One question is, why do you want to do it yourself. That is absolutely not a loaded or value-judgement (on my part) question. It is more to see where are your comfort zones and what you are trying to accomplish. If it is primarily to save money, it is not clear that you will save money by buying several books ( of course, there's the library, on-line plans, used books, and so forth, so, "books" don't have to cost much). But, you can sometimes get a very simple, and very ordinary, planting plan from a local garden center for $100. Some will come out to your house, even for that. Again, very simple cookie-cutter plans using the most widely available shrubs and plants. Maybe you will get some disagreement on the costs--my point is, perhaps you want to inquire locally about what it would cost. If you want to DIY because of not making mistakes with other people's bad advice (such as can actually happen with a very low-cost, mass-produced garden center plan, or because you think you would like being outside and being one with the earth, or you might have your own ideas, then you are on more of a road to self-education and not instant plop and plant. No matter what you do, at this point reading a few books as suggested above will clue you in to some of the issues of, what do I know that I don't know, and what do I think I know that I do not, which of these seem like too much trouble to learn or deal with,and so forth, so you can make some better decisions. One of the concerns raised by your query is site analysis and plant survival. To utilize even the simplest planting plans, you still have to match the plan to your site. I don't mean a geographical survey or pH measurement (though those could prove necessary!) but being able to identify conditions of sun, shade, water, soil, root competition, and so forth and then to understand how the descriptions of plants match up with that. So a "planting plan for shade" might still not be suitable for your shady area, plan for sun might or might not also--so you could follow a "plan" and kill a lot of plants. Also many plans are very vague, and usually show the planting in one season, or sometimes show all the plants at their BEST and not in season-matched phases, and someone who doesn't really know plants (not saying that's you)would not be able to recognize that the plant pictured is only in bloom for one week, or this other plant actually gets 10 feet tall, or understand deciduous from evergreen, or that something has to be pruned, or whatever. Do you like to experiment and are not too bothered when your experiments fail? Many gardeners, myself included, have some degree of acceptance of failure and know which areas of the yard, or what $$ amount, is acceptable for failure, or areas we are willing to keep fidgeting with until we get it right--sometimes we want room to make a big mistake--and accept that as part of enjoying and learning gardening. But other people would get very upset if they had to do a do-over the next year, or start over in 3 years, or whatever. So, in general, if you really don't have time and patience to learn about plants, it is less likely that you will be able to choose a suitable plan right off the block. If in fact you end up reading a few books, walking around your yard looking at what's growing or not, roaming through a few garden centers, and reading the plant labels, then you DO have some time and patience to learn about plants!

It's the morning after, and I am thankful for all you good people who took the time to post and get me through a bad moment. I learned from your posts, and I laughed with your posts. Most importantly, I found out that even on a cooking forum, not everyone makes the perfect, flaky, homemade pie crust. Thank you for telling me that I am not alone. I am through with pies and pie crusts. This year will have been the 20th year of trying, and it was the worst yet. It is time to move on. I am a market gardener, and I grow wonderful organic strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and rhubarb. When I bake with the fruit, I do a crisp, a cobbler, or a tart. DS has a love of pumpkin pie, and I think my efforts are emotionally entwined with being the "good mother", but I am going to find a good bakery next year. You are all right- there is more than one way to skin a cat (that is a horrible saying isn't it?) I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. You all helped make mine a good one. :)

