Hey Glenn, I recently finished a patio behind our house. I didn't use flagstone, I used a product called a Walkmaker by Quikrete, basically a mold you fill with concrete to get a random stone pattern, but the end result is wide joints similar to what you'll have between your flagstones. I found a product called Envirostone made by Envirobond. (www.envirobond.com) It's similar to the "stabilizing" sands you've seen, but is specifically made for flagstone joints. It is a mixture of a fine sand, aggregate, and their "stabilizer". It's been raining here everyday since I put the Envirostone down and swept it in to the joints, so I still don't know exactly how hard it sets up, but it is very tightly packed in from the rain and isn't running off at all. I imagine once it dries it will not blow away. I did fill my joints about 50% with pea gravel before adding the Envirostone to keep costs down. The Envirostone was $12.50 a bag locally, and I needed 4 bags of it for my 225 sq. ft patio. I also used 5 bags of pea gravel. They have 2 colors of Envirostone, I used the "natural", sort of tan/beige when dry. Here are a couple of pics of the finished patio. Good luck! http://img201.echo.cx/my.php?image=patiodone10lm.jpg http://img141.echo.cx/my.php?image=patiodone31xz.jpg

Alexa, I got a black one. They only had them in black, cream and blue, and I decided that since they weren't available in red (first choice) or chrome (second choice), I would get the black one. Amck, I haven't decided on a recipe, but I'm thinking spice cake or bread, or I may find a recipe I like in the cookbook that came with it. BTW, they had really cool Kitchen Aid ice-cream makers that look like a baby version of the mixers. I'm getting one when my current ice-cream machine dies.

The term for removing or reducing the grit is CURING. The process of added flavors to it like garlic, cumin, coriander, etc. is SEASONING. I live in México although I am not Mexican. Luckily, it is simple to pick up an authentic molcajete when you live here. Note there are varying degrees of quality. Some are made of inferior basalt or lava rock. I know my response is dated but in regards to curing, it can take a long or a short time depending on your motivation. I actually cured two molcajetes in one day. I first got rid of a significant amount of the dust and loose stone with a wire brush attached to my drill. Then I did several rounds of dry rice followed by wet rice. By the end, the rice was bright white and there were no more visible pieces of the molcajete mixed in. I then proceeded to make the best salsa and guacamole I ever tasted. I do not think there is any question that salsas and guacamole pounded, crushed and ground tastes better than anything done with a machine or by hand. Note that you also should soak the molcajetes in water for a few hours or overnight to loosen a lot of the grit. Then let it dry and do the rice method. I am convinced my drill step shortened the process tremendously. I encourage everyone to give molcajetes a try. BTW, I am also the proud owner of a Thai granite mortar (9 inches) which I love more than some of my family members. It is awesome. I heard that you should also cure granite mortars although, to be honest, I did not. I never noticed any grit in my food. That said, common sense should tell us that any of these mortars and pestles will release SOME dust into whatever you are grinding. That is why older molcajetes and mortars are smoother than when you first start using them.

Of course, cookebook, I'd be happy to. I'm not as fond of cooked peas as I am of raw peas, so I make this more than I do cooked peas. I don't have a recipe, though, and I've been cleaning out the freezers. So I thawed a bag of peas (they used to be a pound, now I don't know, maybe 12 ounces?) Dumped in a couple of handfuls of roasted peanuts, minced half of a smallish sweet onion and sliced two stalks of celery very thinly. Crumbled up two slices of bacon left from the weekend's breakfast, and put all those things into a bowl. Mix sour cream or yogurt and mayonnaise, about a 50/50 ratio. I used about 1/4 cup of each and the mayo was homemade. The kids like it when I add a teaspoon of sugar, but I like it without. Stir it up and it's ready, but it's better if it sits in the fridge for an hour or two. It gets really watery after a day or two, so I don't make a huge batch, just enough for a meal or two. This is really nice when it's warm outside and a cool salad waiting in the fridge is a good thing, but it's still pretty good in the winter. Oddly enough, neither of my girls like cooked peas either, but they like this and if I grow peas in the garden they all get eaten raw far before I ever get a chance to cook any. It also made a nice combination with the well seasoned chicken, as a "cool" addition to the plate. Annie