I received my goodies from Nancy for this swap and the Splendid Salads swap. :) Wow!!! I'll start with the Recipes Nancy sent: Grilled Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes (I love SHRIMP on the grill!) Zuppa di Scarola e Fagioli (Shcarole and Beans soup, YUMM!) Chicken Posole (Can't wait to try this. :D Whole Wheat Pastry Flower Waffles and Carrot Cake (YUMM) A yummy chicken recipe Feather Rolls (Who told her I was a carb-aholic?!?! lol) Penne with Zucchini and Ricotta (Divine!) Sweet Orange Salmon (I could eat it like this for sure!) Pumpkin Bread Fried Green Tomatoes(Another of my favorites but different recipe. Can't wait to try this one too) Straciacella Alla Romano (AKA Torn to Rags) This one sounds excellent too! For Extras Nancy sent: A Salad spinner! I was looking at these the other day! LOL It also has a bonus Knife and Veggie Peeler. Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger tea (One of my favs!) Chocolate Chip cake (OMG, this will not make it till tomorrow here! hehehe) Raspberry Vinaigrette (YUMM!) Caramel Apple Butter (Someone was spying one me! :D) Cooking Christmas Lima Beans with a Yummy recipe on the back for Creamy Christmas Lima Beans. She also sent me plants for Teddy Bear Sunflower and Ambrosia Cantelope! (Both from my wishlist) :) These are going straight into the garden when it cools down this evening. Dove milk chocolates. These are being savored as I type! LOL (They didn't melt. :D For seeds Nancy sent: Marconi Red Peppers (From my list) Strawberry Popcorn (From my list) Golden Bantam Improved Corn(From my list) Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash (From my list) Winter Savory (From my list) Purple De Milpa Tomatillo Dr. Wyche's Yellow Tomatillo Tiger's Eye Bean (From my list) Brockton Bean Sunberry (Last berry on my list! LOL) Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean (From my list) Cream of Saskatchewan Watermelon (Thought this was on my list?! lol) Golden Hubbard Winter Squash Lazy Housewife Bean (From my list) Missouri Love Apple (I wanted this one soooo BAD!) Fish Pepper (From my list) Blue Podded Peas (I thought my chances for this one was over cause everyone I've checked is out of them already.) Golden Treasure Pepper (from my list) Blacktail Mountain Watermelon Mexican Sour Gherkin (thought this was on my list too?!) Crystal Apple Cukes (from my list) Limon Hot Pepper (from my list) Joe's Round Pepper (from my list) WOW! I can't believe how many you found from my list, and how you knew just what to get. I'm so very happy with everything Nancy, you have truly outdone yourself. :D I can't wait to use the salad spinner, what a neat kitchen gadget this is. :)

