Now you have rats and pill bugs. I bet you have a lot of snails too if you look really close. Remember I told you about the rat bars and now you should put them in your attic. W@hen we were redoing our house there was a huge amount of droppings in the attic but that stopped with the bars. I was humane like you and we bought a rat zapper and it did nothing, These guys are the size of rabbits and have lots of babies. Believe me it is better just to get rid of them. Put the snails in a plastic baggie with table salt so their sticky goo doesn't attract the ants, rats, and soon other animals. I gave up on veggies because the Horn Worm was always feasting. BT worked a bit and Seven dust is for veggies. Did the copper bands around my fruit trees but something got past that eventhough they're sharp. The only thing I never tried was society garlic which stinks but looks nice or you can put regular bulbs of garlic in the soil and it also looks nice. Best bet would be to walk your neighborhood and find someone who is doing a great job and take all the hints you can muster. Soon we will be having Raccoons and rabbits than you'll really be in trouble. My neighbor's husband bent long PVC and covered it with fencing to make a tall cage around her tomatoes with a door in front. Anythin's worth a try.

You could make a strawberry rhubarb cake, with the amounts you have I'd make half a recipe and bake it in a square 8 inch pan. Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake Filling: 3 c Sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb, 1 inch pieces 1 Qt. Fresh strawberries, mashed 2 tb Lemon juice 1 c Sugar 1/3 c Cornstarch Cake: 3 c All-purpose flour 1 c Sugar 1 ts Baking powder 1 ts Baking soda 1/2 ts Salt 1 c Butter or margarine, cut into pieces 1 1/2 c Buttermilk 2 Eggs 1 ts Vanilla extract Topping: 1/4 c Butter or margarine 3/4 c All-purpose flour 3/4 c Filling: In a large saucepan combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice. Cover and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Combine sugar and cornstarch; stir into saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened; remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; stir into crumb mixture. Spread half of the batter evenly into a greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish. Carefully spread filling on top. drop remaining batter by tablespoonfuls over filling. Topping: Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; stir in flour and sugar until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter. Lay foil on lower rack to catch any juicy fruit spillovers. Bake at 350 degrees, for 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into squares. Yield: 16-20 servings. Or use the fruit and make a topping for cheesecake, I did that a little while ago and everyone loved it, as long as everyone loves cheesecake. I'm at work, but I'll try to post the recipe tonight. Annie

Bluebell - here ya go! BANANA BREAD BLONDIES Ingredients For Blondies: ½ cup unsalted butter-melted 1 cup light brown sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 1 large egg 2 teaspoon vanilla 1 ½ -2 teaspoon cinnamon (to taste) 1 cup flour ½ cup mashed banana (one medium-large banana) For Frosting: ¼ cup butter 6 Tablespoons light brown sugar 2 Tablespoons milk Dash of salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup powdered sugar Instructions Preheat oven to 350 F and line 8 x 8 inch baking pan with aluminum foil (leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished blondies out) and spray with cooking spray , set aside. To make the blondie batter, in a medium bowl mix together melted butter, sugar and salt. Add egg vanilla and cinnamon and mix until well combined. Add mashed banana and mix to combine. Add flour and mix until combined and smooth. Pour the batter into prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until center has set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. To make the frosting in a medium sauce pan melt the butter and continue cooking over medium heat until reach nice amber color, stirring constantly (be careful not to burn it). Add brown sugar, milk and a dash of salt, stir and bring to boil. Remove from heat and cool for 10-15 minutes. Whisk in vanilla and powdered sugar. Spread over the blondies. Allow frosting to set before slicing and serving. Here's the batch I made. The next time I make them, I'll add chopped nuts to the blondies. I thought they were even yummier after having been refrigerated for a few hours too. Enjoy!

There's been so many Thanksgiving goofs, I almost can't list them. Fortunately none so extreme to have made anyone sick. I think I'd been married all of about 5 minutes when my mother announced it was someone else's turn to start cooking the holiday dinners. She'd had enough. And really, she's never liked to cook or had enough interest to excel at it. That first attempt I didn't own a roaster (bought one) and barely had enough dishes to set a large table. Greatly underestimated the time required to thaw a turkey and while I didn't forget the bag of giblets tucked into the cavity, I did pull it out with pliers, still frozen inside. That same dinner, I dropped the roaster taking it out of the oven using dish towels instead of pot holders. The turkey made a sliding dash towards the dining room on its own across the floor and I lost all my drippings for gravy. We ate the turkey. Another dinner - I was hosting only my mother and sister. My BIL had been unwell, and his wife decided to travel to her mothers with the children and keep their holiday plans so as not to disappoint her mother. Turn of events, and DH got up in the middle of dinner and took his brother to the hospital where he was admitted for an emergency hemorrhoidectomy. We held dessert, he made it back home for that. The first year my brothers wife had all of us for dinner, she didn't have an actual large roaster yet either and used one of the aluminum foil pans. It may even have been doubled. But she pulled the turkey out onto the open oven door to check the temperature for doneness and unknowingly pierced the disposable pan with the thermometer probe. All of the turkey pan juices ran into the oven door somehow, through the glass window seal - it was a large bird and there was a lot of liquid. Every time we opened or closed the oven the entire rest of the weekend, more turkey drippings ran out of the door bottom seal onto the floor. A quick Friday trip to Frederick and Nelson's to buy her a roaster took place. My brother deep fried a turkey one Thanksgiving. He ordered the turkey, bought the fryer, made sure he had gas for the fryer and forgot oil. He hit every 7-11 within a 5 mile radius that morning buying every small bottle of oil on the shelves until he had enough to fill the fryer. Came in that afternoon saying 'the turkey is turning into a meteor, hurry up with the rest of the food so we can serve'. We hurried, tossing salads, mashing potatoes. It wasn't overcooked, it was not done clear through to the interior. Very pink thighs, he never deep fried another. Years later he cooked one in his Traeger grill and brought it in dusted with a fine powdery ash. And expected me to somehow do something magical with the drippings to make a delicious gravy from them. I used every spice I could think to try from their cupboards and could not cover the bitter taste of the pellet ashes, it was really awful gravy.