Now that we have two Carols, I will say I am not the one making jelly. It has probably been 20 years since I made jelly and since we probably use 4 jars a year, I'm not likely to become a big jelly maker. I was, however, intrigued with the pepper jelly being made after Dawn said how good it was spread over cream cheese. Now I might like to spread that on something, so I will probably try growing a few habanaros next year and give that a shot. I have to jump in on the pie crust issue though. Mine may not be the "most perfect" piecrust in the world but it is very good and oh, so easy. I call the flour measurement (scant) because I probably use about a tablespoon less than the measurement. This will make a regular size double crust pie or two one crust pies if using those disposable pie pans. 2 cups (scant) all purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup cooking oil 1/4 cup buttermilk Mix the dry ingredients together then mix in the wet ones. This is soft crust and you can stir it with a spoon. When you have a big ball, put half between two sheets of waxed paper and roll it out. Lift the top sheet of paper to release it from the paper, then put it back on loosely. Lift the entire crust with both sheets still attached and turn it over on the counter. Your can pick it up by the back and it doesn't fall off (on this turn). Now release the second sheet the same way except DON'T put it back on. Now this is the hardest part. Put the pie plate close to you and lift the pie crust and paper together. You need to put your hands 2/3 of the way back on the crust (and bottom paper) and let the back 1/3 fall over the back of your hands and the 2/3 in front of you hands. It will still be attached to the paper, but only lightly, so put it onto the pan, paper side up and slowly release the paper from the crust after you have it all placed in the pan. If you get a hole in it, no problem, just patch. Make the edges pretty and it is ready to bake or use depending on the pie. One bowl, one spoon and the rolling pen never touched the dough. It is also oil which I feel is safer than shortening. I know, I know, it sounds too easy. I have been doing it this way for around 15 years and have not once made a different pie crust, except for fried pies and one dutch oven class. I sent pies to Uniroyal with my DH once and five people asked for the recipe. I carefully made five typed copies and sent back with him the next day. He said they had it at the copy machine making more copies last time he saw it. LOL I never, ever, use sugar in the crust, but for a two crust pie I mix a little cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle over the top crust just before it goes into the oven because it makes it pretty. When I make fried pies I use a recipe with an egg in it because I want the crust to be tough enough so the filling doesn't come out during cooking. I assume that was the reason for making that other crust recipe in the dutch oven because they wanted to be able to let it cool and lift the entire pie out using the parchment strips underneath the crust. Don't laugh until you try it. I will be very surprised if you don't like it.

I just ran a rinse & spin cycle on this load that completed a "Normal" cycle. Large load, used "large load" portion of HE Tide liquid once again. No problem with sudsing. And no slippery feel to the water during the rinse & spin cycle. I may have given wrong info regarding the suds I had. I'd say the light sudsing was at the very lower portion of the door's window. Nothing to worry about IMHO. As you all know, it was my first couple of uses with a FL. I done three loads of towels (need to catch up with the laundry due to our old washer leaking), so I decided to use a large load dosage of HE Tide, just as is directed by the Tide label. Now I know the detergent manufacturers want you to use more than is necessary, because then you'd need to buy more. Since I'm experimenting here with this new FL, my first FL, I wanted to be sure that "IF" my wife or someone else that may use my washer, decides to use a "Full Load" portion of HE Tide with a full load of clothes, what would be the outcome? I would rather experiment myself than to have someone else do it. So, what I found out was a full load portion of HE Tide in a full load of towels, WILL NOT cause the SUDS signal to come on, nor look like over sudsing is occurring. And the rinse looks and feels to have rinsed out the detergent. I will likely use a less dose of detergent from now on. But I really needed to know, "how much detergent is too much?". I know that we have hard water, so that is probably the reason why over sudsing hasn't occurred with my first few washes with the amount of liquid HE Tide that I used. So far the WFW9400S is performing quite well and I'm pleased.

re wallpaper: get the scrubbable stuff. It lasted us for 30+ years, very well. It is a pain to fit it into irregular places, though, so either get a very patient installer OR use a no-match design. Despite my interest in wallpaper, I would also second the idea of using paint and stencils or paint effects. This allows you to do creative things on the cheap. Speaking of creative, punamytsike you are a wonder! What a great result. I bet visitors say that's the most remembered thing in your whole house. There is a thread I had started last spring when I was bummed looking at high-end projects on the GW Kitchens forum. Surely there was someone with a different drummer or two--I was right and some of them made great posts and gave great ideas. You might want to look at it to get some ideas on an affordable scale. For example, here's a paint backsplash from that thread: ____ Here's an idea for you: How about a wooden moulding to use as a finish at the place where wall meets countertop, a backsplash-like camouflage for the irregular area, essentially a heavily-urethaned (for durability) dark-stained horizontal line to match your cabs? It could be elaborate 3-inch or so fancy moulding or simple as quarter-round trim available at any hardware store or HD. This would carry the dark of your cupboards upward and coordinate the two sides of the room and the uppers and lower sections, not cut up the spaces. You could also run a dark wood frame of moulding around the tiled area behind range to finish off that area. Comparatively affordable, very reversible, very DIY. I also prescribe framed art in matching dark stained frames to coordinate everything. Here is a link that might be useful: Modest and Quirky thread

well, clearly people feel very free to be critical and hurtful to make themselves feel superior. Having gotten that off my chest--I would put 3 good sized, rustic wood, staggered height candle holders (Pottery Barn or Pier one) on the right side of the TV console and maybe a pretty simple live plant on the left--ivy or something not too tall- nothing under the TV. I would keep accessories to a minimum--use a few properly scaled things - they make a better statement. Too many small things seem busy.