Sneaky little thing, huh? I haven't had to trap one of those but did have to use glue traps for field mice some years ago, had to because we had small children and anything else was dangerous for them. Our squirrels won't go after peanuts or pb but bird seeds (black sunflower currently) will lure them into the havaheart trap (we release them into the big park a couple miles away). Good luck getting that thing John, he's eating you out of flora and fauna! ;)

--Pastry is a combination of tenderness and flakiness, and those are the baking characteristics you want to achieve when making it. Pastry how to: Mix half of the fat into the flour until it is well incorporated. Add the remaining fat in much larger (pea-size) chunks and only add until distributed, leaving large pieces in the mixture. At this point, don't over-work the dough when adding the liquid. The first addition of fat will tenderize because it coats the flour. Where fat coats the flour, water can't penetrate and the gluten forms in short strands (and is why it's also called "short crust" pastry). The large bits of fat creates flakiness. When the large pieces of fat heat in the oven it releases steam. The steam lifts the dough in layers and as it bakes creates flakiness. Where does lard come in? Lard has a much larger fat crystal than shortening or butter, which makes it work and melt differently. Lard has always made a great fat to use for making pastry. ------------------------------ plllog- Instead of using iodized salt (I haven't used it since the late 70's), I use KELP granules for a low-sodium seasoning and as a food-form source for iodine (see link below), rather than the chemical form found in iodized salt. I also add other sea vegetables when cooking. You might want to save this as a study session at a later date. --I was re-reading Sue Gregg's "Whole Grain Baking" book so I could pull some more information for you, and she uses the same three methods - soaking, fermenting, or sprouting the grain/flour before cooking or baking to neutralize a large portion of the phytic acid. She covers soaking, sprouting and sourdough methods. (suegregg.com) As little as 7-hours will neutralize a large portion of the phytic acid in grains. Twelve to 24 hours even better, with 24 yielding the best results. She also mentions brown rice, buckwheat, and millet are more easily digested because they contain lower amounts of phytates than other grains, so 7-hours soaking is sufficient. Other grains, particularly oats, highest in phytates of the whole grains, are best soaked up to 24-hours. Sue Gregg uses her whole grain bread dough for making pizza and blends 2 c. warm water, 2 T. apple cider vinegar and 4-6 cups whole wheat flour, spelt or Kamut and soaks for 12-24 hrs. for stage one. In her book, "Whole Grain Baking" she gives instructions for sprouting grain and how to make sprouted whole grain dough (pages 154 and 155) and also uses this dough for her pizza crusts. -------------------------------------- --Corn.... Corn comes in three varieties - dent (those fat nibs with a "dent" on the top), which is field and sweet corn), flint (Indian/calico corn) - which is a small grain with a very hard 'coat' - hard like flint and is how it got its name, and popping corn, which looks like flint corn. All corn can be milled into cornmeal - even popcorn. The large nibs of dent corn are...

I agree with chi83, you're going to love the Vitamix. It has completely changed the way my family approaches eating fruits and vegetables. For example, when I make ice cream now I always add a few servings of spinach, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots and red or green cabbage. I learned that those particular vegetables can be added to any fruit preparation without any noticeable difference in taste. I have also started using parts of fruits I never tried before. Adding whole strawberries, hull and leaves included, adds chlorophyll to our diet with no noticeable flavor difference. Cantaloupe and watermelon seeds are liquidized in the machine and you would not believe how much nutrition they offer. You can add the pineapple core to your smoothies and benefit from the bromelain. Instead of buying grape seed extract just buy whole grapes and process with the stem and seeds. Keep the pith on oranges and lemons when you blend and you will load up on flavonoids and phytochemicals. I love to be able to get nutrition from food instead of buying a bunch of supplements. Ok I think I gushed too long but if you would like to learn more come join the Vitamix Yahoo Group. It has over 1100 members and plenty of great tips, recipes and advice. I can't post the link but google VitamixEnthusiasts

* Posted by coconut-nj (My Page) on Sat, May 30, 09 at 11:27 Sally, anywhere that has alot of British imports would probably have it. I was checking out who had it online the other day and while you might not want 6 bottles of it.. smiles... Amazon has 6 bottles for $27.05. It's free shipping too. Most places sell it for between five and six or up to eight dollars, so that's a great price. They say they're 15 oz bottles. Maybe somebody else would want to go in on it with you?? I've always heard of it described as a mayo with more vinegar and also with a mustard taste. Sounds good. Smiles. My DW used it when she used to travel to the UK all the time for buisness. Surprised she didn't bring any back. I have a head of savoy cabbage so I'm going to make my easy 'stuffed' cabbage casserole that I described above. It makes it so easy and quick which is just what we want on a Saturday night. Steam the cabbage briefly, layer it with dirty rice, pour some tomato juice mixed with onion and garlic powder between layers and on top and bake for about 40 minutes. I'll see if I can manage to take a picture. I seem to be terrible at that. The camera is always in the other room and it's a kind of big house and by the time I'm done cooking I'm not walking very well. LOL.. We will see. Oh btw, I always make two dishes of this because Christy gets burnt out on "red" since I always have something made with red sauce around I make her a version with just some broth on it. I do stuffed peppers for her the same way. No red. I do love the red on it but prefer tomato juice since it's nice and light although I'll just water down tomato sauce or puree with chicken stock/broth, if I don't have any handy.