thereasific, I even remember the commercial "shake, shake, shake a puddin', puddin' puddin' shake a puddin'". why do I remember that? Darned if I know, LOL. John, I graduated from high school in 1973. In my freshman year the dress code did not allow girls to wear pants, and boys could not have beards, mustaches, sideburns past their earlobe or hair over their collars. No one could wear jeans. Girls' skirts could be one inch above the knee, measured by kneeling on the gym floor and measuring from the floor up. When girls got to wear pants, or anyone got to wear jeans, it was HUGE. (grin) OK, I started high school in 1969 and Mom and Aunt Ronni's Cold Duck days were before that, because I went to work in the submarine joint that year, when I was 14. I worked 60 hours a week and went to school, so there was no time to hang around and watch the Cold Duck drinkers, LOL. It was most probably the late 60s because I was old enough to remember it. Ruthanna, I agree that many of the things on your list still sounds good to me. I never had an avocado until I was well into my 20s, they just weren't available here, and I was 17 before I even heard of McDonald's, we had a Burger Chef, a Dairy Queen and A&W. I also had my first taco sometime in my high school years because a very nice Mexican man and his wife ran a donut shop/taco counter called "Rudy's" Yup, his name was Rudy and her name was Rosa. It sure wasn't Taco Bell, it was real tacos and they made their own sauces, either "hot" or "Ai Yi Yi Yi". LOL I also remember Root Beer Fizzies... I got married in 1974 and we bought half ownership in a bar and grille. I spent a lot of the 70s making grasshoppers, Harvey Wallbangers, sloe gin fizzes, Golden Cadillacs and something called a Velvet Hammer, it was cream de cocoa and Triple Sec, with cream. I don't think Harvey Wallbangers tasted like creamsicles, though, they were orange juice, vodka and galliano. I had a bundt cake recipe that took those ingredients too, the Harvey WallBanger Cake was popular in the 70s, I think. Annie

I know Al thinks I fry his a$$!! :-) Karen makes a good point, though. This is just the panic du jour. Before, it was whole milk. Then without whole milk, we're lacking in vitamin D and calcium. Then it's the sun. If we're out in the sun too long, we can come down with melanoma. But if we stay out of the sun, then we have to worry about SAD. What's another good one? Oh yeah-- COFFEE!! it's no good-- the caffeine is addictive. Wait a minute-- it IS good for you!! Red wine. CHOCOLATE!! Even POT had no redeeming medicinal value. Now, it's the cureall for those in pain from glaucoma and chemo, and the list is growing. The same thing happened a few years ago, only then it was a VALID concern, and concern for it thankfully continues even today, and that's mold remediation. I just want to try and get past this with the most REAL education about the problem, and the least amount of injury to the industry. There IS a solution, though. If you want to live longer, it's very simple. Don't eat or breathe!! You'll live forever! :-)

Sonnie, I don't know what "rapid pre-heat" means . All I do it turn on the oven to convection bake and change the temp to 350. I don't ever lower the temp due to convection. My understanding is that it means nothing unless you are baking something for a long time. As soon as the oven reaches temp I put in whatever I am baking. The only time I do a long preheat is if I am doing my artisinal breads and then I do preheat for 45 min-1 hr since I am using my cast iron pots or my steel baking stone...those need a good long pre-heat. As an example of convection speeding up baking I messed up last night and didn't take out my roast chicken soon enough. I used convection roast and it was a 5# chicken. It was in at 375 and I left it too long...sigh...dumb. The oven roasts very well and I should have paid attn but had company and got side-tracked. As far as quick breads drying out or not rising on convection I haven't had that happen. I always bake all quick breads at 350 for 45-1hr.15min...depends on size of pan and recipe. Usually 1hr. They always rise nicely and are very moist. I know in the past there have been complaints about the newer Miele ovens. Mine is 7 yrs old and rococco girl's is about that too. We have the same ovens. She never has a problem either. I hope you get good results. PLease do let me know. c

Wow!! Carol, I'm happy for you. Heel to toe for 8 steps takes a lot of coordination, and YOU DID IT. When my kid was 4 years old, she would be so happy when I lost weight on the scale ... health for my friends cheer me up more than roses. I'm elated when I heard Garran home & healthy, and I'm happy about rain for Jess & no more thorns in her toe. I am happy when my daughter is happy. I'm sure that's how God, our Father in heaven, feels .. He's happy when His children (us) are happy. My kid has a friend came over today (same age). The friend was on Ensure (canned nutrition with soy milk) .. her skin was clean this past summer. I did research on soy milk and thyroid disorder, yes, there's a slight link, esp. with carrageenan added. So I e-mailed this teenager info., and her nutritionist switched this gal from Ensure (soy-based) to Kefir (fermented cow-milk). Fast forward today, this friend gets pimples on her face. I feel bad since the bad news about dairy didn't come out until this year. I google thoroughly when I switched my child from soy-milk to cow milk .. could not find a link between cow milk and acne until recently. But I learn something: always look at how many people are involved in any study. The thyroid & soy link are just a few personal testimonies, versus the below: " The famous Nurse's Health Study examining health habits of 47,000 nurses found that those who drank more milk as teenagers had much higher rates of severe acne than those who had little or no milk as teenagers. In other studies of over 10,000 boys and girls from 9 to 15 years old, there was a direct link between the amount of milk consumed and the severity of acne." Today I'm back to the diet that I was on when I was skinny: soy milk (new formula without carrageenan) & high fiber cereal ... I feel so much better & more energy. My kid loves her cereal & soy milk. She could NOT handle cow-milk either .. she's lactose-intolerant. I checked on soy milk again before I switch back: if the soy-protein is concentrated, like soy Isolate in faked meat, then it will screw up the thyroid. If the soy is concentrated and made on aluminum equipment, like tofu, then that will UP the risk of Alzheimer's. But soy milk in low dose with cereal, isn't bad ... at least it's freed of hormones, antibiotics, feces, and pus like in cow's milk. Soy milk is easier to digest, plus zero cholesterol. What I like the most is: it smells clean, NOT strong like cow-milk.