Jay, They do give you more sun protection and, living here in OK, I really appreciate that. Sprawlers totally don't work for me because of our clay soil's propensity to hold water, etc. but I can see why they work for you. It also depends on the year. I'll have one set of tomato issues in a year with 18 or 20 or 22 inches of rain and completely different issues in a year with 40 or 42 or 49 (!) inches of rain. The problem is that when I compile my 'grow list' in the fall/winter and start seeds in mid-winter, I have no idea if we're going to have a year with 22" of rain or 42" of rain. I wish I had a crystal ball.... The only hybrid tomatoes I've grown that were delibaerately bred PL are the Husky Line, and I've Grown Husky Red, Husky Gold, Husky Pink, Husky Red Cherry and Husky Gold Cherry. The plants had absolutely no foliar disease in a year when my other plants had moderate foliar disease. They produced a lot of tomatoes, especially Husky Red and Husky Red Cherry. However, the 'maters weren't even worth eating...their skin was tough and they really didn't have much flavor. So, to me the disease resistance was nice but really not worth anything in the end because the tomatoes weren't worth eating. Maybe that's why the PLs aren't used more in breeding---because good foliar coverage and disease resistance doesn't matter to us tomato addicts as much as great flavor and texture! I don't care for the wispy-leaved ones either. Here in my garden, the fruit sunscalds something fierce, so I avoid those nowadays. For anyone who doesn't understand why we grow 40 or 50 varieties of tomatoes a year, this thread illustrates why....it is so hard to find varieties that perform well here and so we increase our odds of getting a good crop by growing a little of this and a little of that! I'm still looking for the perfect tomato that is the 'perfect' combination of disease-resistance, high production and incredible flavor, but I am not sure such a variety exists. Dawn

I do make the dressing the night before and love the white wine vinegar in it. Put it all in a jar, shake it, then do as well, right before pouring over the slaw. My son, now asks, when he comes to dinner, if I have the AK slaw. He really enjoys it, and he's not a slaw eater.

Hot Olive and Artichoke Dip Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins Smash Hot Potatoes and a variation of the Baked Lemon Pasta. I make the sauce and put it over either rotini or bowtie pasta instead of spaghetti and I don't bake it. The sauce is very good and could be used any number of ways. I tossed in some cut up chicken tenders and frozen peas one time and it made a great meal. I just cooked the chicken and peas in the oil & butter before adding the other ingredients for the sauce. I plan to try the fried zucchini strings tonight. Linda

bump, go look at the link I posted. shows them cutting the cakes with a canning lid. Here's his recipe and it uses lemon flavoring Brother Tom's tea cakes 1 egg 1 c sugar 1 stick margarine 1/2 tsp soda 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 tsp lemon flavoring 2 1/2 c plain flour cream together the egg, sugar and margarine. add the soda, vanilla, and lemon flavoring, stir in the flour roll out on a floured board and cut with a biscuit cutter place on ungreased baking sheet bake 325 for 10 minutes until lightly browned makes about 5 dozen ***I copied it exactly from the l983 edition of the church recipe book THE COINCIDENCE TO THIS IS THAT: BRO TOM and his wife were friends of my parents, and I grew up with their children. We all went to the same church. come to find out country bumpkin knew them as well, cause they were from her side of town :o) SMALL WORLD