Fruit cobbler is another one that can be very low in calories and fat. Mixed berries or other fruits (or her favorite one) sweetened, only if necessary, with a bit of Splenda or real sugar (or a combination). Make a topping from oatmeal, canola oil, cinnamon and just a little sweetener. I like to use real brown sugar for the "caramel" taste, but just a little. Drain the berries really well, especially if you use Splenda as it won't thicken as much as regular sugar. Yummy and only a tiny bit of "guilt". I love the Angel Food idea too. Even a store bought or homemade full sugar version of Angel Food isn't all that bad compared to other cakes. Top with the fresh fruit and light whipped topping. I keep a "can" of whipped cream in the fridge for quick indulgences now and then (I've been on Weight Watchers for 18 months now). I think it's wonderful that you respect HER goals. That's a real friend! Deanna

Pollo Ezechiele (Ezekiel's Chicken) from "Cucina Ebraica - Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen" by Joyce Goldstein Serves 4 1 small fryer chicken, 2 1/2 to 3 lbs., cut into serving pieces Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 TBLSP olive oil 1/3 cup pitted Mediterranean-style black olives, coarsely chopped 3 cloves garlic 1 TBLSP chopped fresh sage 1 TBLSP chopped fresh rosemary 1 TBLSP chopped fresh basil (extra fresh herbs to garnish, optional) 2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped 1/2 cup dry red wine Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the chicken pieces and saute until golden on all sides. Add the olives, garlic, herbs, and tomatoes. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook, until the chicken is tender, about 25 minutes. Uncover the pan and add the red wine. Raise the heat to high and cook rapidly to reduce the pan juices. Adjust the seasonings. Transfer to a warmed platter and sprinkle with more fresh herbs, if desired. Serve at once. Can add a sliced onion to the initial saute and sub tomato paste instead of tomatoes. OK, that's Joyce's recipe. Here's how I adapt it for my budget and slow cooker. Do the saute part to brown the chicken, onion and garlic. Then transfer to the crockpot and add a can of whole tomatoes, chopped, and the olives and herbs. I use dried herbs, subbing 1 tsp. dried for 1 TBLSP fresh. Cook in the crockpot on low for 4 hours. When the chicken is done, take it out and transfer it to a serving dish. Dump the juices into a saute pan, add the wine and reduce/thicken the sauce. Can add a cornstarch slurry and some tomato paste to make the sauce even richer, and freshen with additional herbs if necessary. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with fresh or frozen chopped parsley. The key is to brown the chicken before putting it in the crockpot, to use smaller pieces, (some folks only do thighs, which supposedly turn out best in the crockpot, but I think all the parts are OK if you don't overcook and don't use boneless and don't use huge pieces.) For dessert I may just serve my warmed up applesauce with yogurt and toasted almonds in the cut glass cups, I have done that before. Or I may use my homeade strawberry or strawberry rhubarb sauce over angelfood cake, store bought. I have served the applesauce dessert before to good effect. That is one big plus to canning, you can pull out homeade stuff at the last minute. I'd like to do something with those apricots, but this is why the dang things have been sitting in the fridge in brandy for almost a year! I just never get around to messing with them! We'll see how it goes. As Jessy said, I may get tired and want to take the easiest possible route. Back in the day when I had more free time, I always enjoyed making something kind of fancy when I had folks over for dinner, stuff single-me would never bother fussing with by myself. Especially desserts--I'd make pies, cakes or cobblers, or one of my favorites--blackberry shortbread! Oh well, like you all said, the most important thing is the guests/company, fussing over the food should not be the main focus of a get together! But I would still like it to be homey. The best dinner parties I've been to have been the ones where the food was not fussy, but still delicious, not too many dishes and overdone. The hosts could serve it in a relaxed manner. I think I have not yet quite mastered that art. Alexa sure managed that art at our little get-together! My aunt, who is in her mid 80's has always managed to do that, pull incredibly delicious stuff out of her kitchen with mysteriously little fanfare. But I know she has a lifetime of little tricks up her sleeve! Just her little special touches and recipes. A lot of it is her knowledge of quality ingredients, and how she always has a little something going in the kitchen, so that when the final dish comes out we don't notice that the process took two days of manging the various parts bit by bit. I get so tired of restaurant or pre-made stuff from the store. Not that it isn't nice, but there's just something about it. It isn't the same as homeade, even a homeade tuna fish sandwich carries that special something. I'm trying to focus these days on simple, simple yet homeade foods. It makes a huge difference to me not to be eating out. I can't totally describe the effect, it's just something a bit spiritual I think.

We are cleaning "junk" out of the upstairs unfinished room..It is a good size room (about 18'x 23') My son Jeff and a good friend of his who has a flooring business....(he used to work for Jeff when Jeff had his business) They are going to put wood flooring up there. And I have a railing I'm going to have him put up along the stairway instead of a wall. We'll get it painted too.. But we probably will never use the room.... Just getting some things finished. Jeff's friend is doing it with left over wood from his jobs....at no cost to us. What more can I ask.... patti

Oh, she hasn't been yet. Our other cat was a seasoned travellor when we adopted her, she's been down with us several times and loves it. Lex hates riding in the car, and has never been more than 2 miles from our front door (she was born about 2 miles away in one direction and her vet is about 1.5 miles in the other). I'm going to wait until we actually move, and take her down just the one time. Am truly dreading putting her through that. But will be sure there's plenty of her favorite treat on hand when we arrive!