I am definitely eclectic. I don't have a kitchen theme because I don't really have a kitchen yet. That said I have a very small house in the woods in Maine with a lot of windows currently looking out at snowy sugar maples, pines and rocks. Because my house has a such collection of mismatched windows I like to keep things simple and functional. I like green, greys and yellows - but I like most other colors too. My family has so many artists that I have quite the collection of art inhabiting my very limited wall space. This thread scared me a bit at first. I was thinking of it being a cooking swap and people were describing their cabinetry - after a moment I realized that the cooking related objects have to fit into someone's decor and it is helpful to know someone hates red frilly flower tablecloths. I am having fun coming up with a gift for a stranger.

What we can't wait til Saturday for pic's!!! LOL How thoughtful of Jessy. I have had her fig perserve too and is it ever good. I hope you enjoy!!! Diana55 P.S...I'll be waiting for Saturday :)

Ok - reporting on the accidental buy of the Escalon Bella Rosa pasta sauce. Its ok/pretty good for a "jarred" sauce. I have 5 more cans and don't have a problem with eating them. I typically have used commercial pasta sauce in the past and actually had a thread about which ones people liked because I was finding that they were all sort of leaving me luke warm. I still like the convenience and still try them - trying to stick with the ones with short ingredient lists (i.e. no weird gums and chemical names) and no HFCS andnminor sugar. I posted the ingrediants of Bella Rosa above. I pulled an old half jar of Barilla out of the fridge. Barilla - diced tomatoes, tomato puree, basil, onions, sugar salt, olive oil, sunflower oil, garlic, natural flavor (whatever that means). Essentially the Bella Rosa fits in with many of the other jarred sauces but I don't see any reason to mail order more when mine is gone. The question becomes.... is this made with 6 N 1 tomatoes? Will I be underwhelmed by my expectations? I haven't ordered them yet but plan to.

Thank you, Sherry, my long lost sister. (grin) I've learned much from you too, like perseverence in the face of adversity, and being willing to always open your door to any friend, and that we both love molasses cookies and that it's way better to travel with a friend. I've also learned a lot. I've learned that Peppi's Dad is even more amazing than Karen's chili, and that's pretty darned amazing. I've learned lots of Sven and Olie jokes from Linda (doucanoe), and Elery's favorite food is now sushi thanks to Diana, Jessica, Lars, Scott, Gina, Ann, Ellen and the California contingent. Jessica and her number 1 son gave me a better understanding of kosher and David taught me....well...we'll just keep that a secret, LOL. Nancy gave me my all time favorite jam recipe which is just awesome on sweet potato biscuits, something she also taught me. KatieC helped me with the Ph papers and canning, and Cathy taught me that some people peel asparagus, who knew? LOLOLOLOL SharonCB posted that awesome salmon quiche recipe which Elery loves and I'm going to have it for breakfast tomorrow, I think, so thanks for the reminder. Chase makes me want to do the Route 66 tour myself, so thanks a lot. Ahem. Carol (dishesdone) has adopted me for every Jewish holiday and showed me that gefilte fish really wasn't bad and the other Carol (Readinglady) has never given me bad canning advice or a bad bread recipe. Brenda taught me the difference between Michigan chili powder and Texas chili powder (grin) and there is a difference. So, thank you Sherry for starting this thread and thanks to everyone else for all yourhelp, your thoughts, your friendships. It's a great place, this forum! (The Old, Original) Annie Happy Everything to Everyone!