When God created Adam and Eve, he placed them in His idea of a paradise, a Garden. I agree with Him. Have you ever read THE DIARIES OF ADAM AND EVE by Mark Twain? You can buy them online. I found a link to Eve's Diary at the link below, for free download. Did not check for Adam's but I'm sure it is there. Of course it is humorous. Eve has a penchant for naming things it seems. And it bugs Adam. :) Here is a link that might be useful: Eve's Diary by Mark Twain free download

Oh My Word Jim..LOVE IT..I would have loved to shop at this place or even just browse! Everything is just so beautiful. The next town from where I live, which is Woodbury,CT, is known as The Antique's Capital of CT...The shops there are amazing like this one. The Women's Club does a Holiday House Tour there every year. The homes are 'decked out' with the most fabulous furnishings just like in her shop. TFS. I really enjoyed it. jane

cran, I had another thought if you want something festive & different from the soups... I make lobster crepes almost every year around the holidays. They're very easy, quick, & hold remarkably well in a chafing dish! No recipe...here's what I do... Toss in a skillet with 50/50 EVOO & butter a couple finely minced shallots & 1 or 2 cloves fresh garlic. Saute a couple minutes then add sliced 'shrooms of your choosing. Saute until the 'shrooms are tender. Add freshly picked lobster meat & continue sauteeing until the lobster is warm. Add some heavy cream, a bit of lobster stock, and a hit of sherry. I season with salt/pepper, & fresh thyme. Cook until liquid reduces a bit. Finish with a couple pats of butter. Fill crepes with a small amount of the above mixture & arrange the crepes in an oblong baking dish. Pour remaining sauce/lobster mixture over crepes & warm in the oven at 325 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over the top of the crepes after you've taken them out of the oven. Transfer to chaffing dish. These are so delicious it's stupid! Lobster is so cheap now it's not unreasonable for a crowd since they're so rich nobody will eat more than one. Thanks for the welcome back! I'll make a post on "Conversations" in the next few days. I'm out of bed about 20% of the time now; but typing still brings on vicious pain so I can't make this post & still give an update. :( BTW, I've been teaching DH to cook. He's become possessive of "his" kitchen! :) cran, I'm sure your Open House will be wonderful. Another idea that I started about 20 years ago...at 10:00 p.m., I hand out those short (4") white, chunky chandles in a handled holder. Then, appoint a guest to go around the room & light everybody's candle while I get organized at my piano. Then, we sing "Silent Night", "Oh Holy Night", "White Christmas", and whatever anybody else requests. We usually sing for 30 minutes, or so. It serves two purposes. First, everybody enjoys it & it seems to give a signal it's time to start gathering coats & finishing our toasts in preparationn to end the evening & I don't get stuck with guests still hanging on to their eggnog mug at 1:00 a.m.! hahaha You don't need a piano...people sing carols without music very well! Have a fun filled & safe party! /tricia

Well I like to serve hot spiced cider at parties. It's good and it gives a great smell to the house and the area near it. I sometimes serve it out of my crockpot but I also bought one of those big coffee serving thermoses at a restaurant supply house for times when I need my crockpot for something else. I've also made it in a small coffee urn but there are some potential off flavor issues with that solution depending on your urn situation. You can also buy apple brandy for folks who want to give it a kick. You can also jazz it up visually by mixing it with cranberry juice and floating some orange slices in it. On the other hand, I don't know how that will go over in TX given that it might not be that chilly around Christmas time. You could also do Sangria, which is a wine punch and something that I do for wine lovers is serve hot spiced wine--same way as I serve cider. In fact, my local winery sells both spices grape wine and apple wine that are both fabulous served hot and for a party if you're busy with other things it is dead easy to just buy them and heat them up. You might look for that kind of product around your neck of the woods. Or you can also find recipes on the Internet for that kind of thing too. I have a kick butt recipe for Cherry Cranberry cobbler if you'd like it, (calls for both dried cherries and dried cranberries along with fresh or frozen sweet cherries) but you may not care for it as it includes the cranberry. Also you have to have access to dried cherries, which are "not inexpensive," shall we say, ahem.