Over on the Organic Rose Growing forum I believe they say a light vegetable oil can be substituted. You might want to do a search there in case I forgot some caveat or another, though. I made Cornell formula for my roses using grapeseed oil from my kitchen and it went fine. You're aware that oil can cause serious "burn" on hot sunny days, though, right? Kristin

I've posted this one many times before but it sticks in my memory because it was offered at a dinner party by a very busy lady, head of a university department, who came home after work to prepare this dish for her guests. We were all so impressed that she managed to make something tasting so good without working at it all day. She had made mimeographed copies of the recipe beforehand as she said everyone asked for it when she served this dish. This was before the days of photocopiers ! LOL. This was a simple but prize winning recipe in a cross country cooking contest sponsored by a Canadian womens' magazine in the 1960s. Tastes better if made one day ahead. 1 kilo of veal shoulder steak, cut into small bite-size pieces 2 medium onions, sliced 1 cup water 1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 teasp salt 1/2 teasp pepper 1 1/2 cups cashews (rinse if they are salted) 2 TBS butter Worcestershire sauce 1). Grind garlic, salt and pepper together in mortar and pestle. 2). Roll veal pieces in this mixture in the mortar and then on a clean plate, being sure pieces are well coated. 3). Brown veal in butter in a saucepan. When brown, add onions, water, tomato sauce and cashews. 4). Simmer slowly until meat and nuts are both tender. About 40 minutes. It may need a bit of water added. 5). Thicken with a bit of flour and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce. 6). Best served the next day. Goes well with rice and a crisp green salad. SharonCb

I like sugar or honey in some of my vinaigrette (I checked the spelling on this one!). It depends on what I am putting it over or with as much as it does what I feel like at different times. My favorite vinaigrettes are ones that use various different vinegars too, but I think the oil can be the star too. I like Walnut Oil very much. And, I like to mix oils. I will mix a rich fruity olive oil with a basic vegetable oil to get the flavor but not overpower my greens or whatever foods I am using the vinaigrette. I have always thought that the basic portions for oil and vinegar was 2/3 oil and 1/3 vinegar. But, I will do whatever tastes best to me and sometimes that is the right mix and sometimes I will do a half and half. I also like to mix mustards in my vinaigrettes. I like to add various herbs too. One of the best vinaigrettes I made was for a salad that had greens and fruit with nuts in it. I got wild and added feta cheese, buckwheat honey, and orange zest. It was wowzer for flavor! I have added cilantro, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, lots and lots of sweet basil, (not all together, separate usually), and even added a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon with walnut oil and rice wine vinegar over a salad that had baby greens and tiny cream cheese/goat cheese balls in it. My neighbor takes an envelope of Hidden Valley and does an oil and vinegar dressing with it and tosses in lots of chopped raw vegetables and everyone gobbles it up at our block party pot-lucks. It is really, really good! I guess the trick is to know what you like and to maybe start with the rule of thumb that says, 1/3 volume of vinegar and 2/3 volume of oil.. whether that is in cups, teaspoons, or shot glasses as measuring tools!

Tuna Causa Potato base: 3 large potatoes 1/3 cup olive oil ají amarillo powder salt and white pepper Boil, peel, and mash the potatoes. Add the olive oil a bit at a time, to taste and until it has a nice smooth consistency. Season with salt, pepper, and the ají amarillo to taste - you could also use chopped or pureed fresh peppers - this is a mild yellow pepper (spicier than a bell pepper, but mild). Form it into the base of your presentation on a platter and chill in the refrigerator for ½-1 hour just to firm it up a bit. This dish is generally served cold or room temperature, though IÂve seen hot causas on a few menus. Tuna layer: 3 cans of tuna (I like to use the water packed) 1 small red onion, chopped mayonnaise salt and white pepper This is pretty much just a simple tuna salad. Mash the tuna, add the onions, and enough mayonnaise just to make it moist and hold together. Season to taste. Assembly: Potato base Tuna salad 1 tomato, seeded and diced 1 avocado, peeled and sliced 1 rocoto or other medium hot pepper 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced chopped black olives chopped parsley juice of 1 lemon You should have a nice, firm mashed potato base to build on. Layer the tuna salad on top of it. Top with chopped tomato and parsley. Lay a layer of avocado slices on top of that, sprinkle or brush with the lemon juice so they maintain their color. Then the hard boiled egg slices (you can hard boil your eggs along with your potatoes above, just donÂt leave them in the water the entire time) and the pepper rings. Scatter the chopped olives over the top of it. Set it on the table, ooh and ahh a little, dig in.