Sorry, Karen, but history states otherwise. A precedent was set in 1942 by the Supreme Court in the case of Wickard v Filburn. When the US was experiencing the depression in full swing, the gov't subsidized wheat. Farmers had to stay within restrictions on what was grown to avoid flooding the markets. When Filburn grew excess wheat for home consumption, the SCOTUS decided he was in the wrong because that is wheat that he would have had to buy commercially. They essentially ruled that because he didn't buy it, he was hurting the economy. They recognized his one man contribution would not do harm, but if they allowed all farmers to do that it could cripple the economy again. The "Commerce Clause" was never intended for that purpose, but since it was so broad and unspecific it could be interpreted by judges anyway they see fit. The court stated that home grown wheat directly competes with wheat in commerce and used the Commerce Clause to exert power of the home use of that man's family crop. So, when you start putting bills in place like the broad and vague one here, you risk someone telling you that your homegrown veges are a risk because they aren't inspected and monitored or you aren't registered as a "food establishment". Example: Define food establishment. According to the bill it's anyone producing, processing, OR distributing food. In other words, distribution is not necessary to qualify. That means private use, too. That is a lot more specific than you would have people believe and the SCOTUS made a ruling on less specific grounds before. Of course, Monsanto backs this bill and in reality probably wrote it considering it was introduced by the congresswoman married to a Monsanto employee. I mean, come on. How convenient is that? To assume there is no commercial agenda involved which would create a strategic control for Monsanto would be naive.

Maureen, "I wish I'd seen your doctor when I had my tick bite. I am always heartened to hear of prudent reluctance when it comes to the dispensing of antibiotics." I was very glad to get the 200mg dose of doxycycline in response to my tick bite, which was an engorged female deer tick that had obviously been attached for some time, based on the inflamed nature of the bite area. I was afraid the doxycycline might be too late. I hope to repeat that preventive treatment for any high-risk deer tick bite. Incidentally, apparently I "dodged the bullet" on that one, because the bite site remains clear of any secondary reddening. My tick was an exact match for an actual-sized picture of an engorged female deer tick on the Maine Tick Identification Card. We actually placed the tick on a printout of the picture, and the match was uncanny. Then I called my doctor. "I ended up in the Emergency room, after a botched attempt to remove the little bugger (tick removal + one mega dose of doxycycline runs about $180.00--if anyone cares to know)." You had an unusually bad and expensive experience. My 200mg dose of doxycycline cost me just $1.75 at Wal-Mart. My phone consult with my doctor cost me nothing and they faxed the prescription to Wal-Mart. So we drove straight to Wal-Mart. I took my dose right at Wal-Mart as soon as I got possession of it. We had removed the tick with tweezers ourselves and put it in a bottle for identification. It's OK to gently pull the tick for several minutes, if necessary, to give it time to voluntarily release its mouth parts. Just make sure the tweezers gently grip the head or thorax area of the tick in front of the abdomen. You don't want to hurt the tick. And you don't want to squeeze the tick's abdomen, because that would be just using the tick as a syringe to inject its body contents into you. If I get any more deer tick bites I plan to repeat the single doxycycline preventative dose. A study has shown it is effective in a high percentage of cases in preventing a Lyme infection. When it comes to Lyme, prevention is definitely better than cure. And you take a lot less doxycycline in the long run. MM

Uh oh - I'm relating to everything on this thread - both kitchen and bathroom related. I went into a very nice bathroom in a restaurant recently and was able to ID the faucet. (Also greatly admired the tile!) I absolutely pause the TiVo when we come to certain kitchen scenes (and in one case, a gorgeous blue paint). Before I started my kitchen remodel, I hit all the open houses in my neighborhood to see what other people - both remodelers and builders - were doing. (One "luxury condo" made me laugh because the finishes were so poorly done!) Now that I'm redecorating my living room, I keep pausing the TV to check out certain decorating details - lamps, chairs. I spotted a leather storage ottoman I'm considering in one show - cool. And a style of lamp that I decided was too trendy. I'm still insanely in love with a table lamp from Meryl Streep's living room in "It's Complicated", but I haven't been able to figure out who the manufacturer is. You can be TKO in rooms besides the kitchen. :-) (When I started this whole process, I told my friends I didn't care what it ended up looking like so long as it was "nice". They didn't believe me. Ha.)

I loved Julia's kitchen when I visited as well, and I think it holds some important design elements that are worth thinking about for other kitchens being designed. It also has some issues that probably irked her and made life a bit more difficult, but were a compromise with so many doorways and such a smallish space. 10 Design Tips to Steal From Julia Child 1. Bottom freezer refrigerator (which you can barely see in the corner of the last pic) This keeps the food that you use the most at the easiest height to get to. The table serves as landing space when "shopping" in the fridge from a meal, so you really don't need space next to a fridge if you have an island/table across from it. 2. Stainless steel countertop with integrated sink in the wet area. It's totally waterproof, inert chemically, and can take having 20 pound turkeys plopped in to rinse. 3. Butcherblock countertops used elsewhere. And I do mean used! These weren't pretty pretty wood counters that she obsessed over. They were functional equpment to that kitchen. 4. Drawer bases as the primary lower counter storage. We've discussed it on this forum many times, but drawer bases work better than pull outs because of the single more efficient movement to pull them out rather than opening doors and then pulling out. 5. Open shelf storage for items you use the most. If you cook a lot, then keeping the items you need in the right spot and out in the open will save you a lot of time. Yes, it can lead to a bit of a cluttered look, but if you really do use everything, it won't have much time on the shelf to accumulate dust. 6. Pegboard organizer rack for small utensils etc. Lowes has fake stainless pegboard for someone who want's a more industrial look, but once again, having the stuff you use easy to access is priceless during a big cookfest. Ikea and others have a stainless rail system for your backsplash that can also work without being so visually "busy" as pegboard. 7. Professional quality appliances DO make sense in the home of someone who cooks. That Garland range is a beast when compared to the Blue Star ranges that inherit the technology but insulate and prettify a bit for the home market. But, you can't get restaurant quality results involving high heat without a range capable of producing high heat. If I recall, the DW was a Hobart as well. Good quality well made appliances make a cook's life easier! 8. Ventilation matters! That honking huge restaurant vent hood was the only thing available in her time to handle the heat and smoke produced by that range. Size your ventilation needs according to your range power and USE that hood! 9. Easy clean flooring. That linoleum will take a beating, and be easy to clean up a dozen spilled eggs. Whatever you choose for your flooring, remember that a kitchen is a workroom first and will most likely see spilled eggs, pancake batter, doggy throwup and piddle, and other items needing cleaning and sterilization. 10. Color is GOOD! Julia painted her cabinets various colors over her lifetime in that kitchen, but those good quality bones were kept and freshened up with that beautiful teal blue/green. Not a color most would choose nowadays, with everyone obsessing over the perfect white, but it's lovely and very individual. 11. Yes, I said 10, but #11 needs to be noted too. Don't be afraid to individualize your kitchen to your taste and specific needs. Don't let the bugaboo of "resale value" make you pick choices that aren't you and that you aren't happy to see every morning with your cup of coffee. Julia's kitchen is definately Julia's kitchen, and besides the obvious functionality, what everyone loves about it is it's personality!