This post has come to life again, so for anyone seeking it out because they have the same problem, I wanted to jump in with some personal experience. After the oak floors in our new-construction house began cupping and buckling (the builder had rushed the build, since he was trying to finish a spec house on the same deadline, but had since decamped to another state due to a sex scandal), we saved for a few years and replaced it with engineered cherry flooring. This probably would have been about the same time as the OP's post, which as of this comment is 13 years old; the manufacturer was a Swedish company called Kährs, and since our local distributor had just started carrying it, there were no red flags in terms of bad reviews or negative customer feedback. That cherry floor looked great--for about ten minutes. EVERYTHING scuffed and scratched it. A puppy just innocently living its life? Scratches galore. Someone dropping anything heavier or sharper than a pillow? A guaranteed ding. A kid running a toy car over it? A tell-tale track of scuffs. Anyone wearing shoes (and I'm not talking stilettos)? Scuffs, scratches, and dents. It was ridiculous, like, we couldn't believe how quickly and easily the floor accumulated damage. Whatever finish was on that cherry, it did absolutely NOTHING to protect against ordinary wear and tear. We tried everything to clean, protect, and rehabilitate that floor. Shoes, even slippers, became forbidden in the house. We had a network of rugs from one end of the house to the next. Every chair not only sat on a rug, it had felt floor protectors and ugly wool socks on its feet. We swiffered like mad. For ten years, all the measures we took were futile, and just ended up causing us added aggravation and frustration. Finally we gave up, realized we were going to have to bite the bullet and install our THIRD hardwood floor in fifteen years, and replaced every square foot of the cherry. This time, we went for a harder wood (hickory), though the major problem with the Kährs had obviously been the finish. We put in a fairly pricey but beautiful hand-scraped wide-plank floor (Baroque Flooring Bavarian XL) and it was FABULOUS--everything the Kährs wasn't. It was gorgeous, it was tough as nails (pets were no problem!), and it was easy to clean. The moral of this story: Sometimes there's just no way around a bad product, except to replace it. The sooner you can afford to do it, the happier you'll be.

Well, I don't know about semi-healthy, but Ann T's cream cheese danish is delicious, can be filled with whatever fruit is good, or jam if you prefer, and it even freezes well if you only want to take half of the batch at a time. I often make four small ones with different fillings to have a variety: Cream Cheese Danish Coffee Cake =============================== Source: Home Cooking Magazine 1 c sour cream 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c butter 1 t. salt 2 packages dry yeast (4 1/2 t.) 1/2 c warm water 2 eggs beaten 4 c all purpose flour Over low heat in a small saucepan, heat butter, sour cream and sugar until warm and sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature. In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix sour cream mixture with yeast and add beaten eggs and flour. Will be a very soft dough. Put in fridge overnite to rise. (May be done same day. Put in fridge for about 2 to 4 hours, and then proceed. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead 6 or 7 times. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece out to 12 X 8 inches. Spread 1/4 of filling on to each piece and roll jellyroll style from long side. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place seam side down on buttered baking sheet and cut X's in top. (About 6 X's) (Danish should be slightly flatten, and about 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide and about 12 inches long. Cover and let rise until about double in size -approximately 1 hour Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Let cool on wire racks, Filling 2 packages 8 oz. cream cheese 3/4 c sugar 1 egg beaten 1 t. vanilla extract 1/8 t. salt Filling: To make filling beat together cream cheese with sugar, add egg and vanilla extract and salt Glaze 2 1/2 c confectioners sugar 1/4 c milk 1 t. vanilla extract toasted sliced almonds. Combine the first 3 ingredients for glaze and drizzle over loaves with toasted almonds Makes 4 Large Danish Muffins would be good and some are actually healthy. I like a "parfait" made of yogurt, fruit and granola, with a drizzle of honey if the fruit isn't terribly sweet. Annie

The party is over! It was a great success. We had about 80-85 people there, and yes, tons of food left over! I planned for close to the right number(planned for 100), but of course I expected them to eat way more then they did! Here's a picture of the cake that Emi's oldest sister made for her party. This is only the second one that she's tried decorating and I think she did a lovely job. Not professional yet, but very pretty and imaginative!

Grape salad and it will travel well in a cooler. Grape Salad 1 1/2 lb each red and green seedless grapes, washed and patted completely dry Mix 8 oz each fat free sour cream(room temp), fat free cream cheese until well blended. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar/ or splenda and 1 tsp vanilla. Fold in grapes until completely covered. Spread into a large glass container. Slightly toast 4 oz chopped pecans or walnuts, when cool stir into 3/4 cup brown sugar. Sprinkle mixture completely over top of grapes and give it a gentle pat. Cover overnight, with seran wrap