Thanks for reminding me...I love making bread.

Thankful that, after borrowing my allowance ahead from Dad on a few occasions and having been forced to stretch the pennies for some months afterward, to heed Dad's advice that if I couldn't pay cash for something ... to not buy it: wait till later, when I had the cash on hand. And build up some cash on hand, available in case of need.They said on the radio the other day that many people, earning $100.00 ... are spending $160.00! One can't continue a hobby like that for any length of time, without getting badly burned! Dad taught mne to be a good neighbour ... and my boss told folks a couple of thousand years ago that we should love our neighbours as ourselves. Seems to me wise to be courteous, generous and kind to others, even to offering a smile to folks that we meet on the street, in the supermarket, etc. ... or making a friendly comment: usually I get a reply that includes at least a small portion of warmth, and oftern there's a smile that each carries away, to brighten one's day a bit. Seldom do I get that look that offers even a slight suggestion that it'd be a good idea were I to get lost! Dad used to say that he wanted to leave the farm better than he found it, and brother, the retired farmer, feels the same. Though they may not have articulated such, they'd say that they wanted to leave their community better than they found it, as well - and both did. I agree ... and my definition of community stretches to our province, nation and the wider world. We'll either learn to live together, showing concern for the welfareof others ... or we could well all die together. Years ago we were worried about being fried to a crisp with those horrendous bombs ... but now it appears that our demise may be brought about by wasting precious resources and causing massive global warming and pollution. Unless we smarten up. Those seem to be my major good things ... thus far. ole joyfuelled ... who's been known to dispense gas ... as well as burning it

I have never had Reiki done but my aunt did when she had lung/brain cancer. It didn't affect the outcome of her disease but said it made her illness easier to deal with over the long run. I had severe neck pain for almost a year.....saw the MD, had physical therapy, did the exercises, saw the chiropractor and finally started acupuncture. The chiropractor helped for about a week. I had four acupuncture treatments over six weeks and it has been miraculous.......and I didn't really have high hopes for a cure. It has been almost a month and I still have minimal to no neck pain despite doing all the activities which exaberated it. (Cooking, reading, computer time.) I had no insurance but it was well worth the money. I was able to get a senior discount and the treatments were $55 each time.

",,,along with a bill for $175." The "$250 cookie recipe" hoax lives on... (sigh) Was it Nieman Marcus or Mrs. Fields? LOL Jasdip, that thing happens all the time. I laugh every time I see one poster claiming a recipe (or multiple recipes!) is (/are) "hers", posting it at every opportunity with same claim and it was clearly stolen from the Southern Fried Succubus' website. At least Deen gave credit (that time) to the source of the recipe. It's so hilarious because the language is quoted verbatim and so clearly identifiable. Don't need DNA with those fingerprints all over it! I always try to give credit to a source, and if I change it, which I often do, I say something like my variation of _____. Often I'll even include what I modified. Seems only right to me. Guess I don't have that kind of ego that needs to be fed that way. I always get a kick out of stolen recipes too when they include the typos! Yes there's times I've done things I thought were original and it'd been done before. I remember when I was a kid looking out the window at the ice dams on peoples houses thinking there's got to be a way to hook up an electrical wire to melt that ice and mount it to the roof. If I were like some, I'd have sued the ones who came up with the idea years before I was born! I don't decline recipe requests unless it's one person who I know will screw it up and then not only blame me, but spread it around. I could see how she messed up a recipe I gave her once and she wouldn't admit it. She kept on "YOU didn't give me the right recipe!" And it was a simple foolproof recipe. But as I learned in life, make something idiot-proof, they develop a better idiot. Most "cooking" recipes to me are guidelines and vary a lot. But I'll still share the guidelines. I was known more for my baking and always gave recipes freely. Especially when I got it from someone else anyway! Or I'd tell them where to get it. I usually prefer to do that since as mentioned people change things or occasionally if there's certain tools that make a difference that can very well impact the results. I will say I would not give a recipe to someone who would try to sell it or profit from it unless they shared with me. Some get overly concerned that they'd be ruined if their "secret recipe" got out, but Tony Chachery hasn't gone under and he sold his seasoning salt recipe in his cookbook. (Gotta laugh at the people screaming "gotta have some Tony's" and it's 80% salt then some garlic, pepper and MSG, that's all.) Emeril has given away his "Essense" recipes and still sells a lot. KFC's ingredients from several sources say there's not 11 herbs and spices anymore after doing a lab test on the contents. Their "secret" is not the spices, but the preparation (pressure cooker deep frying in specified amounts). Different ovens can make a difference, different altitudes and more. I modify a lot. I make no bones that I'll be leaving out mushrooms, olives and other things from a certain dish. I never blame someone if I make it wrong. But if you require a cast iron pan and a wood fired oven, say so, then the responsibility is on the other person. I know people who will be going to their graves with their secret recipes. Too bad really. The legacy of good food died with them. But there's always other options. Often I wonder if that recipe I remember as a kid was so good or whether I just thought it was great at the time and with tastes changing over the years, maybe I wouldn' like it now. A great gal on another forum has "Recipes are to be shared" on her website. So true IMO.