gosh, hard to remember everything now, but these things come to mind: outdoor wiring for x-mas lights under eaves and wiring run in trench down to street for future light posts at driveway's end. also ran water line to street for future irrigation needs. outdoor wiring for stereo speakers which will hang on the back porch adjacent to the deck we will build. perfect for outdoor entertaining. many key rooms in the house are also pre-wired for stereo speakers in the ceiling - the rooms that come to mind are the bedrooms, family room, loft and study/office. lots of water spigots on outside of house - two on the front, one on the back and one on each side. ran water and electric lines to the barn for future bathroom in barn and for electric in barn. DH did this himself. and he ran water lines to the garden for irrigation. electric outlet under center window in two-story foyer (we have a small shelf there) for x-mas decorations. ceiling fans on back porch - they are pure heaven this hot summer we're having! wired every room in house (except butler's pantry and small bathrooms, although master bath itself is wired) with data and phone and TV lines. (I'm serious. Even the laundry room and barn have the potential for computer, phone and TV.) put in special speaker at front door instead of doorbell - it rings on the phone when someone pushes the "doorbell" and we can talk to them over the phone line. This prevents dogs from running like maniacs to front door if a doorbell were to ring. made room in laundry/mudroom for future dog shower and a wall for hooks/cubbies for coats, boots, gloves, etc. made huge walk-in pantry. it is my favorite thing in the entire house. (almost - kitchen is real fave!) recessed area for fridge into the wall so that we could put in a full-size fridge and it looks like a counter-depth - saved us $600 on counter-depth fridge and we get a bigger fridge. the bump-out is in the walk-in pantry so completely unnoticeable. potfiller over cooktop - so handy for filling big pots of pasta! prep sink in island - I love the second sink. it's fabulous. instant hot tap at kitchen sink dedicated iron plug in laundry room manual transfer switch so that we can convert to generator power if electricity goes out. rough-in plumbing in basement for future bathroom when basement is finished. lights in glass-front cabinets in kitchen and butler's pantry - so pretty to show off dishes. special glass-front cabinet for cookbooks. extra strong vent-a-hood fan over cooktop - vents to outside and sucks away ALL cooking odors added blocking and extra support behind fireplace wall where we knew we'd be hanging a flat-screen tv. added blocking to all bathrooms where towel bar and tp holders would be installed. put tilt-out trays on fake drawer fronts under sink for sponges, etc. put pull-out trays in many of my kitchen cabs - great for easy access to pots and pans. that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

I totally disagree. Unless you buy a refrigerator for under a thousand dollars, an extended warranty, which covers the whole unit minus the incidentals you mention, is very much worth the piece of mind. Buy anything cheaper and you should be going into the purchase thinking it's disposable anyway. The Maytag man, lol. I wonder how many people were actually influenced by that advertising? I don't feel that the manufacturers reputation regarding mean time between failures of the appliance should come into play when considering the extended warranty. It should come into play well BEFORE you plunk down your good money in the first place. Buy good appliances, like you did, then protect them. What should come into mind when deciding to purchase an extended warranty is the ratio between what you paid for the appliance and what the warranty costs. In other words, is the unit disposable? Additionally, you need to consider how much a typical repair for that specific appliance could cost, how long the model has been in production and how many things can break down. I know readers in these forums grumble when you use a car analogy, but even the best car manufacturers take a few years to iron out bugs in new models. The same holds true for appliances. If you decide to go with a warranty, contact Maytag first. You'll probably get a better deal through them and it makes things easier if you do need a repair. The third party warranty company must go through them anyway. You might even be able to get a full replacement warranty. If you do go through that insurance company, make sure they don't have complaints against them. BTW, thats a nice refrigerator.

I just got done making my traditional turkey scrapple. I make it every time we have roast turkey. I've never been a fan of turkey soup, so years ago when a friends introduced me to this dish, I tried it and have been making it ever since. Simmer the carcass with herbs & spices for several hours, strain, pick off all the pieces of meat. I follow the recipe from the Alber's box for cornmeal mush but use the heavily seasoned turkey broth. Simmer everything until the cornmeal is quite thick and spoon into meatloaf pans. Let cool & chil overnight. Then in the morning, slice the scrapple, dredge in flour, and fry until crispy on both sides. I've served it with honey, maple syrup, leftover gravy, and even leftover cranberry sauce. It's one of our favorite breakfasts. My husband would be sorely disappointed if I didn't make it.

Pour it over chicken when baking. I almost never make baked chicken without pouring some kind of alcohol over it. Usually beer. It keeps the chicken moist and gives it a nice flavor. I also use beer or wine in skillet poached chicken. Brown it on both sides, pour in the beer, cover and simmer. Coincidentally I'm making a pre-amble TG meal tonight. Bought a package of Pepperidge Farm stuffing, mixed it with a can of cream of celery soup (I know, I know) some chopped walnuts and some dried cranberries. Put the chicken on top. Gonna pour a bottle of beer over all that and stick it in the oven for an hour. Serving with salad and Yummy Apple Dumplings for dessert. Delish.