John: I'm pretty sure that my Panasonic also uses -R format. I didn't choose to use that format because my understanding is that they have to be formatted before recording, as well as finalized after. My recorder does not accept all formats (no +RW, for instance). LG makes some machines that do, but they had too many negative user reviews for me to take a chance. Panasonic is pushing the RAM disk format since those can be re-recorded and edited many times. But the disks are much more expensive than the others. I use my one RAM disk to record TV programs that we want to see once, or may fall sleep during watching, so we can see the end later. Check your instructions to see what formats your machine can use. It's confusing, you might want to take a look at some of the sites like About.com and Crutchfield, for explanations of the disk formats. Recording off the air or off of cable lets you collect movies, and TV shows, just like the old VCRs did. Depending on the quality of the signal, and the availability of commercial-free channels like HBO or TCM, you can build up a library, if you like. No having a hard disk just means that you can't save the programs to the hard disk and do the editing tricks that those machines can do. But you can record a movie for less that $1 (cost of a disk) and that's not bad. Steve

If Indiana is right in the heart of the Midwest, then I must be living on the west coast. Better start learning the language. "Gag me with a spoon"? And why go crazy because someone uses more salt that you want? Don't you think you could, let's see. hmmm, maybe use less?? Recipes are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Recipes will often vary, even when followed to the letter depending on a number of variables. I seldom follow a recipe to the letter since I might not happen to have the free range grapes, cage free milk or organic Vanilla Wafers that Marco Pierre White's recipe might call for. I often will add spice I like and tone down or eliminate what I don't like. Amish/Mennonite, etc cooking has a lot of crossover with what some people term "Midwest" cooking. If you consider Indiana "midwest" then I exempt this from consideration. However the midwest of the United States are generally or at least were, big farming areas and Amish/Mennonite, etc were also big farmers. Meat, potatoes, bread, coffee, milk, dessert was your typical farm fare. The midwest didn't use much in the way of rice however certain areas, including the upper midwest would have wild rice available and that could be included in the later menus. Native Americans of course used wild rice much more heavily than many others until others found out how great it is. Actually you'll find a lot of crossover in German, even Russian and certain other ethnic types of foods when they're living in a colder climate and doing a lot of hard work, but then again considering the number of Scandinavians. Germans, etc who populated the area, it shouldn't be a surprise. But the food changed to adapt to what's around. You won't go to Norway, Sweden, Germany, Russia, etc and find the same things. Just as "cajun" or "creole" won't be found in France, and probably not much in the French areas of Canada. As Annie said, hearty meals were needed for the heavy workload on a typical farm. You'd rise early and work late and burn a lot of calories. Actually what many people term "comfort foods" is quite common among both the A/M/etc and midwest farmers. You won't find finger sandwiches, consumme or sushi on these menus. You will find hearty soup, stew, roast, meatloaf, pasta and much much more. You'll also find a lot of pies, cakes, cookies and rolls. You'll find great breads, rolls, etc. Around here, mac & cheese is essentially baby food. A blue box and a package of Corn King hotdogs fed many a toddler by a new mother. Never could stomach mac & cheese. No meat, why bother. Watching Cookin' Cheap is different. Two gay guys doing their "cooking" and then dressing in drag to show a gadget of some sort. A pickle slicer, nut cracker or whatever. The "Cook Sisters". Initially it was to show people you could cook cheap. They'd figure out the cost of something and figure per portion. Although if they had a leftover from something before, they didn't include it in the price and would come out with 58¢ per person "meals". One thought he knew how to cook and the other admitted he knew nothing but would try anything. They both fancied themselves far better standup comedians that I would. Watch it sometime, it's, well, different. I wouldn't say it's funny very often, but entertaining usually. Actually hotdish for the food, (and go ahead and debate "food" if you're a Miracle Whip snob) and "hot dish" describes the ladies cooking or the temperature of the plate. Scalloped potatoes and ham is a type of hotdish. Marilyn's Party Potatoes, sometimes called "funeral potatoes" is a hotdish, etc. People stick out their tongues and stick their noses in the air over foods. Yes, some will be a can of cream soup with a can of something and a package of onion soup mix. But then again, people buy "blue box", TV dinners and produce from Walmart for cryin out loud! LOL Contrary to what a couple of you believe, not one of the terms hotdishes, A/M/etc or midwest cooking mean all from a can or a pouch. It can and often is made from scratch. The shortcuts are more publicized since it's a timesaver and many people who hit the net want to save time. I would defy most anyone to have tasted and claim they didn't like the scalloped potatoes and ham that was served at my aunt's funeral, or for that matter the roast beef and mashed potatoes served at my cousin's funeral or any of my mother's holiday meals, all made from scratch. I'll take that any day over foo-foo food! Or for that matter the Tex-Mex you get at Taco Bell, or the seafood from Long John Silver, or should I continue... Back to topic, a couple other shows I enjoyed watching included the Galloping drunk, er, Gourmet though never really learned much from his shows. When Andrew Zimmern was a local cook he was interesting to see on the local channels before he decided to concentrate on bugs and exotic roadkill.

There's definitely no much on cable or satellite but I don't have cable or satellite and don't miss it. With the conversion from analog to digital there's been some additional channels, including MeTV and THIS network. There's a lot of the classic old shows on there that are worth watching plus I watch the PBS channels a lot too. I like that far better than the infomercials, holy rollers, neverending talk (over each other) shows and unreality programs. Right now I have "I Love Lucy" on in the background. As I understand they don't usually put the subchannels on cable/satellite so a lot of people are missing out. If I don't find something worth watching I look for a movie online or some shows I want to see. Last few weeks I watched Deadliest Catch pretty much from first to last show. Also I tend to listen to online radio a lot too when I'm bored. There's a few stations who stream many if not most of their broadcasts which I enjoy.

Chiming in very late to this thread. I found his style of writing to be astounding. As far as the bare bones of the book, I disliked it. Greatly. I read Wiesel's "Night" right afterward and compared to the real horrors of WW-2, this book paled, actually. I know I disagree with readers and critics alike, but I just didn't like this book. I will say that I read it in one day, like many of you, felt oddly drawn to it, but at the end, I put the book down, thought about it, and what I took away was this - enjoy your todays, enjoy the simple things. Hug your kids, your dogs, keep canned goods in your basement. One small thing that literally had me complaining out loud... I am a boater. The fact that they knew of the dangers and the lack of food on land should have prompted them to right that sailboat, load it up with the stuff in their grocery cart and head out to sea. It could not have been worse. In fact, perhaps, with a glimmer of hope alive in me, they may have found a place not quite as decimated. And they never dug in the sand for clams, they never turned over a rock in the ocean... just to check. Frustrating. PAM