Shirley, what month is that Garden Gate magazine? I see all the Hostas on the front of it, gotta get me that issue:) Laura, WS is fairly simple, but I usually start in Febuary, be careful with Parks though, I have ordered from them and I am still waiting on my Lisianthus from them that I ordered a season ago, they sent the seeds right out, had to push on them before they would send any of the bulbs they was suppose to send, every time I called on the Lisianthus they told me it was still on back order, I finally gave up, I just got their newest catalouge and I see they are still selling that item, hmmm... giverny4me, birds are not hard at all the main thing to remember is you have to have a nesting box for them or they usually won't even lay eggs and if they do they won't sit on em, now mom had some finches and try as she could she could got them to hatch the eggs, she raised cockatiels, lovebirds, doves and parakeets, the cockatiels were her pride and joy though she had all different kinds of them, I had a blonde one from her and I thought that one was just georgeous thats funny on the empty box thing cause while I was wrapping everything I talked with DH about getting into my supply of boxes and wrapping them to make it look like we had a gigantic amount around the tree, plus I thought if someone broke into the house maybe we would get lucky and they would just make off with the empty boxes, lol!!! Kody already feels very bad about what he did, he told me if he was me he would probuably take everything back, he said he would be okay with just clothes, he feels everything very deeply and tries to spare everyones feelings, he sticks up for the younger kids as well, if a little tyke is getting picked on on the bus he usually puts a stop to it very quickly, he just has a way about him, that's why this really threw me for a loop, Coleton on the other hand... I should of thought about it before I put them out there, but with everything going on haven't been getting much sleep and my mind just isn't where it needs to be lol!! DH told me that he was pretty sure I never put the gifts out before Christmas eve since Coleton has been two, thinking he may be right. Going to put all the clothing gifts out and hide the goodies (most of Kodys are Game Cube games and acessories, Coletons are Vtec games and acessories and cars stuff) they can open the clothing stuff Christmas morning and we are going to act like that is everything, then after Christmas dinner I will pull the rest out, and I am going to leave the wrapping paper as is, so they can think about it as they finish unwrapping them. My mom bought my oldest a futon bunkbed for his room, so when he has his friends stay over they won't have to sleep on the floor, it is so neat! One thing about it they don't have a clue what the grandparents are getting them, and as they are the only grandchildren they really get spoiled, I have had to put my foot down, they don't get gifts except for birthdays and christmas (clothes and little stuff sometimes, but they were getting way out of hand) I was lucky to get a birthday gift when I was a kid and Christmas I could count on getting at least two gifts, didn't hurt me none, think I turned out okay (well I might be a little wacked, but it just enhances my personality) I think I will get a basket of goodies though, and I will take the kids with me to my Uncles nursing home and let them hand them out, what a excellent idea, I will have my mom call the nursing home and find out what is acceptable and how many residents they have, love that idea more and more!!! this is getting hard to load, took me 5 minutes this time, I was blaming it on my computer! michelle

Shellfish allergies are no joke. This is the one allergen that is " Adult onset". I grew up on the ocean; and have eaten lots of shrimp. In 2005 I had my first reaction to shellfish. After 2 bites, my throat started to close up. Last night 2018 was my last exposure; and it was more severe. It was cross contamination. I had a steak where a lot of shrimp was on the menu. My steak was cooked where shrimp was cooked. I was in the ER within an hour of exposure via 911 ambulance. Vomiting, sweating out of every pore and blacked out twice. Once hitting a wall so hard everything fell off and broke on the opposite side. The EMTs kept asking me if I have been drinking.... None of my family told them I just ate at a local restaurant and had a severe shellfish allergy. I could not communicate this as I was in and out of consciousness. I am now going to an allergist, getting a medical alert bracelet and an epipen. I guess my family was too freaked to communicate what was going on.

I got this recipe years ago, but I can't remember where except that it seems that it was in California in a grocery store. Please try it, you won't be sorry. FRUITCAKE HATER'S FRUITCAKE 2 cups soft butter 2 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar 1 cup honey 10 eggs 4 cups flour 2 t cinnamon 2 t baking powder 1 t ground allspice 3/4 t salt 2 1/2 lbs glazed apricots, sliced 1 lb pecan halves 1 1/2 lbs pitted dates, sliced 1 lb raisins 1 cup apricot nectar 1/2 cup light cream 1 T lemon juice 1 cup brandy 1/4 cup orange flavored liqueur In a large bowl cream together butter, brown sugar and honey. One at a time add the eggs beating well after each addition. Into another bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, allspice and salt. Then stir half the mixture into the sugar, egg mixture. In remaining flour, dredge apricots, pecans, dates, and raisins. In a bowl combine nectar, cream and lemon juice. Add this to the mixed batter, then fold in the nut, fruits and flour mixture. Butter and flour 4 9X5 loaf pans. Evenly divide the batter between the loaf pans. Bake at 250 for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Remove from oven and pans to cool. In a bowl combine brandy and liqueur. Sprinkle each loaf with 1/4th of this mixture and let stand 1 hour. Wrap well in foil and let season in the refrigerator for at least 1 week. Edited to correct spelling. This post was edited by walnutcreek on Wed, Dec 4, 13 at 12:48