I 'discovered' Pizzelles in the early 70's, When a relative who had married into an Italian family Brought a batch for a Christmas get-together. Fell in love with them immediately! She gifted me a Pizzelle iron, So I've been making them off & on ever since. I learned about Biscotti in the late 80's, From the same friend. For several years, I made it to sell In an arts & crafts boutique co-op that I belonged to. And to be perfectly honest, I thought I did a pretty good job with the recipes I had, on both. Then Lou posted his recipes here. Naturally, I had to try them. Talk about good ! ! ! His Pizzelle recipe, especially, Beats any other I have ever tried. It is the only one I use now! So if the ones he makes are even better. . . .. Well, that's just plain hard to imagine! Dcarch, you are one lucky young man! ! Rusty

This post turned out to be longer than I wanted it to be - sorry! I also saw the movie "The Help" after reading the book a while back. I agree that the movie stayed on track with the book, changing a few things, but did not stray from the storyline. I had an interesting email from my SIL, who read The Help, and experienced some disappointment because she thought, from what her friends had said, that the book was going to be another To Kill A Mockingbird. She also said once she realized she had misguided expectations, she was able to re-evaluate The Help and enjoy it in its own right. The Help is not To Kill A Mockingbird in many ways. In my opinion, here are three big differences between the books. To Kill A Mockingbird 1: TKAM was written through the innocent eyes of a powerless child, albeit a precocious one. 2: TKAM was a serious book that did not have a punch line or anything fantastical in it. Its light heartedness came from the fact that the children in the book did not truly realize how dangerous and dreadful things in their lives actually were, racially, financially, or physically; the readers know it, but the kids in the story do not. 3: In TKAM we are not left with the feeling that life will change for the better, for anybody, any time soon. The Help 1: TH was written from the viewpoint of a college educated woman, one who is coming to the realization that her world is terribly flawed, but she possesses power to affect it. 2: TH was not a totally serious book; it had a punch line - the chocolate pie - and a sense of fantasy about it. The chocolate pie was pivotal to the story, and although some might wish that it were true in real life, it most likely wasn't; yet we as readers suspend our disbelief and accept the idea that this pie is real. I have one problem with that: I believe that we as readers and moviegoers, especially those who lived through the turbulent CRM, must be sure to acknowledge the horrible truth about the race situation in the south. That situation also is nearly beyond belief, especially to the present generation. So, if the 'terrible awful' thing that Minnie did is a 'joke', was the situation in the south in the 1960's also a 'joke', or was it actual? In the movie, there is footage from the news coverage of the time; that is very important, I think. It moves the movie out of a possible fantasy tale and back into the real, historical world of that time. 3: In TH we are left with the feeling of hope. Things are changing in the culture; they are changing slowly and painfully and imperfectly, but they are changing, and for the better. Even though it is true that The Help is not To Kill a Mockingbird, there are some big similarities: Both books are generally about the same subject: racial discrimination in the south. Both books personalize that subject with such power that we cannot help but be moved. Both books have...

When there are so many quotes by people who stood out in the field of their interests and accomplishments, I see their passion to succeed in the field of their interest reflecting all their attitudes toward their point of view about Life

11/10 - Page 3 and it was good and worth picking up. Multiple page quotes are just more I can read & react to so early in the morning, generally I get to quotes when "first light" appears in the sky and dawn cracks, but I was up in "the middle of the night" with coffee, so-called news and so-called weather and doing my duties as demanded by my owners, the 4 feline club.