Petaloid, if you're ever in a place that has a Chick-fil-A, go get one. They are SO good. They are exactly like the McDonalds one (I still think CFA should sue McD's for stealing their sandwhich idea (the ORIGINAL chicken sandwich) but the CFA ones are SO much tastier. Seriously. Their chicken is awesome. P.S. I don't like pickles, so I got it the same way I have my CFA sandwiches... no pickles, but with mayo. Here is a link that might be useful: Chick-fil-A

Can't say enough about the benefits of predatory "bugs", our true bugs. Nothing makes me happier than to see a cog wheel bug or an assassain bug perched quietly among my plants, waiting patiently for an unsuspecting catepillar to come strolling past. And the next time you start to swat a fly, you might want to see what kind it is...some of our most common flies also parasitise caterpillars. We are so caught up in our need for immediate gratification...we really want to see results NOW. It is tough to reassuringly tell yourself about balance and long-term fluctuations when you can see the damage being done to a prized planting on a daily basis. And there isn't always a handbook to tell you what the threshold is-the point at which you either take evasive action or suffer a complete loss. I am reminded of the cicada hatching we had here several years back. All you could do was clap your hands over your ears when you went out and stare in disbelief at the branches completely covered with those shiny black insects. How could the trees possibly survive that sucking screaming carpet? But then things quiet down eventually and the scavengers clean up the last of the carcasses and you see that aside from a few dead branches and weakened individual trees, they came out of it ok. Unless the invader is a foreign one and the ecosystem has no defenses for the newcomer, there is always a check and balance.

There is no place that's off limits to me, but in my small hometown we only have a Dairy Queen and 2 Mexican food places. I have learned to look up the points at Dairy Queen before ordering from there. I ate a grilled chicken salad there tonight. It's only 5 points and very filling. I would love to go to Long John Silvers, but the nearest one is 45 miles away. I would definitely go over my points for the day!! I usually eat Friday's lunch with the ladies in my office. We go to one of the Mexican food places, and they are so nice to let us order a child's plate. I usually get carne guisada and rice. It's delicious! And a child's plate is just the right amount.

LOL somehow I missed Auntie Fee, that cracked me up and grossed me out at the same time. Re washing chicken, for me it depends on what it looks and feels like. I don't think I could enjoy eating a dish that I knew was made from unwashed, slimy, goopy chicken. They've been warning about washing chicken for years, so when I do I'm very cognizant of any overspray and sanitize surrounding areas afterwards regardless. Same goes for cleaning dishes and utensils that come into contact with raw chicken. Yes, there are germs all around us and the vast majority don't make us sick. But many (most?) of us who have ever suffered from salmonella take precautions to avoid a repeat. Unlike eggs where the incidence of salmonella is something negligible like 1 in 20,000 - not enough to keep me from eating a raw egg if I felt like it - the incidence in chicken is far greater, to the tune of 11-16% is what Consumer Reports found in years of testing. And becoming infected with salmonella is no freak occurrence. This from the CDC: "Annually, non-typhoidal Salmonella causes approximately 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, 450 deaths, and an estimated-$365 million in direct medical costs in the United States." How concerned we want to be about different risks in life is our own choice of course, but if "they" decide the risk of cross contamination from splashing chicken is high enough to warrant a public service announcement then I'm all for it.