Thanks all! Last night I processed 4 quarts of hot packed whole yellow tomatoes (garden peach) and 2 quarts of "green" whole tomatoes (not actually green as in not-ripe, but variety called green zebra). They are beautiful (although one didn't seal)! Today I am doing batches of yellow tomato sauce (made from garden peach and yellow heirloom), orange tomato sauce (made from Pineapple tomatoes and sungold cherry toms), and red tomato sauce (from cosmonaut volkov, black krim, roma and rose de berne). Should be a lovely rainbow of jars. This is addictive... By the way, my name is actually Rachel. Screen name cindylouwho came from the grinch (long story...). Again, thanks for everyone's help. This site is a savior. Rachel P.S. How do you keep your kids from eating your labor-intensive canned peaches while peaches are in season? Mine have already gobbled down all but one quart. As much as I love that they love them, I cringe each time it takes them about 2 minutes to inhale a quart that took me hours to peel, cut, pack and process...

You should thank Pebbles for giving you another view because there may be some parents you haven't heard from as yet who don't feel the way you do. It's important to understand that if you are to be effective in changing this situation. It may flatter your ego that you've been ask to "take it to the streets" as you say. I wouldn't go about it that way. I'd take a quiet, methodical approach and attempt to build a consensus with a specific alternative plan of how this *should* work -- a plan which is reasonable, will not sound like you are trying to take over the school and dictate how they should be running things (not your responsibility after all though you can certainly take your kids out of the band), and a plan that has a prayer of being adopted. You can make this into a diva vs diva situation, polarize the community, get everybody screaming, upset a lot of the kids even more and end up in a fight that goes on and on with everyone dug in. Because that's how these things usually go. Or you could quietly call someone who knows municipal and public law, an accountant, a travel agent, a child psychologist, a couple of other parents (maybe one a teacher) who know how to keep their mouths more shut than not, and produce something concrete. Figure out how to get your plan out there to be legally and logically considered, a plan that will benefit everyone and be reasonable. But I will bet that if you are emotional about this and go on about it and turn it into a crusade it will be less effective than it might be. We have a lot of that where I live. Somebody's always screaming about something and even when it's worthy you just tune them out. The bottom line for me -- and I say this as someone who has no children in the school system so I don't know what this sort of thing should/would cost -- it sounds very much like the school board members in our city who were having "meetings" in fancy hotels around the country and traveling there to meet with various educators on other issues and it was a complete reprehensible boondoggle -- free vacations. Or the school superindentant who ordered a $3000 leather couch for her office. In our community the tabloids get hold of the $3000 couches or the $125 catered lunches and people don't stay in those jobs very long because after 1 or 2 front pages and public humiliation and photos that make them look like they're taking the perp walk, there's pressure on the mayor and the school board to act. Public education in this country is a disgrace in many states. And while band is certainly an excellent and creative activity and a great experience I'm sure, I'd rather see that kind of money go into books, facilities, enrichment programs, special education. I'm sure many parents feel the same way (and of course some won't). But if it's not done in the right way the principal and band director are going to marshall their forces and roll right over you and the other parents without even looking back. Then it's your kids who will suffer.

What type of refrigerator will you be getting? French door (FD)? Side-by-side (SxS)? Single door? The answer will help define your landing zone for your refrigerator. If it's a FD or SxS, then ideal landing zone is in front of the refrigerator. If a single door, than either the island or the counter next to it on the handle side will work. To your questions... (1) Garbage Disposal (GD)...If you only have one disposal, the prep sink is the better location. I speak from experience here. We made the mistake of (a) thinking it would "save money" to not put one at both sinks and (b) putting the sole disposal on the cleanup sink. In reality, a second GD is not that much of an additional expense. Additionally, it's need far more often on the prep sink than the cleanup sink. So, based on my experience...put it on the prep sink. Or, better yet, get two. It's not "extravagant", it's common sense to have the two. (2) Pullout Trash...Either place it b/w the Prep Zone and Cleanup Zone or place it in the Prep Zone. This is yet another mistake we made...and it's the biggest regret I have in our kitchen. We placed the trash pullout next to the cleanup sink. I have since realized that far more trash & recyclables are generated during prepping and cooking than cleaning up. Not only by quantity, but also length of time needed. I have to cross a 6-foot aisle to get from the Prep and Cooking Zones to get to the trash pullout...often dripping all the way. Again based on my experience, place your trash pullout in the Prep Zone! (3) Filtered and hot water spout...I don't have either, so I cannot recommend based on experience. How do you use it? Just for drinking water? Or, do you fill your pots and pans from them as well? If the latter, then I would say the prep sink, although it might mean too much non-Cook traffic in the middle of the Prep and/or Cooking Zones. If the former (drinking only), then probably the cleanup sink to keep people out of the Prep & Cooking Zones. (4) Location of sink on island...For this one, I'd have to see the layout. I'm better with a "visual" than a verbal description. Normally, it's best close to one end so it doesn't interrupt the workspace, but sometimes it works better in the middle. I would want it where I could use it easily for prepping and cooking and not where it might compete for floor space with the cleanup sink. I think 6" to 12" from the end of the island would be just fine...depending on the width of the island, you might even do 15" to 18". It not only would give you landing space in front of the refrigerator, but it would also give you some workspace on both sides of the prep sink...two people could prep there if needed! All of this is very general advice. To get more detailed advice and tailored specifically to your situation, it would be much better if we could "see" the layout. So, could you draw up your layout and post it here? Read the "Read Me" thread...

As you use your kitchen over the next several days make mental notes about how often you use the fridge for various purposes. Do you open it a lot during food prep.? How many items do you take out of it during prep? How often do you open it during non-prep times--i.e. breakfast, snacks, sandwich making, beverages? How many items go straight from fridge to table and back again? I don't use my fridge during prep as often as I thought. If I'm making a salad, I go over and grab all the salad ingredients at once. When I'm making a meal I have a pretty good idea about what I'm going to be using and I try to cut my trips down by taking several things out at once. Most of the items I improvise with (seasonings, oils, etc.) aren't refrigerated and are stored in the cooking/prep zone. Sometimes I have to walk to it for butter or milk or eggs, but not as often as I thought. I prefer to have our fridge near the table and out of the prep zone. It's accessible for non cooking/prepping activities all day long--which is how it is most heavily used. To me, keeping others out of my cooking/prep zone is worth the trade off of not having the fridge right at my fingertips. We tend to use a lot of items from the fridge while we are eating. Having the fridge close by makes meal times a lot more relaxing and setting and clearing the table becomes less of a chore. Our plates and silverware are near the table so others can set the table and get items out of the fridge without crossing paths with me. Also, I wanted to maximize window space in our prep area and there wasn't a good spot for the fridge. I like having lots of storage in my cooking/prep area for the tools I use. This is more important to me than having fridge drawers (plus I prefer to keep things simple-one less appliance to clean and maintain and no hassle trying to find something to fit the same space when it needs to be replaced.) The fridge is placed between the kitchen and dining area. It's not terribly far from my prep area--it's a straight shot to get to it, no islands or peninsulas to walk around.