I have a problem with Bladder Infection too. When I am getting a cold I know it right away because water has a horrible taste to me. MY daughter is the same way. I have found out that if I eat too much chocolate I get it sometimes. Another home cures that I know about is cornsilk tea. You can buy the cornsilk at health food stores. I remember going into someones cornfield to get some silks one time when I had it so bad. I drink mine unsweetened though. I think just the slice of lemon in the water might work though. I just said to my boss how I hate the taste of water when I'm sick and she suggested that. I do drink it sometimes but I never even thought of doing it. Usually after I have a cold I end up with BI because I dont drink enough water

You don't have the book any more, Westelle? I found the recipe at Recipelink: Swiss Black Forest Cake (From the Cake Bible) Brandied Burgundy Cherries Make 1 pint **Brandied cherries are flavorful after only 12 hours but the longer they stand, the more mellow they become. Ingredients: 1 lb. (454g) Pitted bing cherries in heavy syrup 1 oz. Sugar 2 oz. Kirsch or Cognac or cherry-flavored brandy In a colander suspended over a deep bowl drain the cherries for 30 min. Reserve cup syrup. There will be about 1 ½ cups cherries. In a medium saucepan combine the syrup and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the cherries and simmer, covered, 1 min. Remove from the heat. Transfer the cherries with a slotted spoon to a pint jar and add the kirsch or Cognac to the jar. Boil the syrup until reduced to ¼ cup and pour over the cherries. Cover tightly and swirl to mix. If planning to store longer than 3 months, add enough liqueur to reach almost to the top of the jar. Cool, cover tightly, and refrigerate. Moist Chocolate Genoise one 9-inch springform pan or cake tin (must be straight on the sides), greased, bottom lined with parchment and then greased again and floured. Ingredients: 4 oz. Bittersweet chocolate 4.125 oz(1/2 liquid cup) boiling water 4 large eggs (7 oz. Weight without shells) 3.5 oz. Sugar (regular white sugar is fine.) 2.625oz (75g/3/4 cup) sifted cake flour Preheat the oven to 350F. Ina heavy saucepan bring the chocolate and water to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the chocolate thickens to a pudding like consistency. (It will fall from the spoon and pool slightly before disappearing.) Cool completely. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with the whisk beater on high speed for 5 min or until triple in volume. ( a hand beater may be used but it will be necessary to beat for least 10 min.) Sift ½ the flour over t he egg mixture and fold it in gently but rapidly with a slotted skimmer or a large rubber spatula until dome of the flour has disappeared. Repeat with the remaining flour until all flour has disappeared. Fold in the chocolate mixture until incorporated. Pour immediately into the prepared pan. (It should be about 2/3 full) and bake 30 to 35 min or until a tester inserted in the center as easily as it does when inserted closer to the sides. The cake rises to the top of the pan during baking and will lower slightly when done, pulling slightly away from the sides. Avoid opening the oven door before the min. time or the cakes could fall. Loosen the sides often cake with a small metal spatula and unmold at once onto lightly greased rack. Reinvert to cool. The firm upper crust prevents falling. Trim the top and bottom crust removed (very important or else it will form "crusts" in between the cream after itÂs soaked in the syrup) and split in half horizontally to make (2) ½ " layers. Super-stabilized whipped cream, make 6 cups 3 t. powdered gelatin 4 T. water 24 oz. (3 liquid cup) heavy cream 1.5 oz caster (superfine) sugar 1.5 t. vanilla Refrigerate the mixing bowl and beater for at least 15 min. In a small heatproof measuring cup place gelatin and water. Allow to soften for 5 min. Set cup in a pan of simmering water and stir occasionally until gelatin is dissolved. (This can also be done in a microwave on high power, stirring once or twice.) Remove cup and cool to room temperature (about 7 minutes). Gelatin must be liquid but not warm when added to cream. In the chilled bowl beat the cream and sugar just until traces of beater marks begin to show distinctly. Add the gelatin mixture in a steady stream, beating constantly. Add vanilla and beat just until stiff peaks form when beater is raised. Do not over beat the cream. ½ cup chocolate snowflakes: The chocolate needs to be as hard as possible to make thin flakes, so donÂt leave it in a warm kitchen. A large piece of chocolate is easiest to work with, but a flat bar will also work. Use a melon-baller (or a veggie peeler) to scrape the chocolate, making short, light strokes that do not cut too deeply into the chocolate. Allow the flakes to fall onto a small cool baking sheet. Place the sheet inside a large plastic bag and shake the flakes into the bag. Avoid touching them because they melt very easily. Store refrigerated or at cool room temperature. Use a large spoon to lift chocolate flakes onto the cake. Assembling the cake: Use a 9 inch springform pan fitted with cardboard round to a depth of 2 ½". (for really smooth finish on the sides, you will need a "French flan ring".) Add the kirsch or brandy to the reserved cherry syrup to make ½ cup. Sprinkle each side of the cake layers with 2 T. syrup. Reserve 12 whole cherries for decor and cut the remaining cherries in half if they are large. Reserve 2 ¼ cups whipped cream for the top of the cake and the rosettes. (This may be refrigerated for up to 6 hours.) Place 1 cake layer in the bottom of the pan and top with the remaining whipped cream. Poke the cherries into the whipped cream, pressing some of the cut sides against the pan. Use a small angled spatula to level the cream and top with the second cake layer. Spread with 1 cup of the reserved whipped cream. Use a long metal spatula to create a smooth top, allowing the blade to rest on the sides of the ring to create a very even surface. Use the rest of the cream to pipe rosettes, about 8 - 12, depends on the size of your decorating tube. I use a size 6 (1/2in) and make about 10. Leave the cake in an airtight cake container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Wipe the sides of the ring with a warm, damp towel and lift way the ring or remove the sides of the pan. Use the remaining whipped cream to decorate the top with rosettes sing a large number 6 star tube. Top the rosettes with the reserved whole cherries. Spoon the chocolate snowflakes in the center. MSG URL: http://www.recipelink.com/msgid/033253

