I will be bringing: 4 or 5 black feather grass plants (most are blooming or seeding or whatever you want to call it) One large miscanthus sinensis and two babies Two white coneflowers A gomphrena baby Numerous cuttings (some rooted, some not) of my wax begonias, and two or three splits off of the big plants -- they were too big to overwinter at their warm-weather size; these are quite nice! I have bronze-leaf (double pink blooms), variegated (very free-blooming), an angelwing (also very free-blooming, but in orange -- lovely plant), as well as a plain leafed one with pink blooms that pretty much blooms continously. All are very vigorous and have over-wintered very well for several years. A double-pink Impatien (I had two, but I only want to have to overwinter one) A stem of a pink and white blooming geranium; lovely, but looks pretty sad at the moment! Needs a Geranium guru! Cuttings from rose scented and gray lady pelargoniums - May give one of the big ones away entirely. Some seeds - barnyard red hollyhock, maybe some white cleome, white penstemon (digitalis foxglove), and a really nice black-stemmed, Black Eyed susan. Jeff, I have your Rasberry Delight salvia -- looks a bit sulky at the moment (too much rain and the pot doesn't have enough drainage), but it bloomed all summer after I rooted it. See y'all soon. I'm bringing Broccoli Casserole (per usual) for lunch.

LOL, AM, awesome hotness! Diana, what about roast chicken, the Lemon "up the butt" chicken is nice. or the Rao's Lemon Chicken, great with a side or roasted potatoes (or rice). Sol's Garlic Chicken is great, too! I'd just go with what you normally eat these days and add a couple sides they might like, that you won't get tempted with! Hope your mom feels better! Lemon Chicken (Raos Famous Lemon Chicken - Pollo al Limone) 2 3-pound broiling chickens, halved (I use chicken parts - legs and thighs, but you can also use a chicken cut in eighths, I take the skin off) 1/4 cup chopped Italian Parsley Lemon Sauce: 2 cups fresh lemon juice 1 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano salt and pepper to taste To attain maximum heat, preheat broiler for at least 15 minutes before using. Broil chicken halves, turning once, for about 30 minutes or until skin is golden-brown and juices run clear when bird is pierced with a fork. Remove chicken from broiler, leaving broiler on. Using a very sharp knife, cut each half into about 6 pieces (leg, thigh, wing, 3 small breast pieces). Place chicken on a baking sheet with sides, of a size that can fit into the broiler. Pour Lemon Sauce over the chicken and toss to coat well. If necessary, divide sauce in half and do this in two batches. Return to broiler and broil for 3 minutes. Turn each piece and broil for an additional minute. Remove from broiler and portion each chicken onto each of 6 warm serving plates. Pour sauce into a heavy saucepan. Stir in parsley and place over high heat for 1 minute. Pour an equal amount of sauce over each chicken and serve with lots of crusty bread to absorb the sauce. Directions for Lemon Sauce Whisk together juice, oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Whisk or shake vigorously before using. Notes : You'll need at least 10 lemons to get two cups of fresh juice. Bottled juice will NOT give good results. Keeping the chicken at least 4 inches from the broiler's heat source will cut down on the smoking. MY NOTES I add some chopped shallots to the sauce. Mix it all up in a container. I take the skin off the chicken, then put the chicken pieces in a broiler pan and broil one side, then I drain the pan, turn the pieces over and broil the other side until they're really crispy about thirty minutes or so when its browned and the juices run clear. Then when the chicken is fully cooked, take the top part of the broiler pan off and drain the fat. Put the chicken in the bottom pan and pour the lemon sauce over the chicken pieces and broil it for a few more minutes. Then I pour the whole thing in a big bowl and serve the chicken and the sauce with roasted potatoes, and steamed broccoli. and you are doing so great, girl, here's a brisket that's really easy to make and if you hate pot roast it's perfect, you won't be tempted, but they might like it. It has beer in it but I bet you can sub ginger ale, she can't have wheat. BRISKET 1 4-pound beef brisket Kosher salt Pepper 2 onions, thinly sliced into half moons (I use 3 large onions) 1/2 cup ketchup 1/2 cup prepared chile sauce (Heinz Chile Sauce - I use the whole bottle) 3 tablespoons brown sugar (I use a bit more) 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 12-ounce bottle beer Salt and pepper both sides of the meat. Place beef in a roasting pan. Cover with onion. Combine ketchup, chile sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and beer. Pour mixture over meat. Cover securely with foil. Bake at 300 degrees F for 4 hours or more until tender. Puree half the gravy to thicken it up (Optional) and slice the meat against the grain! Tastes even better the next day. Freezes well! and the leftovers are good!

Both my parents cooked, so I won't limit this to "Mom". Although she used more set / repeatable recipes than my father did. In no particular order: * Chicken and popovers. Yes this was my mother's recipe as the popovers had to be made a certain way to come out right. * Chicken casserole with cream of mushroom soup, curry powder, and additional mushrooms. I made a variant some years back with home made mushroom soup rather than the Campbell's and its additives - it turned out good but took a LOT of time to replicate. * Grapefruit, avocado salad with Catalina dressing. Back before they added HFCS to that dressing, rendering it rather too sweet and obnoxious. (I've also tried my hand at a replacement for that dressing.) * Seafood paella. * Venison steaks on the grill. * Fried rice. * Mom's special turkey stuffing and gravy for Thanksgiving - I wish I could find this recipe !!! I will have to try re-creating this next November. It's the only one I REALLY like. The others are all "meh" to me. * Mom's raspberry cobbler. She usually made It from raspberries we all gathered wild near where we were staying in Maine. Those berries had so much better flavor than any supermarket raspberry I've met since! (Whether cooked or just eaten from the vine...) * Steamed artichokes, with leaves to be dipped in the aforementioned original Catalina dressing. * Home made hamburger patties. Nice thick burgers with seasonings and perhaps chopped sautéed onions mixed within, or even on special occasions, niblets of cheese. Best when cooked on the grill. * Just about any seafood that came home with the folks. Dad cooked most of that. When we vacationed in Maine, we harvested most of our own shellfish - and got good deals cutting out the middleman with the lobster and crab, from the lobster fishermen. . * I really liked that green bean casserole with the canned crunchy onions on top - as long as we ate them quickly before the crunchy got soggy. I also truly appreciated they loved to cook together. Courtesy of Dad, we tried a lot of Asian dishes. Courtesy of both, we tried a lot of offal - hence a life long love of heart and tongue and sweetbreads, especially. (AND, I will try just about anything once... I am supremely grateful to both parents for this.) MEMORIES!

I couldn't wait for Wednesday.....just another day really :-) So I fixed my corned beef and cabbage early and have since been enjoying leftovers. A couple of sandwiches and hash. Having the last of the hash for dinner tonite. Fixed mine today and it came out wonderfully. I love corned beef hash and always have the canned variety on hand, but may try to make home made. I'm looking forward to Reuben sandwiches. It may not be an Irish dish but my part Irish Dad always had it on Saint Patrick's Day. Would sometimes sing a few Irish ballads too. I sure miss him.