Hi all, my internet connection is slow hence am reluctant to spend too much time putting in detail, after uploading all the images. Marg "I really like the red dahlia with the yellow center. Do you know the name of it? It is a US cultivar; "Kenora Sunset", very choice show dahlia worth having up to 8inch dia flowers. My dahlias have been flowering for almost a month now so is nice to have flowers all year round not just Christmas. thank you. Avendon nice gergera, they grow here though, too wet & tend to be more of an effort than I care to play with. Celeste, this area is the greenest area, in Australia, with rich soils & high rain fall as well as warm climate (not to hot). I live in a valley which gets frost & often burns bromeliads though they recover ok. Shive, "Is that one reblooming for you?" yes though as it has been cool wet & very humid the rust has devastated the daylily beds see the image below. Mantis_oh, "but do you recall names of the taller dahlias?" not sure which one is tall in these image? the white with pink tips is Formby Art, the first image of dahlias is Breannon Pink mauve decorative, while the large white is Croydon Snowtop (this is actually the tallest & its flowers get up to 10inches in diameter). Though the daylily you all are curious about is J. T. Davis, in this climate vigorous, prolific & reasonably rust toleran & very pretty. J.T. Davis; close up; the other daylily is a white seedling of tet Joan Seniors; The next image is Fashion Police; My shabby daylily bed; The dahlias are just starting to do their show; There would have been many more dahlia flowers except for the fact I have been giving them away for Christmas gifts :o) cheers allan

I used to make jerkey with ground turkey, much less grease in the drying process and tasted wonderful. Stupid dog chewed up my cord on my dehydrater!! Could you do a make-up basket for the teen girl??? And what about goodies for the boy, I know my kids loved getting a package with all their favorites (junk food) because they could say "hands off", you could even make labels for them stating "Property of..." Somewhere I read about using a plastic cake holder (like the Walmart bakery cakes come in), you can buy them from them empty. The big round ones. Then you could put all the goodies inside, and make a label for the top. Just a thought. Currently I am doing Halloween bottles with candy inside. 20 oz water bottles. You cut the side after taking the label off, shove everything in, and put a new label over it. You could do this with goodies for the kids in a 2-liter (empty, cleaned and dried). Just a thought. Laura

I have three soups hand written at the top of my shopping list. (it's a simple spread sheet that has room top and bottom for notes) I just jot down what i'm thinking of making over the next weekend. Beef Barley - probably use a mix of grains, maybe some lentils. It is hearty but not quite a stew. Lots of broth for bread, biscuits or croutons. I add extra stock usually. It will thicken overnight. Freezes great. Make a killer top crust/or biscuit pot pie. Thai Coconut Chicken Curry - Also nice and rich but still brothy. I add a bit of tumeric and sweet paprika for color. Very much like a chowder. Not really a bread companion but we like it with thin rounds of toasted baguette. Potato Leek w/garlic and fennel - I use so much roasted garlic it should be called Garlic Soup. (less garlic for gifting). The fennel is some stalks i have frozen i just add while cooking and remove. I have leeks left over from T-day and lots of garlic. I like to use a few whole baby potatoes removed with some of the leeks/onions before stick blending some of the broth. One regular potato diced and half a sweet potato that get blended for some creaminess. Or i could use some squash/pumpkin from the freezer that i roasted a few weeks ago. I made versions of these with a chili and filled a friends freezer after she had her baby. It's a nice gift. If you google any suggestions, you will find many variations of the recipes. For example i just googled the curry to give me a quick reminder of the ingredients... i've never used fish sauce. I might add some shelled edamame. This Beef Barley is similar... Here is a link that might be useful: holiday soups

I always have trouble with the boys-- my db and bils. I got them all yeti coffee tumblers. I ordered the 30 oz size and laughed when they arrived because they were so ridiculously big. One of the orders ended up being delayed so I bought another locally and when the package arrived, I kept it for myself-- I use it ALL the time! I love the big size and while they do keep coffee warm, they are even better at keeping drinks cool! I now have 4 of them for myself! some other ideas.. a milk frother, cards against humanity, nostalgic candy from their childhood, lens cleaning cloth/cleaner, travel pepper grinder (one of my fav gifts ever), a new or favorite book, an artisan cocktail book, stone drink cubes, heirloom beans or rice, battery tester (I just had a conversation about how I need to get one-- I always used my tongue!)