Dear Ispahan, Thanks for the follow up. I hope you will try Kaempferia rotunda too. Let's live life a little, and smell the gingers, roses not withstanding. And I will certainly share my results with the fragrant plants forum. I like your explaination. I only hope that I am one who CAN smell Asian Crocus! Many plants are of controversial fragrance, but you are right - in the case of some, the difference of opinion stems not from the quailty of the fragrance, but from there being any at all. One such plant that comes to mind is the netted Iris, I. reticulata. Does it smell like sweet violets, or no?.... Thank-you for the tip on Calathea concinna! It is now duely noted on my list. As to other unusual fragrant plants I grow, I shall only touch on a few, but they are good ones. Each is easy to grow, and would never shame you even if you never saw a single bloom, the way, say a yellow, bare-stemmed gardenia bush might! All of the "gingers" have fragrant foliage, roots, or both, and even the the common edible ginger (Zingeber officionalis) is worth growing for its corn stalk like foliage. Many have stunningly exotic blooms, each more enticing than the next, and wholly different from any flower you know. If I were ever to submit, and collect a certain type of plant, the various fragrant rooted genuses called gingers might be it. (This incedentally is a very worthwhile pursuit for those who garden along the gulf coast.) Of all these though, besides these Kaemperia Rodtunda, the only gingers with fragrant flowers are the white gingers, or butterfly ginger lillies Hedychium coronarium, and kin. These are must have plants. Famous as lei flowers, they will reward you with fragrance for months, and are as easy as cannas to over winter. The other ginger I cannot be with out is Alpinia Galanga - the Galangal ginger. It does not have fragrant flowers, but the tubers hold one of the scents of Shangri La. Ginger is there, but also, lemon, pepper, in smaller dilutions flowers, wintergreen - could it be vodka too? You must smell it for yourself. The Galangal is an edible variety. My other reccomendation is the asparagus fern. Yes, the one they sell in Walmart for $2 to fill in with window box impatiens. Bring yours in this winter, and you will have green little friend all through cold months. If you repot it, let it grow large, and grow it on for a year or so you may be rewarded with little non-descript white flowers. They are wonderfully fragrant, and you heard it from me. Afterwards, they produce attractive red berries. It seems an old plant, that is potted a little tighter than it would like, well cared for, and that gets a little bit of sunlight, is the one that will flower. My tip is to prune out the oldest stems each season though, as these tend to get thorny, just like the wild edible asparagus. Finally comes, Sansevieria trifasciata the common Snake Plant, or Mother-in-Law's Tongue. Does this surprise you too? Given similar care to the Asparagus Fern (although it will tolerate just about any, or none at all) it will blossom The flower spike apears from the soil and are decked with dainty finger shaped buds. These open from bottom to top over a week or so, and look like little honeysuckles with yellow-green curled ribbons for petals. They are just as worthwile to smell. Sansevieria Parva, called the Kenya Hyacinth, has the typical snake plant leaves, but looser, narrower, and more strap like - a different plant form entirely. Their flowers, white, or washed out mauve are fragrant in a different way to S.trifasciata, but also good. I hope you enjoy these. And you are right. We should start a thread about the more unusual fragrant plants. Best wishes, Sincerely, Matt

To further complicate things I found this photo of #3 from when we planted it- it was pinkish. So which of my varieties would vary their color with a pH change?

Pizza on a super thin crust, sometimes a tortilla, is a Bar Pizza or Bar Pie. Bar pizza is a type of pizza that is typically found in bars, pubs, and old-school restaurants mainly in New England and other parts of the Northeast. Unlike a traditional Neapolitan or New York-style pizza, a bar pie is usually small in size (typically 10 inches in diameter), and cooked in a pan. The crust is often cracker-like and many, if not most places that serve bar pizza use sauce out of a can. The cheese on top of a bar pie is often greasy and browned as it extends all the way to the edge of the crust. We make them all the time, quick and really good. I heat the tortilla in a hot, cast iron frying pan with some oil, then add sauce and cheese and seasonings, and put the whole thing into the oven to broil until the cheese is golden and bubbly. If I make a lot, I'll slide them onto a greased cookie sheet so I can broil two at a time. I also use naan, which is more sturdy. I follow the same procedure, heating it up in a cast iron pan before I add the toppings and broil it.

All of this jello talk reminds me of Ambrosia? A neighbor growing up used to make it with mini marshmallows, sour cream, coconut and those canned mandarin oranges. I always loved that but I doubt anyone but me would eat it. So, in re last year's shameful culprit, I took Gramarows suggestion and simply texted her essentially " if I didn't mention it before, everything is pretty much covered, so just bring your appetite!!" She texted back that she was glad to know that because she is so busy with xyz and didn't really have the time anyway, etc etc. On the day, she did show up with cookies, but that was actually great because they are easy enough to store, and certainly didn't overlap anything, and even though we had a lot of desserts, a cookie or two is always welcome. A different guest called me on their way up and told me they would be driving past an open grocery store, so just let them know if there was anything I needed last minute. I thought that was really nice, and as it turned out I did need a lemon and it was nice not to have to run out (plus our local grocers were not open at all on that day). We drove up last Tuesday night, and opened the door to a stench. DH had stored bait in the basement freezer, and the landscapers working on the stone patio for the pool popped a circuit breaker and the fridge was off, for several weeks. Thank goodness we aired things out and it was all fine ... or we would have had a plein air Thanksgiving. Which might have been possible as it was so mild, and hit 60 iirc on friday! Last year we had snow, which i prefer. I brined turkey breasts this year, a first for me. I was surprised at how easy and effective it was. I brined them only three hours in 4qts of water, 1/2 c salt and 1/4 c brown sugar, each. Then airdry in the fridge overnight. Stuffed 4T seasoned butter under the skin of each one, then cooked it 425 for 30 min and 325 for 1hr (each breast was about 7lb). Perfect, except as Rococo mentions the pan drippings are salt water. Good thing I made gravy in advance with turkey parts. I did almost all of my cooking Wednesday, with everyone helping, so the day of the holiday was pretty easy. I was so glad to have two dishwashers, because we also had a full house (and then some) sleeping over, so you really want a clean kitchen in the morning. So you can dirty it all over again! This was only my second time hosting a ThxG meal for a large group at the beachouse, and only the third time hosting ever. Growing up, our family lived far away and ThxG was usually immediate family for dinner, and a then a sort of openhouse dessert party with neighbors and their guests --- that was fun. As an adult, I used to go back to my Mom's house, then my sister's or brother's. Once i had it at my house, but it was inconvenient for everyone else; they are all in the same town. By the time we had our own kids, we started the tradition of going to our lakehouse for the holiday (which is far for any of our relatives) and it just being the five of us. Ski season always started the next day and that was part of the tradition; skiing the day after. I do miss that about having the lakehouse; really nowhere to ski near our beachhouse. Anyway, it all went very smoothly and the biggest controversy was over board games, which we all play to the death!