I discovered swiss chard when I lived in San Diego, an asian neighbor dug up some of her plants and gave me 2 big plants. I LOVED them. They had big huge leafs, I would steam and then briefly saute in fresh garlic and butter..YUMMMY...Now for some reason, the chard I have planted here in GA is not as good to me, the flavor is very different. I got a bunch of seeds in a seed exchange, so maybe the varieties were just not the same. I'm going to try to plant more of the big green ones, the shorter more colorful (more red stemmed ones) just dont have the same buttery taste to me. I also got seeds from a neighbor last year of what i was told was a climbing okra...turns out that it is something else which I cannot recall the name, I know that they are used when left to dry out to make luffa's?, and since they were planted so late last year, I did not get a chance to try them out..but they were really big long pods. I'll try them again this year and see what happens. I LOVE Okra, planted Emerald for the first time this year, last year and the few years before, I planted Clemson Spineless, hope I am not dissapointed with Emerald, as I have NO Clemson's planted at all this year. My first year here, I planted 6 yes SIX okra plants, I'll never forget, I was admiring the very lush garden of a neighbor of my MIL's , he's an older gentleman and I was so proud that I too had planted OKRA, he asked me how many plants I had, and I told him SIX...and he chuckled outloud and says "well you might be able to get a mess from them" I learned quickly, there was NO MESS of any kind with just six plants...the next year I planted 20 and even then never had enough to put any up...and it took a week to get a "mess" to cook up. this year I have planted 3 rows (15 feet each), I'm hoping this is enough :) I also have for the first time successfully grown garlic, I bought a mixed bag (she sent me a few of each of several different varieties) from a lady who sells on the farmers bulletin from Atlanta, I think I planted like 6 or 7 different types. they are all over my garden..cant wait another surprise that I just love are the multiplying onions. got free bulbs from someone on freecycle, and now I have more of them than I know what to do with.. last year I also for the first time successfully grew PEANUTS!! that was WAY COOL...harvested and put up a dozen gallon bag full of them. of course here in the south we boil them in salty water, yummy!! I have volunteers all over my garden!! I have enjoyed mustard greens and love having parsley in my garden...I found some growing in the cracks in my lower patio, I had let some in the flower beds go to seed, and I dont have the heart to pull them up!! And finally sweet potatoes! no hassle great reward!!

Al, there are lots of recipes that call for sake, start a new thread asking for some! Here is what I use for Chicken Karaage - Japanese chicken cutlets. I bet your DS would enjoy it for lunch with rice - its a standard 'bento' lunch item. Source: website justhungry.com. Chicken karaage 2-4 boneless chicken thighs, depending on how big they are A piece of fresh ginger about the size of your thumb, grated 3 Tbs soy sauce 1 Tbs sake or sherry cornstarch (I'll throw some regular wheat flour in) peanut oil for deep frying (you can use another kind of oil; I just prefer peanut oil) Cut up the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. You can take off the skin if you like, though it does make the chicken crispier. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl. Add the grated ginger, soy sauce and sake, and mix well. Let marinate for a minimum of 1/2 hour, and up to about 1 hour (not too long or the salt in the soy sauce will toughen up the chicken.) Heat the oil. Toss in enough cornstarch into the marinated chicken so that each piece is completely coated. Fry the chicken pieces a few at a time until a deep golden brown.

hmmm..I have posted a few times ( maybe more than a few) when I had had a glass of wine ( or more) and let my thoughts flow through my fingers. I was then taken aback at the wonderful responses to what I thought were excesses best left in my pillow ! Then there are the threads where I dearly want to say something so I type it and get it out of my system and then never post it. Very cathartic and also self-serving..I don't want the flack or comments that would come from posting. That is why I haven't posted anymore to the "growing older" thread. I have a lot of thoughts but they are my own and I don't have the energy to get into the discussion. I think that explains a lot of my "no posts" . I have a limited amount of interest in other's opinions now that I am in my 60's. I know what I know and I am receptive to other's , to a degree, but only to a degree. I have no energy for controversy or antagonistic discussions. I used to , believe me. I could go all night long. Now I will sit by the pool with DH or by the campfire with friends and nary a word that is disruptive. We seek out peace. I suppose there are those that would say it is the "ostrich sticking his/her head in the sand". So be it. I don't care. I used to...stopped that too :) c

I always hated getting that one back x-ray with the film. It always hurt. But I got through it. Now, they have digital x-rays. There is no film. It's a big plastic thing that has no give to it and hurts like heck. This thing made me cry. It was so painful. I could not even do it. And they kept trying and trying and it was cutting the bottom of my mouth. They made me feel really stupid and were very threatening because they said, well your insurance isn't going to cover it unless you take this x-ray. So here I am in the car crying and trying to find out if anybody else has this problem. Of course I should know by now that if I have a problem a lot of people have a problem. It's never just me. Has anyone experienced this digital x-ray bs? How do I get through this? I asked for a smaller one. they said they didn't have one. They only had one size. I said how can that be when everyone has different sized mouths?