Red Bean, Sausage and Pasta Soup 1 Tbsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/8 cup minced red bell pepper 1/2 tsp seeded & minced jalapeno(can omit) 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped celery & add some minced leaves 1 cup julienned carrots 12 oz turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise & sliced (or chicken Italian sausage) 8 cups low sodium chicken broth 3-4 Tbsps tomato paste 3 small plum tomatoes, seeded & chopped (can omit) Seasonings: (these are my favorites)* Turkish Seasoning (Penzey's) Pasta Sprinkle (Penzey's) Frankenmuth Chicken Seasoning Celery Salt Celery Seed Garlic powder Beau Monde Dried marjoram & rosemary 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 3 Tbsps chopped parsley Salt and pepper to taste 1/3 box of uncooked pasta (penne works well) In a large heavy pot, heat olive oil on medium and saute garlic, jalapeno, onion, celery and carrots for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Add sausage and saute 5 minutes longer or until it starts to brown. Add the broth, tomato paste & seasonings and simmer a few minutes. Add beans. Bring liquid to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add pasta and simmer on low for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente (keep an eye on it--it needs to be al dente). Stir in the parsley and cook for another minute or two. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving. Makes 4 to 6 servings. My note: this is very good; don't use too much pasta since it gets soggy if not eaten right away (it seems to multiply as a leftover!). *Use the seasonings you like for this type of soup (you could sub Seasonal for the Frankenmuth Chicken Seasoning; garlic powder instead of garlic cloves, etc). I like to cook the soup longer and really like Hillshire Farms turkey kielbasa (has lots of flavor). adapted from JerseyGirlCooks blog recipe

Just got the spam...from Sweden. The names were "Lotta" (wife) and "Lars" (husband/researcher). Hmmm...sounds like "lotta liars" to me! Anyway, I am not overweight at all, but do live healthy. The last 13 weeks I was on the "Body for Life" program by EAS...consisting of Myoplex shakes (protein), healthy meals (6 small meals a day), 100+ oz. water a day and exercise. Surprisingly, I lost 10lbs! (went from 112 lbs to 102) I really didn't think I could/needed to lose any weight, but I did. Some people think the 2-3 shakes I had a day was weird, but it provided my body with the nutrients and protein it needed to build/maintain muscle and keep my body from eating the muscle it was trying to build. Before I started this program, I would come in to work and not even eat until 1pm. Some people think that skipping meals will help lose weight...it might not add any extra fat or sugar to your diet, but not eating anything is often worse than eating. Your body will eat away at your muscle and your metabolism will go into starvation mode and hold onto all fat you put into it...thinking it might need it to survive later on. Because of that, I would NOT recommend only eating 3 bananas a day (see some peoples emails above), or 3 of only one anything a day. Perhaps this bread does offer the nutrients your body needs to maintain itself, which is much better than starving it. It would be a great thing to have in the morning rather than skipping breakfast. But I would not make up a diet solely of bread. Also, the person who said "Wheat is very bad for somebody trying to lose weight...even ONE cracker made with wheat can stop weight loss in its tracks" is RIDICULOUS! Maybe if you are sitting on your butt hoping that not eating a few things will be the miracle to help you lose 10 lbs...but in reality, wheat bread, crackers, ect. have more protein, fiber, and nutrients than those without. Your muscles crave protein and nutrients and once you activate and build muscle, you will burn a TON more fat/calories than by just altering your diet a bit. I'm not saying become a musclehead (I am not one at all), I am just saying that wheat is very healthy AND will help you burn fat...lose weight. It's kinda like those people who think if you drink 120 oz. of water in a day you will be retaining a lot of water, but in actuality, if you try this, you will feel much thinner at then end of the day...your shoes won't feel so tight and your wedding ring might even spin around your finger. Try it sometime...ps, the more you do it the less you have to run to the bathroom, your body gets use to it. And finally, why would you think the only recipe that makes sense is the flour, salt & water only one. 2,000 years isn't THAT long ago. Remember the Bible stories and the last supper picture (no, I am NOT a Bible thumper, just making an observation). They had bread back then...and it isn't suprising that they learned to add nuts, dates, raisins, or spices to bread. ...