Elba, My family is vegetarian and I make this appetizer for kids (lot of our friends are vegetarian also). I like it as it is a good protein option. You can also make ahead and warm up in oven before serving. Serve as is or with mini toothpicks. Can also use kabab sticks (like a satay). I usually also add some cherry tomatoes and bell peppers to make it look nice and get some veggies in. Also works well for mini wraps with lavash or tortillas. Size up as you wish. Glazed Tofu/ paneer Ingredients: 2 cups cubed paneer (indian grilling cheese)or super firm tofu. Rinsed and patted dry. Cubed into 1 inch cubes.. You can also make them longer (about 3 inch long by 1 inch thick) if you are planning to serve it like a satay on a kabab stick. 1 bell pepper (cut into large chunks like for a kabab) 1 large onion (large chunks like for a kabab). Red onions or shallots work well here. a cup of cherry tomatoes (optional to make it look pretty) 1 tsp ginger garlic paste (use freshly ground paste if possible) 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp ketchup 3 tbsp oil 1/2 tsp sugar 1 tbsp cornstarch + 3tbsp water (make a smooth paste) Salt to taste scallions (1 bunch) For the Marinade: 5tbsp corn starch 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp freshly ground pepper 1 tsp minced garlic a pinch of cayenne or paprika for a bit of bite (optional). You can experiment with other flavorings here as well. A pinch of salt Water Make a thick-ish paste with the ingredients for marinade. Add water after soy sauce to make sure the marinade is not too thin. Dunk the paneer/ tofu pieces in and let them soak in the marinade. It will be instant love, I promise. I let it marinate for about and hour with occasional gentle mixing to get the tofu or paneer to be evenly coated. In a wide pan/ griddle,heat the oil and shallow fry the paneer/ tofu pieces turning them over to evenly brown all sides. Remove to a plate with some paper towels to soak up any excess oil. In the same pan on high heat, stir fry the bell peppers and then the onion (separately) till tender crisp. They should not get limp. Season with a pich of salt. Some charring on corners due to high heat is a good thing. Remove to a plate. In the same pan on high heat, add the soy sauce, ginger garlic paste, sugar and tomato paste. If you choose, you can add other seaStir-fry on high for about 30 seconds until well blended and turn the flame to low. Now add paneer/ tofu cubes and give it a good toss. Add the corn flour paste to make a smooth glaze.. stir as you add this to prevent lumping. Cook 3-4 mins to thicken the glaze. Add the bell peppers and onions and give it all a good toss. Turn off heat. Sprinkle scallions slices for garnish. You can either serve it on a plate or use tooth picks or kabab sticks to make individual finger food. Also works as a stuffing in mini pitas or rolled in a lavash or even as a lettuce wrap. Whole cherry tomatoes (do not cook) can be added here to give a visual punch and a fresh taste. This dish is very flexible.. Just the marinated and pan fried tofu/ paneer is yummy as a hors d'ouevre. I always save some for DD and some of the younger kids. You can actually stop right there. The glaze is gorgeous to look at. Feel free to dress up the marinade or the glaze with other spices (cayenne, minced chilli, hot sauce, any jerk seasoning you mightg have etc.) You can also sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top if you want an added crunch. If you find any fresh small red radishes, they really dress up the dish (either finely mince and sprinkle on top or slice and add it to your kabab arrangement). Other veggie appetizer options I make are cilantro lime hummus with pita triangles, tortilla chips, or toasted bread. Warm garbanzo, channa dal or edamame salad is wonderful as well. Mini veggie sushi, ravioli on toothpicks, mini quesedillas. I will check back to see if you need any more recipes. Now I have to look into this whole bunco party thing.. It sounds like fun.. I like the 3-4 tables thing.

We did look at McGill briefly (web site) but his GPA isn't quite enough to get him into their business major. I also think, perhaps, with only about 13% (I think that's the number I saw) US students, that may be a little too far outside his comfort zone. He is really a homebody, hasn't even gone to sleepaway summer camps except for a week during two separate summers...which is why I can't quite believe he's looking at Syracuse! Of course, he IS growing up and seems determined to spread his wings to some extent. Perhaps not all the way to Canada, though? Virginia...he seems determined not to go south. At the moment, he is really loving both Northeastern and Syracuse. Really, if Syracuse had the coop program that NU has, he would be done looking and he'd apply early decision to SU. But he really likes the idea of that coop, especially because he's working as an intern at an investment firm this summer and really liking it. We are visiting both schools, for the second time, within the next few months, and he may yet decide to apply early decision to Syracuse. At least that's what he's thinking right now. We are visiting UVM in a few days but he says he is only interested in UVM if he gets into the honors program there. It's an exciting time but also stressful and a little sad because I can't imagine DS not being here every day!

I am in agreement with shaknzmom. We paid our daughters for their good grades. $5.00 for each A, $3.00 for each B, nothing for C's and they owed us, if they ever would bring home anything less. WE also said that we would pay them $100 if they brought home straight A's. They all always made the honor roll, but our youngest really liked the money. She received one B the first semester of her freshman year of high school. She decided that while $38 was good, it wouldn't be that much harder to make straight A's. So, she did -- every grading period for the remainder of her high school life. She graduated tied for 1st in her class, and received full tuition scholarships to three different college, plus another $2,000 a year scholarship. That doesn't include the partial scholarships that she received from other universities. The $1538 or so that she received from us over the 4 years high school more than paid itself back for her college. She will graduate with no debt. We do pay for her room and board and books. She pays for spending money. The money she earned this summer not only went for spending money, but also to fund her IRA. This semester has cost us $1,800 for everything. Not bad at all. She is a highly motivated student. The money was a little extra that she enjoyed getting. My other daughters never quite made the straight A's in high school, but they did make it a couple of times in college. All three received scholarships to several colleges. Looking back, I wouldn't do it any differently.

I don't know, I think people can be into math and numbers and also into words and reading and also into design and art. One can be an athlete as well as any of the above. I guess the questions try to put people in one camp or the other, but most people don't fit fully on either side, unless they have extreme personalities. I'd hate to be so predictable as to stick with one label. I pay attention to a lot of different areas, but also know I have a lot of blind spots. I can't fix a car, never got the complexities of chess and and not good at any games with ball throwing or worse, being thrown at. Ask me about world events and I do pretty well. Ask me about pro basketball/hockey/soccer/tennis and I am lost. Challenge me to a game of cards (canasta, pinochle or spades) and I will kick booty. No once can be great at everything, but one can be interested in a bunch of things. As much as I like numbers and have a talent for doing math in my head, I don't think of myself as a numbers person, per se. I can be analytical and I can also be emotional. Some decisions are driven by one and some the other. Hopefully, most include both areas. In any case, I like quirky and unexpected with design, so you won't see my kitchen in anyone else's house. I may have copied bits and pieces, but the total will be our own design (for better or worse, lol). Most of the design is from my imagination, but dh has had some input too and so it is a collaboration overall. I think our kitchen reflects our sensibilities a bit, so it can be a clue to our personalities in a way. I bet a profiler could deduce a lot from how people design their kitchens. Math has nothing to do with it....