I found this poem A bowl to splash in and a cup to feed, Just fill with water and delectable seed. Your feathered friends are sure to come, and put on a show for lots of good fun. So grab a drink and sit back and relax, enjoy your friends as summer flies by too fast.

I had never worn gloves when working with chiles, until . . . Last fall, I was processing several pounds of Bhut Jolokia chies, removing tops, splitting, removing seeds, slicing and pickling them. After about 30 minutes, my hands started burning. It lasted all night, and started all over agin when I took a shower the next morning, and then the morning after that! Ouch! Never again.

It was fun reading all of this, especially since it goes back to '06. That first post of Lars with the cherry cream soda...yummmy. I only consume coffee if it's ice cream, Kahlua or some other dessert. I like tea, black, green, but not any spiced teas. Really dislike mint too. Mostly I drink flavored unsweetened seltzer, iced tea or lemonade. Occasionally I'll have a fruit soda, but I find them too sweet these days so I mix them with my seltzer. Alcohol? Not really. Don't like wine as a rule. I can deal with a little champagne or Asti. Will drink vodka, that Kahlua making it a Black Russian. Smiles. I can go several years or more without having any alcohol. Last year I turned my current [at the time] vodka into vanilla. This fall an old friend from high school came to visit and brought a bottle of vodka. I had 2 light Cape Cods and when he left I turned the Svedka into vanilla. LOL. In winter in the evening we either have hot tea or hot cocoa often. I do love hot chocolate made with cocoa or even a nice chocolate bar.

Love the shape of the pitcher - does it have a stopper? I would put honey in it instead of syrup, however, but whatever you use most would be appropriate. It looks small enough to use as a cream pitcher also. Anyway, I love special serving items like that. I've never seen stemless wine glasses. Like David, I need to replace a few myself! I watch Mark Bittman fairly often, and while I don't like his personality, his recipes do sound good - generally fairly quick and fairly easy while also including interesting combinations of ingredients. I think I would like his cookbook much more than his show!! He spends a lot of time in Spain, and I love Spanish food. Lars