Being a complete loon about old things that remind me of people or times past, my house is filled with what appear to be random things but which are precious to me. One of them is a loose leaf cookbook that my brother and I gave to my mother when we were just children. It is very meaningful to me, partly for the recipes she saved there - the cherry pie she always made instead of cake for my Daddy's birthday, the carrot cake she was "required" to bring to every family celebration, her "official" recipes for brown sugar fudge, strawberry pie, bourbon balls, Gramma's egg custard pie and many others, all of them keepers. There is our family jello salad recipe (ours is orange) and the recipe for a family oddity called "Mom's Gom" - you wouldn't believe the ingredients if I told you and you would never believe how good it tastes! Mama's book also contains various recipes for something called "porcupines" and more than one recipe for German potato salad. That would be strange except that I well remember her quest for those two dishes. She kept more than one recipe so I don't know if all were acceptable or if none hit the mark. What's important to me is the reminder than she tried so hard to make the things she cooked the BEST for her family. There are also old letters she received with recipes from my grandma and aunts - one on military stationery from WWII and all so aged that they are fragile and falling apart at the creases. There are even a few from me that show how Mama carefully treasured the signs that I was beginning to have my own successes in the kitchen. Last year I copied out many of the recipes from Mama's book along with others I've collected from friends through the years and put them in a recipe book for my daughter. I know Mama's recipes won't mean as much to her because she didn't have the opportunity to know my mother but I like to think that this little bit of family history has a chance to live on.

Thanks Dawn. I know mom is always on my mind. Its really weird tho. I have a kind of peacefulness of moms death. Never really felt this way about a death. Mom always told me when its your turn to go the good lord has your name in a book with the date and thats when your going. Plus I was there holding mom's hand when she passed. It was really hard and I miss her a bunch but the feeling I have is she is so happy. another weird thing. She had a house plant, when mom passed that plant looked dead. Rich took it home and watered it and later that day it looked fine. Now on moms birthday on the 18th there was a big bud on her plant. YES its hard to move and start over with no gardens. we been picking things up here and there and its looking better. P-mac thank you. I haven't been here in a long time. Don't know if I can make the spring fling but thank you so much for the offer. I did go to one of the flings and we had a blast. Met alot of great people. I took pictures and just happen to pass by a couple the other day in my computer. THanks so much for all the great thoughts. Ya never know I might get back here sooner with all the great people. Might find somethings I can trade..lol

>>>"Way better than a propane countertop option."<<< Well, if you have generator the next time Texas gets cold. . . :>) Good countertop induction cookers (a/k/a Portable Induction Cooktops or PICs) can be "way better" as long as you have power, but many of the inexpensive models are seriously deficient when it comes to a "design for those who want more stove top temperature control" as Jan DeKenis sought. If considering buying a PIC to check out induction, you might want to have a look at recent articles at Cooks Illustrated, CenturyLife, and Wirecutter to get some recommendations on choosing one of the better PIC models. When it comes to full scale electric cooking appliances, though, Pittsburrito is correct that induction stoves and cooktops are very much the electric option with as much (sometimes more) "stovetop temperature control" than gas appliances.

We are starting nine days of vacation today. Yippee! In doing my maternal genealogy DH & I have located about a dozen graves of my ancestors from the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries throughout New England. Many served in various military capacities. For the past 15+ years we have used Memorial Day as a time to visit the graves & do maintenance. Many are in very rural areas but located on private property. Others are in rural cemeteries that have virtually been lost to time. We cut back encroaching forest growth, straighten the stones, & plant a daylily. The oldest military grave dates to 1687. It took us 5 years to find the site. The headstone was buried halfway...we knew it HAD to be the right grave so DH started digging. We were able to get a tracing of the stone's engraving for verification. It's quite a hike off the road to reach the grave site. We notified the historical society of the location back in the early 90's so Samuel's grave now has a permanent Veteran's placque & flag. Buried near Samuel we located the graves of his second wife & 2 of their children who died in infancy. Other graves are in more prominent cemeteries & we visit just to pay our respects & leave one rose. We'll start our trip before dawn on Monday & won't be home until well after dark. All we can reach in one day are those graves in MA & NH. The rest we visit periodically to keep them maintained. Today & tomorrow we'll do some garden work & BBQ. Next week, we'll take the ferry to Orient Point & spend the day garden center hopping. Then, we'll toss a suitcase in the car & take off for a few days...location unknown as of yet. Have a safe & great long weekend, everybody! /tricia