Annette, lets say they are Canuck!! I'm going to add my recipe that I made today. It is a great Gluten Free chocolate cake and it is from "The Best Ever Wheat And Gluten Free Baking Book". GF=gluten free. Some products get contaminated in their refining process if the factory makes wheat/gluten grain foods too, so that is why one must be so careful. Chocolate Dump It Cake 1/2 c. pure GF cocoa powder. If you have Trader Joe's their cocoa is GF 1/2 c. boiling water - mix the water and cocoa together 1 c. cornstarch however, to get more fiber I mixed 1/2 c. cornstarch with 1/2 c. brown rice fiber 1 1/2c potato starch (but again, you can mix flours. I used 1/2 c. brown rice flour and 1c. potato starch and the texture was wonderful!) 1T plus 1 1/2t. baking powder pinch of salt 1 c. sugar Mix all this together with the cocoa/water mixture 2 eggs beaten or GF egg replacer (this is excellent to have on hand the egg replacer gives great rise and texture) 1/2 c. canola oil 2 t. vanilla and it needs to be GF (again, Trader Joe's is GF) 21/2 t. xanthanan gum however, if you've mixed your flours and/or used egg replacer you can reduce this to a teaspoon. 1 cup plus more as needed. Dairy free and gluten free milk is Blue Diamond almond milk. Mix all the wet together, and only add 1 cup of the milk. If your mix is too thick, just add a little more milk. You only have to mix by hand, this is so light and fluffy! I used two small aluminum $$ store pans with plastic lids which worked well. Preheat to 350 and use 9x13 or two small snack cake pans. I bet two loaf pans would work well too. Grease well with canola oil. Do not use any kind of baking spray, none are gluten free - I have a little silicone brush and the oil which works well. Pour in mix as soon as you mix it up. Don't let it sit as it rises so fast - pour it in and let it sit a minute while oven heats. Bake 22-25 mins. Smaller pans you can bake 20 mins. Toothpick test to see if done. YUMMY and delicate in texture. Keep in the fridge. You can make a dairy free/gluten free icing by using icing sugar, the cocoa, or vanilla or a bit of strong coffee (no flavorings!) and Natural Balance margerine. girlgroupgirl

PUDDING CUPS: I buy these from time to time for my kids, and the plastic is recycleable in my area, but before I toss in the bin I use them several times each in the summer to make bigger ice cubes for packing coolers or filling the big water jug on outings (or cooling the water for when I am freezing beans/corn), or cut holes in the bottoms and use as little planting pots for some of the seeds I start for my garden. Since they are clear I can tell when cuttings have rooted well. Thanks for coming forward, all of you, and pointing out that although many are striving to be energy wise and cutting back on waste, it is difficult to do it all and still live our lifestyle the way we've been used to. Just today dh took kids into the bigger city close by to buy them shoes, and I asked him to pick up milk on the way home. Pick up milk he did, and he let the clerk bag both jugs! I will speak to him later on this, I don't think he is aware he can ask for his items to NOT be bagged (I do 99% of the shopping in this household, and just assumed he knew how I felt about those plastic bags). Or that anything that size WITH a handle needs no bag! Oh well. I'm still trying to influence change within my own little world (family). kioni

Yeah, I don't have a recipe, I just throw a cinnamon stick in each jar before I add the syrup. I do them in light syrup if I'm doing with cinn. Now that I found a good source of candied ginger slices locally, I would use a hunk of that instead of cinnamon--pears and ginger=yum! Here's the "Pears in Port" recipe I made. Actually it is "Plums in Port" recipe from the Ball Blue Book of Canning. People usually do brandied pears since brandy is closer to the color of pears, but anyway, boozy fruit is great to have on hand for elegant desserts at the last minute. Put in cakes or just serve warmed over poundcake topped with whipped cream. 8 lbs. plums (or pears, but be forwarned, they'll turn maroon) 3 cups sugar 3 cups water 3 TBLSP slivered orange peel 2 sticks cinnamon 2 cups tawny port Prick plums with sterlized needle to prevent bursting. (Or halve or quarter, core and peel pears). Combine sugar and water, orange peel and cinnamon sticks in a large saucepot to make a syrup. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer a frew minutes. Add plums a layer at a time to heat through about 2 min. Remove plums from syrup and peel skins if desired. Pack hot plums (or pears) into sterilized jars (I use quart jars for this or pint jars if I quarter the pears). Leave 1/2 inch headspace. Reheat syrup to boiling. Discard spices and stir in port. Pour over plums, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Put caps on and adjust rings. Process 20 min. in a boiling water bath. Yield, about 3 quarts. Note: I don't boil the cinnamon and peel with the syrup, I break them up and add them directly to the jars with the pears, makes the jars look even more "gourmet." But to make this work you have to let them set and age a while for the spices to infuse the syrup, like maybe a month. I think you could sub brandy or sherry in this recipe if you liked that better. And probably use cherries instead of pears or plums, but those I would do in pint jars, not quarts.

Wonderful thread, Bobby... see what your Banana Bread experience has spawned. Glad to know I'm not alone. My brothers, I'm sure, would have several "bizzo meals" to mention, as I like ingredients more exotic for their tastes (like mushrooms in my spaghetti sauce) but I think my worst was the first I served my now DH... One of my brother's had given me a variety of flavored vinegars asa Christmas present... one a "Salsa Vinegar" that I'd never tried before. I made a vinaigrette dressing, and the new BF (now DH) had forced down several bites of his salad (good boy, taught to clean his plate) before I got to my first one. One bite and I immediately removed the salad bowls from the table with "you do not have the eat this!!" It was HOT, and awful... DH says it took several more meals before he trusted that I really can cook!! LOL