used to watch anything from DISH. Or, if something essential (like a game) is going on when eating, we can put a laptop on the table and watch TV on that. As I said, my kids all save money, not needing to have their own TV services, because they can connect to ours and watch for free (they're all adults and live elsewhere). WIth the equipment I have now, only one connection can be handled at a time but they're good about sharing. I could get an additional box and have an additional connection. I have a few friends with vacation homes and they use the Sling feature as their TV provider at their vacation homes, saving an additional subscription. Good luck, as you can see, I do recommend it, we use it a lot.

Oh, Zach! It took me many, MANY years to figure it out, but I can tell you how to get the shells to come off of your hard boiled eggs!!! I boil some to take along on my trips every time--quick, easy meal when I need one--and high protein too! But I always had the problem you have, so I was finding myself eating less and less of the eggs I had taken with me--I'd be standing at the sink for ten minutes trying to get the shells off all the way--and still have some "egg left!" It wasn't a "quick" or "easy" meal! So a few years ago I spent an hour or so online trying to figure out "how to boil" eggs!!! When I tried this method--It Worked! (This is copied from the top of the document where I was keeping info about the different things I was trying! On my document it's RED!) This works! Place eggs in already boiling water! (x12x) 15 minutes and move to ICE bath! Don’t turn off heat after putting eggs in. Leave it on low to keep it just barely at simmer. What I found online said to put the eggs in the boiling water, cover the pan, and then turn the heat off! That didn't work for me--they weren't cooked all the way since our water isn't as hot when it boils "up here!" So I slightly increased the recommended time, and I leave the heat on really low to keep the water hot enough! (You don't want to "boil" them!) How I do it is to get "enough" water in a big pot to be sure all the eggs I'm boiling will be all the way in the water, then I get it boiling hard, then I "lower" the eggs--as quickly as I can--into the water using a slotted spoon so they don't break, then I turn the heat WAY down and cover the pot as it stops boiling enough that the lid will "stay on the pot!" I DO use a timer, and 15 minutes has been working pretty well for me! While they're boiling I fill up one side of the sink with cold water with a lot of ice cubes in it, and when the time is up I use the same slotted spoon to take the eggs out of the HOT water to put them in the ice water--and I do move them around in the ice water a few times to be sure they cool off as fast as possible. I generally let them sit in the ice water until they're all the way cold! (If you're only doing a few eggs you could just use a big bowl!) This has really worked for me! Every now and then I'll get one that doesn't peel quite "perfectly," but almost always they peel VERY easily. When I peel them I do also hold them under warm running water--don't know if that helps, but since heat expands things I figure it helps "expand" the shell a bit to get it off easier! I crack the shell and then "crack it completely" while holding it under the water, and usually the shell is "falling off" by the time I have the shell "crunched into small bits." That part wasn't in what I found online! All my life, going all they back to when I was a small child--yeah, since I'm "a girl" I was taught to cook my whole life!--the "common wisdom" was to put the eggs into COLD water and then bring it to a boil as fast as possible! That NEVER worked for me! Some people would say "add salt" to the water, some people would say "add a LOT of salt" to the water, and some people would say "DON'T add salt" to the water! NONE of that ever worked for me! Some people would say use NEW eggs, and some people would say use OLD eggs! Some people would say add VINEGAR to the water! NONE of that ever worked for me! Putting them in the "already boiling water" has worked for me! And, yes, every now and then I do still get one that "breaks" when it's put in the water--but generally fewer than when I put them in COLD water! Don't you have a couple old mayo jars around? If you do, put a piece of "folded" plastic wrap over the top of the jar before putting the lid on--to "protect" the cardboard in the lid! Short of that, I would recommend putting them in something that's glass, so possibly a casserole dish that has a lid, or one you could put plastic wrap tightly over--of a glass bowl with plastic wrap!??! Try it! See how it works for you! Digit! I'm glad your eggplant seedlings are doing so good his year! Believe it or not I still haven't gotten my seeds into soil yet! I wish David was still around here! He always had such good advice--and wisdom! Skybird Edited to add: in my copied part the "12" had a strike-through, which didn't "take" on houzz, and there were parts underlined--which also didn't come thru!!!