If a dog eats a lot of fats he will get fat and may have heart disease. Seriously dogs do get the same problems people get. You can actually put it the green bin to take away to the city compost dump, which is a big dump and all foods are ok in it, they say. That keeps it out of land fills. But, if it is large amounts of used cooking oil it can go to whole foods for recycling into bio diesel. But, I did stop composting chickens and turkeys because it made my dog too obessed with the compost. He was trying to eat my pile when I took it out of the bin for turning. He had to be locked in the house and barked the whole time. I used to have a dog who would eat young compost and then throw up yellow bile. It was a problem, I had to age my compost longer and I was not even composting chickens back then. I also had one who would never touch compost ever. He was a good dog for me. Dogs vary on their levels of compost consuming.

Another garter snake was saved by the canola oil method. Anyway, I opened the garage door this morning and there was a garter snake in a sticky strap. The trap is normally tucked in a 1" deep depression in the corner of the garage. The snake (and trap) were in the middle of the garage when I found it. This snake was a bit bigger than the first one although maybe it was the first one with a monthÂs more growth on it! If it is the original, then itÂs learned not to go to the right corner because it got caught in the trap on the left this time. IÂm sorry the little buggers get caught but IÂm quite willing to do the canola trick to free them. IÂm not inclined to remove the traps. I do not relish the thought of opening a garage cabinet and staring into the face of a snake, even though I am much bigger. Besides, it would be expensive - I would jump back in fright, fall over the weed bucket, hit my head on the concrete, sustain a concussion, and have to make a $50 co-payment at the emergency room! June

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 have one cast iron kettle that I use as a deep fryer, trsinc. I use shortening in that one (Crisco, that is) and it works out just fine. It keeps through many uses before needing to be replaced. For non-deep frying the way Bumblebeez does, I've usually used peanut oil. Lately I've been using the Palm Oil shortening for those applications. But long term that can get expensive (cost me almost 7 bucks for a 24-oz tub). Once I use up what I have I will most likely not replace it. I'm surprised you can't find peanut oil. It's one of the commonest. Most supermarkets carry it. Is there a Walmart or Kroger near you? I know you can get it there. Barring that, however, you can use corn oil (the #1 oil sold in America). Until Canola started making inroads, corn oil was the most likely vegetable oil on grocery shelves. If you're eliminating the use of Canola, do not buy any of the ones that say "mixed oils" or "blended vegetable oils" or something like that without first reading the label. Most of those blends are Canola and something.