Thank you! Beautiful horse, BTW, he's got better hair than I do, LOL. I've been having some problems logging in this morning, I thought Gardenweb had fixed that, but apparently not. So far today I've been carrying old paint cans up from the basement, the County is having their "hazardous waste" clean up on Saturday. I've made coffee, returned some pop cans, weeded the herb garden. Elery is in Jackson picking up some more of his clothes and garage stuff. Yes indeed, the party is going wild here in White Cloud. (grin) We'll have a cookout on Saturday, here at my house. Dave's birthday was the 22nd. Elery and I had an anniversary on the 10th, Ashley's anniversary was the 17th, Elery's son Chris had a birthday on the 24th and Ashley's birthday is June 6. We're having one big cookout and then they're going to help me uncover the pool. We do know how to celebrate here... Party on, dudes and dudettes, and especially my almost, kind of close to, sort of, birthday twin, dedtired. Annie

Sister lives in a townhouse... mini-backyard that doesn't get a lot of sun. BUT she has a great friend nearby with a BIG back yard. She lets my sister plant a garden, do all the dirty work and they share the results. One summer, had zukes up to their knees!! My sister shredded/grated a bunch, then measured out and froze in amounts just right for a loaf of zuke bread... in zip bags and stored flat. When she decided to bakes, would just put shredded zukes in a container of room temp water... for maybe 20-25 minutes... and it was ready to go.

LindaC, I was less concerned by what was in that shell than by what was on it. Commercial eggs have been cleaned, but free range eggs have not. The risk is slight, but if those chickens are laying eggs all over the place, not just in nests in their safe (and hopefully clean) coop, then there could be e coli from the deer, plus numerous other things. I'd be far more careful cleaning them than I would eating them. bcskye, I got the Buckeyes from a place called "Backyard Chickens". They were the only place I could find heritage breeds that would let me get an assortment instead of requiring that I buy a larger number of the same variety. They are mailed to me the day they hatch, and my mortality rates are very low, I lost 2 out of 24, one Salmon Faverolle (which are notoriously fragile) and one Silver Laced Wyandott. They are a bit more expensive than going to Tractor Supply or somewhere similar but I got to choose the breeds and the time I received them. The white "frankenchickens" that I sometimes grow for meat, those I just get locally during "Chick Days" at the local co-op. Annie

Sorry I'm so late, sooz, I was weeding the strawberries and moving baby chicks to their new/bigger home. Then I planted 100 asparagus crowns. It's spring you know. (grin) I've topped the brownies with chocolate chips, but not in an effort to keep them from sticking to the wrapping. Maybe the M&M's would work, if you put them on thickly enough, but I've not tried it and I'm not optimistic, as the ganache gets pretty soft and sticky at room temperature. I've also frozen brownies by themselves, but never frosted. I've also frozen the frosting for later use, so I'm only guessing that those components would be fine, although I think the ganache might separate or even bloom. I've used a 9x13, but I'm happier with a 9 inch pan, just because I like my brownies thick. The thinner brownies in the 9x13 can get especially crunchy in the corners, if they are overbaked at all. By the time you add the peanut butter layer and the frosting/ganache layer, it makes a reasonable sized brownie in the 9x13, but I still prefer the texture of the thicker brownie baked in a smaller pan. It must be in the air, I made a gluten free banana/chocolate brownies with peanut butter frosting today, as Amanda was here with Dave and the kids for dinner. They were pretty good, even gluten free! Have fun and good luck, I hope you have a great and successful bake sale. Annie