As mentioned many times, my favourite method is the High Heat Method of Barbara Kakfa's. Produces a perfectly every time. I usually take my beef out of the oven when the temperature reaches 115 to 120°. As it rests for 15 to 20 minutes the internal temperature will rise another 5 to 10 degrees. Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table High Heat cooking Instructions ============================== . General Instructions (for Barbara Kafka's "Roasting A Simple Art") "Different meats and different cuts have different cooking times. That's why there are recipes. I did try to find a universal rule so that I could say as I do for fish, "ten minutes per inch" or for chicken "ten minutes per pound," and then describe the exceptions. It didn't work. Timing is as much a factor of fat content, bone content, and the shape of the roast as a specific kind of meat. The only easy rules are for boneless loin of pork or beef (the shell or strip) and venison and beef fillet. They always cook in the same amount of time since the only way they increase in size is according to their length, which will not influence the cooking time." This is her recipe for a Simple Rib Roast 4 1/2 pound without short ribs Standing rib roast (2 Ribs) or 26 Pound standing rib roast (7 ribs total) 2 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and slivered Kosher salt to taste Freshly ground black pepper 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups red wine for deglazing 1 recipe for Yorkshire pudding. Roast should be at room temperature, not taken directly from the fridge. Place oven rack on the second level from the bottom. Heat oven to 500°F. Place small roast in a 14 X 12 X2 inch roasting pan. bone side down. The large roast will need an 18 X 13 X 2 inch roasting pan. Snuggle most of the garlic, is using, under the fat and spread remainder under the meat. Season well with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes. With meat in oven, reduce heat to 325° and roast for an additional 3 minutes per pound.( i.e.: 4lb =12minutes, 7lb = 21 minutes, 26 lb =78 minutes) etc..Increase heat to 450°F and roast for another 15 minutes regardless of size. Meat temperature should read 135 on an instant - read thermometer. If you like it more rare, reduce the additional 3 minutes per pound to 2 minutes or for less rare, increase the 3 minutes to 5 minutes. Remove roast from oven. Transfer to a serving platter. Pour or spoon off excess fat, reserving about 1/8 cup to 1/4 cup of fat. Put pan over high heat and add wine. Deglaze pan well scraping with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Pour liquid into a small saucepan and reserve. For Whole New York Strip Loin, the directions are a little bit different. According to Barbara Kafka's instructions, it doesn't matter what size the New York strip roast is the directions are the same. Roasted New York Strip Loin one 10 pound New York Strip (16 inches) Trussed 1 head of garlic cloves lightly smashed and peeled, optional 3 to 4 springs fresh thyme kosher salt pepper 1 1/2 cup basic beef stock or a combination of beef stock, veal stock or red wine 2 tablespoons basic veal glaze optional. Place oven rack on second level from the top of the oven, or second from the bottom if the fat cover is thick. Heat oven to 500°F. Place strip of beef in an 18 x 12 x 2 inch roasting pan. If using, slip whole cloves of garlic between underside of meat and string. Tuck in the thyme. Slip some more garlic under the string along the top of the meat. Sprinkle the meat on all sides liberally with salt and pepper. Put into oven one hour before it will be served. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove and transfer meat to a platter. Cut off strings. Remove the garlic cloves that are too blackened to use. Pour fat from pan. Put the roasting pan on top of the stove. Add stock or wine and the veal glaze, if using and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Add flavorings, if using, and any juices that have collected in the platter on which the beef is resting. Let reduce by half. Taste for salt and pepper, pour into a sauceboat and serve. Roasted Whole beef Fillet According to Barbara........"I buy the meat by the inch. It cooks exactly the same way no matter the length as long as it s more than 4 inches long. When ordering, I usually allow about an inch and a quarter per person and an extra half inch for the two end slices. By this rule, six people will require an eight inch piece of fillet. The muscles in a fillet all run lengthwise so that when it is sliced a crossed the serving it is also tenderized. The fillet is also called the tenderloin, and it is tender. It is a long round muscle that hides behind the bones on which the shell steak and the rib roast reside. T-bone steaks have some of the shell and, on the other side of the bone, a circle of the fillet, or tenderloin. A filet mignon is a slice cut a crossed the whole fillet to make an individual steak. 4 to 5 pound whole beef fillet (about 3 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter, a good 18 inches long) 1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3/4 cup red wine for deglazing, optional, or 1 recipe semi-perigourdine sauce Place oven rack on second level from bottom. heat oven to 500°F Place fillet in an 18 x 12 x 2 inch roasting pan. Rub fillet with butter and oil. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. roast for 10 minutes. turn. roast 10 minutes more. Transfer fillet to a serving platter. Pour or spoon off excess fat. Put pan on top of the burner. Add the wine or sauce and bring contents to a boil while scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Season with salt and pepper. And if you have time, definitely presalt.

No special recipes from me, Annie, but I do have a couple that are friends of mine and they have a ton of eggs every week. They are in a position where they have to go to a food pantry each week so they take about 10 dozen eggs to them. The pantry is thrilled to have them, the people who frequent the pantry are thrilled to get them and my friends feel better about taking food from the pantry because they are also contributing to it. By the way, my DH has hung in through Christmas (which the doctors couldn't guarantee), our anniversary on the 29th of December and my birthday - today. Now we're trying for Valentine's Day. Don't think it's going to happen, but we always have set goals. He's down to 136 lbs. from 200 lbs. He can hardly eat or drink anything and is so weak that everything, even just trying to talk completely drains him. I keep making soups and dishes to try to handle the eating problem, do most of the work and spend as much time as possible just sitting in my recliner next to his. That's pretty much his favorite thing. We have been preparing for this for a long, long time, have accepted it and doing very well with it. My niece is looking for a place to us together up in Noblesville where she and her two kids live. The one she just found has a really good set up including a barn with several sturdy stalls, a tack room in another building and a four bedroom house which would fit her and the kids. The good thing about it for me is it has several fenced pastures (with lots of horse manure to till in) and a large chicken coop and run. The only bad things about it is I'd have to sell my present 21 acres here in Brown County that my husband and I built a beautiful custom home and a two story storage building (not shed) on and go in on the above mentioned place which they are asking the same price that I would accept as a very low price on my place. Also, I'd live in my motorhome on the new place because we have two dogs that would not get along together, I can't see doing a climb to the second story of the new place and I'd really have my own kitchen and living areas. Ah, decisions, decisions. Pluses include all the gardening space I could want and sell produce plus eggs at the local farmers market, a very, very active place that draws people from all around, plus all the chickens, a miniature goat and maybe start breeding miniature cows. The kids are great helpers and want the same things I do. I think I might have to give in. Madonna