Back in the day, my favorite commercially bottled salad dressing was Catalina. But they reformulated it to be sweeter (and full of HFCS, but it was the extra sweetness that turned me off) in the 1990s or maybe it was the late 1980s. Right now, it is Annie's Balsamic Vinaigrette. Tart, creamy, not too sweet. No ingredient crud. I intensely dislike sweet salad dressings. When I want sugar, I'll have a dessert. If I want my salad with some level of sweetness, I'll add actual fruit into the salad itself. For a regular vinaigrette, home-made: Juice of 1/2 lemon Add rice vinegar to make 50 mL / 1.7 fluid ounces total volume atop the lemon juice (I used one of those Ball half-pint canning jars, and just added everything directly to that. The metric side of the scale on the jar was more convenient to me.) 1.5 teaspoon Dijon mustard 75 mL / 2.5 fluid ounces of oil. I recommend a 1:1 mixture (approximately 37.5 L/1.25 ounces of each) extra virgin olive oil to avocado oil. See below, and no, I don’t expect this to be measured out Exactly! Two teaspoons Penzy’s Herbes de Provence dried herbal concoction. 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper (approximate) I put it in that Ball canning jar, cap, and shake the devil out of it.

I make them like canarybird does in olive oil and butter, but I prefer stale French or Italian bread, crusts and all, cut into cubes. I find they don't keep well, so I season each batch according to what they'll adorn: garlic salt for split pea soup; Old Bay for fish soups; seasoned salt for salads, etc. For turkey stuffing, I season them dry and bake them in a single layer till they are crispy. These do keep well in paper bags. Sherry

Tomato Cucumber Gazpacho sounds soo good.(:-) That would just be a great lunch, wouldn't it? Yum Light, refreshing. Reminds me of something to eat on a warm day.(:-) That is surely a keeper. Well, here is mine for today. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes and for sharing. Fruit Pizza \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Crust Vegetable oil for misting the pizza pans. Parchment or wax paper for the pans Flour for dusting the parchment or waxed paper 1 package(18.25 ounces)plain yellow cake mix 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup light brown sugar 4 Tablespoons(1/2 stick) butter, melted. 2 large eggs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topping: l container (16 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed. 2 cups fresh, sliced strawberries 2 cups thinly sliced bananas l cup sliced kiwi l cup seedless grapes, halved Glaze 1/2 cup apricot preserves 2 Tablespoons water. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly mist two 12 to 14 inch pizza pans or one 16 1/2" by ll 1/2" by l" jelly roll pan with vegetable oil spray. Line pans with parchment or wax paper. Lightly mist the paper with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake off excess flour. (hold onto the edges of the paper and shake off excess) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ For the crust, place the cake mix, water, brown sugar, butter and eggs in a mixing bowl and mix together until well mixed. Be sure to scrape down sides then mix a minute or two on low speed. Dough will be stiff and sticky. With a rubber spatula, spread the dough onto the bottom and side of pizza or jelly roll pan. Pop it into the oven and bake for approximately 18 to 24 minutes. Depending on your oven. Do not over bake these!:) Cool these for at least 2 hour or longer. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ For the topping spread, spread the cooled pizza crust with the whipped topping and arrange the sliced fruit over top in concentric circles. Put the apricot preserves and water in a small sauce pan and over low heat, stir until mixture come to boil. Take off heat immediately. Strain the solids out of this mixture(solids from the apricot preserves) Cool it is no longer hot or warm. Brush the apricot glaze over the fruit. Put the pizzas in the fridge and chill uncovered until serving time, at least l hour. You can store these in plastic wrap for up to 4 days. (:\-) If you have guest over for breakfast, try this recipe if you are so inclined.(;\-) I have used it and have gotten compliments. I think it is really good, but also different from your normal breakfast food.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. I have been soooo busy. Last Saturday, Oct 29 my daughter got married. Needless to say last week was very busy. Then the day of the wedding we had terrible winds and cold weather that the tents blew over and we had to move the wedding to my house. The wedding party jumped into gear and turned a large boat garage into a beautiful reception hall. They got married under the oak tree in my grandmother's back yard. Very happy couple that danced until midnight. So back online and I have received beautiful blocks from these people: Jeanne Cindy Marsha Kate Kay Susan Theresa Patty Linda Hopefully the other three are in the mail. Thank you girls. Plan to lay out the ones I received this weekend and post a pic of them. Darlene