Carol, For every smidgen of time and effort we give to our community, we get so much in return. It truly is a priviledge to work as a community volunteer here. It's just been crazy since the train wreck with one 'bad thing' after another, but in the midst of all those tragedies, you also witness so much caring and kindness. Love County truly lives up to being the county of "love". Now that I've had practically a whole night's sleep, I feel more ready for the holidays! Susan, You can freeze them as Dorothy stated, but when you thaw them, the texture is not the same as fresh tomatoes. That's why I dehydrate them. Then it is my option whether to toss handfuls of them into salads in their dehydrated state, or to soak them in a cup of warm water for a little while and then toss them into salads. We like the texture of dehydrated/rehydrated bite-sized tomatoes better than frozen tomatoes if we're throwing tomatoes into our salads. You also could toss your excess cherry tomatoes into the food processor with a few other ingredients and make salsa! George, Your mention of mint/lemon balm reminded me that I do cook with herbs from the garden all the time...some dried and some fresh. We still have green, fresh lemon balm, mint, rosemary, lavender and sage. Sage is certainly associated with Thanksgiving. Dorothy, We haven't had much rain lately. Earlier this month our mesonet station had 0.85" but we had barely a trace that day. With early freezing nights, everything is dry/dormant enough to burn, and so it has been. It isn't that there's been so many fires, but just that they've occurred so closely together. We were out all night Sunday so I was worthless on Monday because apparently I don't function very well on almost no sleep. It seems like we always have a really awful 8-10 days before Thanksgiving, and I think it is a combination of things....frost-induced dormancy of thousands of acres of grassland, stiff winds, the start of the hunting season, and lots of holiday travelers which tends to lead to highway accidents. Today, knock on wood, has been pretty quiet and I hope it lasta. Keith, That recipe sounds marvelous. I'll have to hang onto it so I can try it sometime. I hope everyone does have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and y'all be careful at those Black Friday sales if you go. I'm staying home and shopping online! There is nothing I want to buy badly enough that I'll go anywhere near a store for the next few days. We went to Wal-mart this morning and I hope I can manage to not step foot in a store again for another 5-7 days. Dawn

Well, I have now sampled all the chocolates and I'm half way throught the red pepper spread. All are delicious. It's interesting to me, the dark chocolate purist, that I find I really like the milk chocolate bars with the interesting additions. At lunch just now I sampled the Naga bar with sweet Indian curry and coconut - very subtle. And the Woolloomooloo bar with hemp seeds and toasted macadamia nuts was also delicious. The Black Pearl was very good even if it does leave little black sesame seeds in your teeth to crunch on after the chocolate is gone. I've got to come up with a recipe for that red pepper spread. The label lists red pepper, eggplant, garlic, sugar, vegetable oil, acetic acid or vinegar, and hot pepper. It is so good you just can't stop eating it. So, I have to learn how to make something similar. The ajvar recipes I have found are the closest to it maybe. Thanks again, Jayne

Here you go. This recipe is super easy and delicious. My British DH loves these, he does not however like most scones you can buy. Too dry. 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup dried fruit chopped (I use dried tart cherries) 1 1/4 cups heavy cream Glaze: I never use the glaze. It would just compete with the jam I might put on 3 tablespoons butter, melted 2 tablespoons sugar Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Use an ungreased baking sheet. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl, stirring with a fork to mix well. Add the dried apricots. Still using a fork, stir in the cream and mix until the dough holds together in a rough mass (the dough will be quite sticky). Lightly flour a board and transfer the dough to it. Knead the dough 8 or 9 times. Pat into a circles about 10 inches round. For the glaze, spread the butter over the top and side of the circle of dough and sprinkle the sugar on top. Cut the circle into 12 wedges and place each piece on the baking sheet, allowing about an inch between pieces. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown -Robin

Is it me, is it the soap....sigh ;-/ So after so many +++ feedback about this thing Again, I went ahead and DIY on both the Kohler AS well as my previous older Grohe. The Kohler was okay after getting it primed but soap would not come out ~fluid-smooth~ but in spurts. The Grohe took forever to get primed and after doing so, it seemed to viscious for the setup. I suppose the soap can be the root problem ....but I like this soap for handsoap .