Oh Glenda - that is such a nice offer! However, I really am not begging for tubers from anyone, just sharing my disappointment. If you are interested in doing a trade, maybe we could arrange something? I am planning to shop for lots of them in the next few weeks and if I get anything you are interested in trading for I would love to do that. I have your email and let's keep in touch! Thanks again for your kind offer! Alexa

...and my fixes failed. Calling someone to fix ... here's the breakdown (not even sure why I'm posting, makes me feel better I guess): Problem: water leaking from under refrigerator, temperature for both fridge and freezer seem normal Solutions Attempted: 1. Clear dirt and debris from under fridge; clear dust/debris from front/bottom grill; clear blockage from back grill; clean fan and coil area in back of fridge 2. Check ice-maker line for leaks. Not at source, not at fridge. All water lines were dry 3. Check drip tube in back of refrigerator. Drip pan was dry. Drip tube did not "appear" to be frozen 4. Compressor appeared to be working 5. Freezer fan appears working; rear exhaust fan appears to be working 6. Evaporator was frozen with ice under the evaporator and on the coils. Drip hole was plugged with a piece of (manufacturer) tape. Cleared drip hole blockage, thawed the ice (overnight) 7. Replaced all covers, plugged it in. 2hrs later, water leakage appeared to be MORE than original 8. Unplugged fridge, call experts. Could not check: 1. Proper functioning of defrost heater 2. Interior cabinet for water line leaks 3. Condenser functionality 4. Refrigerant

Sealed in water, no. Sealed in one of those aseptic (sp?) cardboard containers, definately yes. It keeps on the shelf for months. It might not be "bad" per se in the water, but maybe not great tasting. But I don't buy the stuff in water for that reason, I can't use it up fast enough. I have never kept it sealed in water for a long time and then opened it and used it. But I agree that knarly tofu looks knarly. Considering it is a white food, any imperfections show up pretty well.

I didn't mean to make soup. I didn't mean to make pot roast. I just had a 2 lb. slab of chuck, and a desperation to take a nap. So I thought I could at least slice an onion. And if I peeled a bunch of carrots instead of scrubbing, that would be fast and not so wet. But the chuck was originally supposed to be for burritos, though just now it just needed to be cooked, but I put in a couple of jalapeños. And a small, long stemmed fennel. Oh! I had a glut of celery, so several ribs went in along with three plum tomatoes. At this point, as it was turing into stone soup, my mind went to potatoes, but I wasn't making pot roast! So I zapped an acorn squash. The chuck seared nicely in my Breville multicooker, even though the pot is deep and high. The veg started on the sauté mode. As I put it together, wondering if I should add liquid or rely on the veg, I decided on my mother's trick of a can of spicy V8. But I put in a whole big can! That's a lot of liquid for slow cooking! Which turned into a nice, meaty broth. And while I wouldn't put fennil, jalapeños or squash (Which I added in the last 1.5 hours so it wouldn't dissolve completely) in a pot roast, the carrots taste just like pot roast carrots, and in the end, with the meat cut up, it pretty much was pot roast soup. ;)