Hi Doug I am glad that you and Pam are okay, and yes Pam is right it is very easy and economical to add flowers to the garden, most of mine are from seeds and some reseed themselves. Gets the garden in a happy mood. I am waiting to see how the vine on the trellis turn out flowers wise, it is very vigorous and will give shade to the peppers once the cucumbers are gone. And I think Dianne is right and you are referring to the kale. It is a wonderful veggie because I have been cutting for months giving away and using for soups, saute and even chips. And also takes the heat better than other greens. I have about 5 different types and I like them all. The tall one is a curled blue, sometimes you find them as transplants in the big box stores. Here it is one side with other variety of kale, I have Squire, Dwarf Blue Curled, a plain red and a Red Chidori which is very ornamental and good tasting like all the others. The other side with Green Glaze collards When is cold they look prettier, the colors are more vivid. Silvia

You know, I think our traditional Thanksgiving meal is about as close as we get to indigenous food, right? The wild turkeys were here when the first Puritans arrived. The native Americans were raising corn and squash and beans, I think, and sunflowers as well, which was a major vegetable protein source for them via the seeds which are easy to preserve. Cranberries are native in some parts of the country, and so is wild rice. So, all those ingredients are more or less indigenous American foods. Maybe one problem is that our nation is so large geographicaly, so we do have more regionalized "America food" depending on what foods are readily available in each region instead of a well-known "American" cuisine. For example, if you grew up in Boston, you might argue that lobster and Boston baked beans are true American cuisine, but if you grew up in Georgia or South Carolina, maybe you'd insist it was barbeque, baked beans, cornbread and grits. I was thinking about what kind of native food a forager would find growing naturally here in Oklahoma....there's wild game, of course, and wild blackberries and wild grapes here in southern OK, and some of you probably have wild huckleberries or currants in some eastern parts of the state that we don't have here. Here in southern OK, we have the wild prickley pears (you can make jelly from them) and native pecans and walnuts, and persimmons. There's also several kinds of wild plums, and you can fish in the Red River for catfish. Dorothy, I think I am going to grow peanuts next year so we can make our own peanut butter without all the additives. I remember having a Mr. Peanut machine when I was a little kid....you put the peanuts in his hat and turned the handle and got peanut butter (a peanut paste probably would be a better description). It was simple, so it seems like it'd be simple to make homemade peanut butter in the food processor or blender. Carol, I love all those old Southern Living recipe books...they are my kind of cooking! Another great cookbook full of old-style southern cooking is Fannie Flagg's Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook, which came out at about the same time that her book, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, was made into the movie of the same name. If my grandmother and southern aunts had written a cookbook of the foods they prepared their entire lives, it would have been very, very similar to Fannie Flagg's cookbook. Dawn

New Potato, Chicken & Apple Salad Use leftover chicken or broil/roast chicken parts You want about equal parts of chicken & potatoes. I generally make this salad when I have leftover pan roasted new potatoes from the night before. Melt 4 T of butter in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over a med-high heat & add 1-2 lbs small red potatoes, and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cover the pot and shake it around so the potatoes are coated with butter, and reduce the heat. Simmer the potatoes for about 20 minutes (depending on their size), then let them sit off the heat, still covered for another 5 minutes. This sort of "sets" them somehow. If you aren't sure after the 20 minutes, test one with a trussing skewer or other very thin, piercing instrument. They should be easy to pierce through, but not quite ready to eat, as they'll still cook more. Toss the potatoes with 2 or 3 T of minced fresh herbs of your choice. I like chives & marjoram with a tiny bit of rosemary. Chop a large, crisp apple into thick matchsticks and put into a bowl of salted water to prevent browning. Now, cut the cooled potatoes into halves if they're small, quarters if they're larger, and chop the chicken meat into pieces slightly smaller than the potatoes. Toss the potatoes, chicken & apples with your favorite creamy dressing, and garnish with your choice of chopped green onions, toasted, coarsely chopped cashews, chopped dried fruit of some kind or shelled pistachios. My favorite dressing for this (though ranch is also very good) is a sort of variation on Thousand I guess, that my mother used to make: Mom's Dressing 2 c mayo 1/2 c ketchup 1/4 c Worcestershire 1 T grated garlic 2 t lemon juice 1/2 t black pepper 1/2 t powdered onion 1 T honey 1 t each dried savory, parsley, & basil Mix all ingredients well. It should sit for at least a couple of hours in the fridge so the garlic won't be "hot" and the flavors of the dried herbs can develop, but if it can sit for longer, like all day, it's better.

I found it, Posted by hgl_gaylemarie (My Page) on Tue, Aug 3, 10 at 14:14 German Potato Salad 4 potatoes 4 slices bacon 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons white sugar 1/3 cup water 1/4 cup white wine vinegar 1/2 cup chopped green onions salt and pepper to taste Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes; cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop. 2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Reserve bacon fat. 3. Add the flour, sugar, water and vinegar to skillet and cook in reserved bacon fat over medium heat until dressing is thick. 4. Add bacon, potatoes and green onions to skillet and stir until coated. Cook until heated and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.