LOL! I was wondering where all the banana skins came from, too! As for the pesticides. I just read an article (although I cannot remember where) that lists banana peels and some other vegetables and fruits in a list of the top 12 items (I think it was 12?) that have the most pesticides in them. The reason I remember is I had just eaten bananas with the kids and asked them all for the peels so I could put it in the compost pile. Now, as you can see, I am a bit concerned about putting any more out there. How do you get pesticides out of the soil (after it is composted)? Will just watering it work? And, after composting, is there any pesticides left? Does anyone know about this? ~Angela

I also rent when entertaining a group larger than about a dozen. It's easy, inexpensive, & I don't risk breakage of my own china. The rental stuff can all be run through the dishwasher & all of my china/stemware/sterling is hand washed. That alone is enough to make my decision. We once had an "Up To Your A** In Alligators" costume party. It was difficult times at my DH's place of employment & he wanted to loosen everybody up & get some fun/laughter going. We had nearly 200 people. My highschool age son & several of his friends were valets parking cars as far away as half a mile. The kids also helped with the clean-up & the house was good as new by 5:00 a.m. when we all fell into bed exhausted but still laughing from the funny costumes. For that party, I rented 600 stemmed glasses because people always use more than one & I didn't want to be washing during the party. Good thing too because we only had about 50 clean glasses after the last person left! There was a large amount of food so I rented 800 plates & ran out...had to run a couple loads through the dishwasher during the evening. If it hadn't been for my son & his friends I never could have managed a crowd of that size alone. They kept the food flowing, dishes stacked, dirty stuff cleared, organized all of the coats, purses, etc., & handled their valet duties. Oh, they also kept the music going from our jukebox. With the size crowd you're expecting, I'd try to line up some help. Fifty people is a large group even arriving at different times as is the case with an Open House. I know I couldn't be a good hostess & still attend to kitchen duties for that size group without help. Have fun! /tricia

lovncountrylife, this post just showed up on my computer today! (August 24). Weird. Anyway, I like to break up china using wheeled nippers (Leponitt brand). You have a lot more control over the position of the break. Sometimes there are patterns around the rim of a plate that I want to keep in one piece. When I tumble china I don't use any grit; just water and a drop of dishwashing liquid. It only takes a short time to smooth the edges and sharp corners, maybe 30 minutes or less? I've never used a cement mixer but it may be a possibility.

Avatarwait literally summed up my life right now! Tartanmeup, I don't prep right on the counter. As avatarwait and chispa stated, it's just all the ""stray crumbs". To say that I took wiping down countertops for granted is an understatement. We cringed when they told us how recently they'd done it because I'd much rather formica or laminate over this "stone" as Pam, greendesigns and Debbi mentioned. I honestly couldn't fathom how this could have been an upgrade or worth the cost. I agree with vpierce that glass might not be ideal. I think the butcher's block idea as Pam, chispa and SirJohn suggested would be a good solution for the island since that's where I do all my prep anyway. I keep a large one around when I prep dinner just to try and contain the chaos. The rest of the counters will just have to wait until we redo the kitchen. I would just hate to waste all that a year or two from now. We've just been replacing major appliances, replaced the roof, got solar panels and we are in the process of redoing the deck... so while I spend so much time in there, I just haven't had the ability to give the kitchen any thought. I almost wish there had been no countertops so it'd be higher on our priorities list but that would have definitely limited budget in the long run... Thank you all so much!