Terryr, why are you saying it? Obviously, you don't know anything about opossums. I'm sure they were dead. There is no way an opossum will "play dead" for 24 hours. A 6" baby wouldn't even know how to play dead. They don't know who or what to be afraid of. I have seen many adult opossums playing dead after they had been confronted by my dog. They will come back to life within hour and even in the presence of a human (but not a dog!!!) . Chilled babies can look dead, but you can bring them back to life if you place them in warm water,with the head up (if it's not to late and they are still alive). After 24 hours the body will become "stiff" and a little hard if it's dead. If it's soft and floppy, it could be alive. Also, a dead animal will be cold to the touch. Less than a 7" baby should be with it's mother. Without the mother they will die quickly from dehydration and from exposure (even in warm weather - they can't control there body heat at this point.) Mother-opossum's will not return for lost babies, even if she is alive. So leaving 6" babies where they were would not be a good idea. Please, check the link bellow.

Angelaid, "a hungry mind is a terrible thing to waste" I really like you....it's about this time of the day I start thinking of food, too! LOL! My Favorite cookbook is a Community Cookbook that was compiled for a benefit with proceeds going to a non-profit organization. It is a compilation of tastes and flavors I grew up with. A mixture of Tex-Mex and German/Polish/Bohemian flavor. So, I go through that recipe book about 3 times a month looking for goodies. (I don't usually "bake", as I don't have a sweet tooth.) I tend to favor Casseroles. But, Main Man is Meat N Taters. My Best Friend is French/Italian. She conjures up some pretty tasty stuff and has turned me into a seeker of Mediterranean Flavor. I found out I looooove Garlic. Gayle

posie4U-- here it is You will need some kind of crock (glass or glazed pottery)-- I bought a couple at Walmart year before last - they are clear glass (2 gallons each) with glass lids, sort of like the glass jars they used to have candy in at old timey general stores. Don't know if they still have them. Anyway this is the recipe. Lay crock on its side and pack cucumbers in as tightly as possible. (This recipe is not exact. I have tweaked it some with regard to quantities though, and it still works out fine.) These are the quantities I used for one - 2 gallon crock. Day 1 - Dissolve 2 cups of salt in 1 gallon of boiling water. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 24 hours. Day 2 - Dissolve 1 to 1 1/2 jars of powdered alum (the recipe is old and says a box of alum-- don't think it comes that way anymore - 1 used 1 and 1/2 containers - which were 1.9 ozs. each for the 2 gallon crock of pickles. Day 3 - Drain cukes. Pour fresh boiling water over cucumbers and let stand 24 hours. Day 4 - Drain. Boil together 1 gal. vinegar and about 1 oz. of pickling spice ( put spices in cheescloth or old clean handkerchief and tie up)-- put in pot with vinegar. After you pour the vinegar over the pickles, put the bag of spices in the top of the crock with the cucumbers. let stand for 9 DAYS. After 9 days - Drain cucumbers and slice crosswise. Put a layer of cucumbers and a layer of sugar in large plastic bowls or some type of non-reactive container. Use plenty of sugar so you have enough syrup to cover the cucumbers when you pack them in jars. (I think about 5-7+ lbs. for the 2 gallon crock.) Let the sugar melt and then fill clean jars. (qts. or pints) No need to process. These keep very well for a couple of years in a dark dry place. The amount of pickles you have depends on the size and quantity of cucumbers. But like I said I'm doing a 2 gallon crock and I expect to have probably about 5-7 qts. of pickles. For potato salad, chicken salad, etc. these are the absolute best. Make sure to chill before using. Please excuse the approximate quantities. This is a very old recipe, but I've never had a bad pickle. I will be glad to answer any questions.

Dariana -- the following recipe that a GW poster named jadite posted years ago would work well in your situation, since it reheats well. Fiery Sweet Potatoes Time: About 2 hours 5 pounds sweet potatoes 1 cup coconut milk 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt. 1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake potatoes on a baking sheet until very soft, about 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash. 2. In a small saucepan, heat coconut milk with curry paste over low heat. Mix coconut milk mixture, half the sugar, half the butter, and salt into potatoes. Keep warm until ready to serve, or cover and refrigerate up to two days. 3. At least 30 minutes before serving, heat oven to 425 degrees. Put potatoes in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover potatoes, dot with remaining butter and sugar and broil until brown and crusty on top, checking often to prevent scorching. Yield: 10 to 12 servings. Notes: I've made this, the full 5lbs, following the recipe up through step 2. I've frozen it in portions at this stage. If I'm serving it to guests, I'll finish it with the butter and brown sugar because it makes a prettier presentation. If it's just for DH and me, I skip this. It's good enough as is. <-- note from jadite. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first year I made it for Thanksgiving I got started later than I ought to have, and didn't have time to roast the sweet potatoes, so instead I cubed them and boiled them for about 10-15 minutes. I also had a fair number of various colored carrots so I sliced them crosswise, caramelized them in olive oil, while the sweet potatoes cooked and then added the curry paste to the carrots and later the coconut milk. Then when then sweet potatoes were cooked, put them in a baking pan, pour on the carrot-coconut-curry sauce, and mix the sauce in and lightly mash the potatoes. Then top with butter and brown sugar as the above recipe states and bake for about twenty minutes.