Kathleen_li, I like your idea of putting the chocolate cake eggs on a footed cake plate with a nest. That will look really good. And you have given me a wonderful idea for using a cake stand. I don't have the egg pans, but I have 2 different bunny pans. One is a stand up that you "glue" the 2 sides together with frosting and the other is a little lay down one. I usually cover the stand up with coconut and use green food coloring on coconut for the grass, but DH & DS don't like coconut which means I have to eat the whole cake by myself if we don't have company.

Punk, I was just joking about Christmas. I'm one up on everyone, anyway. We had bought a new prelit 7' Christmas tree after Christmas the year before we bought this house. The first Christmas here we put it up in the living room and it is now 4 years later and it is still up!! So I don't have to put up the tree!! It's so fun because if I find an ornament I like - I just buy it and bring it on home and put it on the tree, even in July!! DD has forbidden me to put any more on it. Says there is TOO MUCH STUFF and the tree is going to fall over from the weight!! The living room is usually off limits to the GKids unless I am in there with them because of the ball and toy throwing (I get crazy and throw ball inside with them when it is too cold outside sometimes, Shhh, don't tell Alfred.) and the fact that I store LOTS of dishes and accessories behind the sofa. (Everyone else likes the den better and goes there to hang out anyway, so the living room is my sanctuary.) I also have 2 china cabinets in there and one is a beautiful antique that DH's Aunt B had given me when we moved here with the curved glass. (They used to sneak in there and hide when playing hide-n-seek until I found out and made it off limits !! Just think of the damage possibilities. Shivers!) Before we moved here we had lived in a single-wide trailer for about 3 years. Just imagine trying to raise 4 young children, 3 boys and a girl in a single-wide. (Long Story) His older 3 had grown up and left home by then. My DD was grown and married before we married. God knows what he is doing when he doesn't let us see into the future. We would never do what he wanted if we could! No storage, no privacy, no sanity. Needless to say I had great gardens because I couldn't stand the chaos inside!! If I wasn't at work, I was outside daylight 'till dark. Sometimes after dark. Poor Alfred would open the back door and holler out, "Honey, don't you think you ought to quit for the day?" I would holler back, "In a minute." and keep on planting peas by flashlight!! LOL So when we moved here the living room became my refuge. It is where I start my day with my cup of cappaccino,(sp? I just drink it-I don't spell it!!), my Bible study, and LOTS of prayer. I would go in and turn on the tree and sit in silence. Ahhh.. Every woman should have a refuge. I followed Judith's example and my tree is definitely a ' more is more' tree. I started with a bird theme and it grew from there. The color scheme is mostly blue/white except for the birds and a few sentimental items. I still want to order some crystals to give it some more shine. If I ever solve my storage issues and have a nice place to store it, I will put some strings of white lights on it when I put it back up. Now it just has colored and is darker than I would like. I will try to do a post with some pictures as soon as I go buy a new memory stick for my camera. I'll do a separate post for the Thanksgiving 'tables and tales'! I'm feeling some better, now. I will need to get a few more shots to kill all of the infection. Then I'll be as good as new. Thank you for your concern. I love my family here at C&H forum so much. The sewer? What's up with that? Sounds like your life is even more 'interesting' than mine used to be! Details, Girl! Give me details!! I don't know what you are using for energy, but please share your secret! Betty

Moon Pie Banana Pudding 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) 2 cups milk 1 (5.1 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding 6 Original or Double-Decker MoonPies, cut into squares or wedges 6 bananas, sliced 1 (8 ounce) Cool Whip, thawed or equal amount of whipped cream Cream the cream cheese until smooth; add the sweetened condensed milk and stir until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk the pudding mix with the milk until blended. Combine the two and mix well. Cut three of the MoonPies in half and then into three slices, for a total of 6 pieces, reserving any crumbles and storing them until needed for garnish. In the bottom of a 2-quart bowl, add about 1 cup of the pudding mixture, the 3 chopped MoonPies and slice three of the bananas on top. Repeat layers with about half of the remaining pudding mixture, 3 more chopped MoonPies, 3 more sliced bananas, and top with all of the remaining pudding mixture. Spread the pudding across the top, add the whipped cream or Cool Whip on top, and carefully spread it evenly on top. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Scatter the MoonPie crumbs all over the top as a garnish, and add extra wedges of MoonPie, if desired. (I found that you can usually find moon pies at Dollar General)

I like to cook stew in the pumpkin. You have to cook your favorite stew halfway on the stove top as the pumpkin cannot cook long enough to tenderize the stew meat without collapsing. Hollow out the seeds and membrane, pour the stew in the pumpkin, put the lid back on and bake on a wide roasting pan till the stew is done and tender. The pumpkin will be looking like it is thinking of collapsing, but serve the stew with a little of the pumpkin flesh spooned off the inside edges.