Annie, No need to apologize! I don't know about everyone else, but you had Tracy and I busting up! I just missed you in the chat last night, I had to run and get Jamie something for a toothache, too stubborn to go to the dentist! I can't believe I put my name on the seeds! I tried so hard to keep it anonymous! And (even though it might have been a little mean) I knew you would have a hard time figuring it out because you have been gone! (sorry) : ) But, since you guessed right, you get to KEEP your box! LOL I do hope the hostas were in good shape, I've never ordered off ebay before for plants. I even called and talked to the guy, he seemed very nice. Hope you liked it! : ) Well, this swap is officially wrapped up! Thanks girls, it was a lot of fun, and you couldn't have made it easier for me!! Vic

Kari & Clare - Kari - My sources for wheat: 1. locally grown hard winter red and white wheat (free or very cheap, but usually NOT chemical-free or organic) 2. Heartland Mill, Marienthal, KS - organic grains 3. Bob's Red Mill - soft white wheat (and other grains) 4. Wal-Mart - Hard Spring White Wheat - Prairie Gold (from Wheat Montana - chemical-free) - they also carry hard red wheat Bronze Chief. Wal-Mart has only recently started carrying Wheat Montana wheat around here - $5 for 25-pounds. Mills: 1. (A very old) Whisper Mill - which is an electric impact mill (now known as a Wonder Mill) - this mills most grains/seeds/beans into a very fine flour - fine flour = fine bread, coarse flour = coarse bread. 2. Marga Mulino Flaker Mill - for cracked grain, flakes, and coarse farina (for cooked cereal) 3. Corona Corn Mill - for coarsely milled grain and corn meal. 4. Porkert Seed Grinder - for small seeds, such as amaranth, poppy seeds, teff, etc. 5. Bosch Coffee/Spice - for milling flaxmeal. 6. Family Grain Mill - a hand mill, that also has an electric-powered motor to run it as well, that has a lot of attachments available for other uses (meat grinders, flakers, etc.). This is my back-up mill. You have to mill the flour twice to get a reasonably fine grind of flour. Source for recipes: I suggest you start by substituting unbleached/bleached flour in your favorite recipes with a portion of wholegrain flour. There are all kinds of books out there on whole wheat baking. I have a collection of 28 beans, seeds, and grains that I use milled and whole - included in that, several types of wheat. I develop many of my own recipes because I use really "odd" ingredients, including gluten-free baking. Here's a few books I like from the large selection in my library: RECIPES FROM THE OLD MILL (Baking with Whole Grains) by Sarah E. Myers and Mary Beth Lind WHOLE WHEAT COOKERY (Treasures from the Wheat Bin) by Howard and Anna Ruth Beck THE AMAZING WHEAT BOOK by LeArta Moulton THE SPLENDID GRAIN (all kinds of seeds and grains) by Rebecca Wood WHEAT COOKIN' MADE EASY by Pam Crockett --------------- Clare - Wheat comes in HARD (strong/high-gluten) and SOFT (weak/low-gluten) varieties. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is milled from (low-gluten) soft red wheat, just like you thought. It's best used just as you described - in baked goods where you don't want a lot of gluten development - for the most part, anything other than yeast breads. Low-gluten bleached flour would include White Lily and Martha White - which are great for quick breads, pastry, etc. I purchase soft white wheat berries from Bob's Red Mill to mill into whole wheat pastry flour. I also use freshly-milled spelt and some rye, barley, and triticale for baked goods that need low-gluten flour, as an alternative to soft wheat flour. All wheat has a protein level that determins if the grain is hard or soft. Even in the same field you'll find protein (gluten) level differences from one side of the field to the other. If a portion of the field is shaded(usually at the edge of the field) and/or there's a low place in the field that retains water after a rain, the wheat that receives a lot of water/shade will usually have a low-protein count. Even though hard wheat may have been planted, the protein level is also determined by the amount of rainfall, and other factors. Soft wheats are characteristicly plump (a lot of endosperm), while hard wheat varieties (especially winter wheat) is small, wrinkled, and very hard when you bite it. When soft whole wheat is milled, the flour is exactly that - very soft to the touch. Hard whole wheat is much 'grittier' - due to the higher percentage of bran to endosperm ratio. All bleached/unbleached flour is milled from a combination of wheat protein levels to formulate the amount of protein for the type of flour needed. High-protein wheat is used for yeast breads, a combination of hard and soft wheat is milled for all-purpose flour, and pastry flour is milled from soft wheat. There are also fields of extremely high protein wheats (15% or more), but they are mixed with lower protein wheat to make flour. I've used some wheat that was 16% protein, and it took forever (lots of kneading and a very long fermentation) to develop the gluten in bread - 12-13% protein level is much better for yeast bread. Too much gluten will make a tough loaf of bread. The highest protein level wheat is durum wheat. Unlike hard red and white wheat varieties which are used for yeast breads, durum wheat is used in pasta. I mill durum for whole wheat pasta - NOT red or white varieties of wheat. Commercial whole wheat pasta is made with wholegrain durum wheat. The elements in wheat protein that we call "gluten" are actually a gluten group - GLUTENINS and GLIADINS. Glutenins provide the elasticity quality that allows bread dough to expand. Gliadins contribute to the viscosity and extensibility of bread dough. Red and white wheat varieties have a dominance of GLUTENINS and less GLIADINS. Durum wheat has a dominance of GLIADINS and less GLUTENINS. Therefore, even though durum wheat has a high protein level, it's unsuited for bread making, due to the type of protein. -Grainlady

Jim, thanks for posting, as usual you have a treasure trove of pictures for us to enjoy. They are wonderful photos and it is such a touching story of their lives together. It is interesting to me that the room structure is relatively simple (basic box and rectangle shaped rooms). The crown moldings are stream lined and not over the top, The decor and interest (for me) comes from the art on the walls (love that the art is lighted, wonderful for mood setting), the beautiful layering of their collections, and the great wall colors used in the rooms to evoke cozyness and yet is still very sophisticated. I could totally live in those rooms.

Future kitchen will have 18" stacked uppers on top of 36" cabs. I do not have a lot of space but I can go up. In the new kitchen an already in place small hall closet/pantry next to kitchen will be put to better use. A lot of the items from pantry closet and little used items clogging my space will be moved up to the 18" stacked, such as, Hurricane cooking supplies like portable propane burners & more, also, extra vases, patio serving stuff, party glassware, little used sm electric fryer and many other used but little used items that I need. My above frig cab in new kitchen will be deeper and things that are little used, but more often used than the stuff in the 18" cabs will go there as well as the above range cab. Most often used items will all be housed in conveniently reachable cabs, drawers or susan. Spices will be in two six" pulloutsÂcant wait for that as the only place for them now is in the susan which I at first loved and now hate because it takes forever to find what I want. So, pretty much IÂm working my way down in an order of use except the pull-out spice cabs will go on the 36" wall run do to my back not liking to bend and not enough room for extra drawer base.