Here's a few more to add to your repertoire: HOMEMADE RICE-A-RONI 3/4 cup long grain white rice 1/2 cup broken spaghetti or angel hair pasta 1-3 Tblsp. butter 14 oz. chicken broth 1 tsp. chicken base 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes 1/2 tsp. garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste Preparation is the same as stated on the box of Rice-a-Roni. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the rice and pasta until lightly browned. Add the chicken broth, base, parsley and garlic. Add any other seasonings if you would like. Bring to a boil and cover, then reduce heat to low. Cook 15 minutes without lifting lid. After 15 minutes check to see if all liquid has been absorbed and fluff rice with a fork. If the rice is tender but it is still a little wet just let it sit on low with the lid off for a few minutes. GREEN CHILE, CHEESE, AND RICE CASSEROLE 1 cup long grain rice 2 cups boiling water 1 tsp. salt 1 Tblsp. butter 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles 1-1/3 cups sour cream Salt and pepper to taste 3/4 tsp. garlic powder 1/2 tsp. ground cumin 2 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded Cook rice according to directions in water with salt and butter. Combine rice, chiles, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, and 1-1/2 cups of the cheese. Turn into a greased 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, in a 350° F. oven for about 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and rice is heated through. Serves 6 to 8. CRUSTED ASPARAGUS (UBERKRUSTETE SPARGEL) 2 lbs. asparagus, trimmed and boiled or steamed until barely tender 3 Tblsp. butter 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Place the cooked asparagus in a buttered baking dish. Dot with butter and sprinkle with the cheese. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper. Bake in a preheated 450° F. oven 10 to 15 minutes, until the topping is golden brown. Serves 4 to 6. YAYA'S GREEK POTATOES 2 lbs. potatoes, peeled & cut into large chunks 2 onions, sliced 2 Tblsp. olive oil 1/3 cup vegetable broth (may use chicken broth) 1 tsp. oregano 3 garlic cloves, minced or grated 2 lemons, zest & juice Dried Parsley Sea salt & pepper Paprika powder Preheat oven to 400° F. Place the cut up potatoes and onions in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Set aside while you make the lemon dressing. In a medium bowl, combine lemon juice, zest, broth, oregano, garlic, and a little salt and pepper. Whisk in olive oil, in a slow steady stream. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and onions, and give everything a good toss. Sprinkle with additional salt (for crunch), paprika (for color), and parsley (for presentation), and put into your preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes, give the potatoes a toss, then bake for an additional 45-50 minutes, tossing every 20 minutes or so.

Thanks, Michael/Lyra! (grin) she's darned expensive and time consuming for an imaginary child, sheesh. Nope, L, no plastic containers of potato salad in the refrigerated section. I suppose I should be grateful, I did find a plastic container of that ground up bologna and pickle with mayonnaise "sandwich spread" once. The grocery store originally had a small bakery and deli, with rotisserie chickens, but apparently those items spoiled before they could be sold and became a big loss, so now I can get a cold pre-cooked chicken on the weekends, donuts only from Sara Lee and sliced lulnch meats and cheeses. They have a small "hot" section" at lunch time, usually chicken strips, corn dogs and pizza rolls. I can get canned Bush's baked beans, though, and ice cream. Two brands, either Country Fresh or Hudsonville. tricia, I never said I was a manager. I'm a Mom and a farmer and at work I'm "Angela, The Pitbull". My employees know their jobs well, so I don't delegate very much, they just do their jobs and I make sure they get paid. I spend most of my time doing legal research, drafting briefs and motions and trying to make sure the criminals get locked up, while simultaneously trying to wipe the images of their abused wives/battered children out of my brain, along with the memory of the autopsy photos and the drunk driving victims. I'm not good at delegating, I'm good at doing whatever needs to be done to help those who need it. That, and I'm good at cooking, so i do what I'm best at. At least I enjoy the cooking! Annie

flyleft and spank md, thanks for all the information about mosaic supplies and hints on what to do, you both have given me. I really appreciate it. flyleft, I am going to go to the bookstore today to see if either of those books you recommended is available, if not, I will order them on the internet. I think they both would be a good investment because I can see myself doing more mosaicing. And I still have the two bowls to do too. spanky md, you are right about the tile looking much better after it is grouted. Thank you for reminding me about that. I remember when we did our master bathroom, we had some stuff called redgard painted on the backerboard as added protection from water and when the tile was up without the grout - it looked ugly because you could see that red coming through. Once it was all grouted it looked beautiful. Heh, I might use some of that redgard stuff on the top of the wood - it supposedly seals out moisture. I think I still have a little bit left. I found this site, linked below, last night and in the mosaic questions section, they talk about the fiberglass mesh technique being used for walls and when you don't want to hand lay each piece again. They also talk about the contact paper method - which I would probably use in this application, because I laid the tile with the good side facing up. The back of the stones still have some of the fiberglass mesh on them from when I peeled the stones off of the backing. The guy on this site also says wood is ok for interior use. I do know one problem with cracking grout can be if it is mixed too thin or too much water is added. When we redid our two bathrooms and the slate floor the grout mix was very thick according to the directions on the bag and none of that has cracked. Of course, the bathroom is done on backerboard and the slate is on a concrete floor - so no movement there. The previous tile in the guest bath was laid on linoleum and one piece near the door had cracked grout - I don't think the linoleum was glued enough underneath that section - or it got water underneath it. I will probably seal this piece since moisture from a drink placed on the table could soak into the grout. For this project, I think I may just use the wood and see how that goes. I will still need to find the copper to put on the wood. I'll check out the hardware store in town to see if they have some copper sheeting. As usual I have entered into another project that is going to be more time consuming than I realized. But definitely something that will be fun and creative. I can see there is a lot involved with mosaicing and lots of different products that can be used for different applications. Thanks again to both of you, I will definitely post my completed piece, but it may take me a while since I want to do some more research and I have some other pressing projects that have come up unexpectedly. Here is a link that might be useful: See - Mosaic Questions - Category

Islay, I love those marinated green bean salads with potatoes!! There's "Greek" which I make with maybe olives or feta crumbles, or the one you posted "Italian" but I know my friends will not be able to wrap their heads around potato salad with a vinegar and oil dressing let alone tomatoes added . . . sigh. I also like green beans "Turkish" style, slow cooked with tomatoes and onions. I think I might do it with the twisty pasta I think they call it "gemelli" and then bacon and lightly dressed with a fettuccine style cheesy white sauce. Pasta carbonara would also be wonderful with green beans added but I don't know about reheating. I googled a bunch of green bean recipes, I should have grown more beans!! We usually just have one or two meals with them steamed with a little butter and salt. Edited to add that Lone Jack's idea is also good, using new potatoes. It has the benefit of easily reheating. Pasta tends to dry out in my experience.