Happy Labor Day to all. I received the most wonderful package from Donna earler in the week. It had so many terrific plants and lots of very neat goodies. I love all bulbous plants and Donna really made my day with some Shampoo Ginger, Canna, Pink Crinium and Walking Iris plants. The package also included a Blue Agave and (OH Joy!) a Red Bird of Paradise. I've wanted a Bird of Paradise start for a long time. There were also some nicely packaged seeds of canna, yucca, yarrow, mixed zinna, poppies, larkspur, nasturtium and french marigold. And because she had ALL the bases covered there was still room in the box for some biodegradable potting cells, a gardeners organizer and some lovely bath and nail care goodies. Thank You, Thank You!! All my new babies are in their pots awaiting their place in the mixed bed that I'm putting in this fall.(or as soon as the weather cools LOL) Donna, I'm glad that you liked the Miracle Grow Liquid Feed. It's the best and easiest way to fertilize that I've found. You use it every couple of weeks and it's just amazing how things grow. This exchange was a great idea and a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone and happy gardening. Cindy PS, I'm headed for Maine for a couple of weeks, will check back in with all my GW friends when I get back from the "land of fog and rocks"

Hey Lynn -- Just saw your post... Actually I didn't follow the cooks illustrated recipe at all -- just used their technique of frying the chicken on its skin side to render the fat and add browned bits to the pan, then taking it out, pouring off most of the fat, and deskinning it so that there wasn't soggy chicken skin floating in the final dish... Here's the recipe I made up, with pieces cribbed from lots of different recipes I read... 4 Chicken thighs, browned, then skin removed 1 onion, sliced 2-3 red peppers, sliced (I used ones I had frozen this summer, don't have an exact amount) 1 carrot, sliced 3 garlic cloves 1 Tbs flour ½ cup red wine Splash of chicken stock 1 14 oz can diced roasted tomatoes ¼ pint of roasted tomato puree (again, this is from my own canned stock, might not be necessary, could probably just use a Tbs or two of tomato paste) 2 Tsp chopped fresh rosemary 1 Tbs chopped parsley Small bit of parmesan rind 1 bay leaf Red pepper flakes Salt Brown chicken, remove skin, drain some of fat from pot. Saute onions, then add garlic and carrot and sauté for a minute. Add flour, stir to coat with fat, then add red wine and scrape up browned bits. Add rest of liquid ingredients along with tomatoes and red peppers Nestle chicken in sauce and cook for 1 hour Emily

Happy belated birthday Larsi!!! I hope you had a great day and will have many more to come!

Even though I said "2" I think the really honest answer would be that I was addicted before I bought even one because I found this forum and was blown away by all your gardens and those of a couple we have lost since then. I don't share much because my gardens don't hold a candle to others here-for example, almost every hosta I planted on our hill has been washed away with the rains this year, along with the mulch and much of the soil. I always seem to be trying to repair and replace all the failures. At least I am doing my part to keep all our nursery friends (the Boyz at Naylor Creek, Hallsons, NH Hosta, etc.) in the black.