Houston does have really good international markets, but I've noticed that these are showing up in many more cities. Perhaps this will encourage more interesting ethnic cookbooks to become available to take advantage of the availability of ingredients. I think the availability of good ethnic cookbooks in English has changed greatly in the last 30 or so years. One of the first good ethnic books I got was from the Frugal Gourmet on Immigrant Ancestors. Of course the recipes he collected were already Americanized to some extent, since he got them from immigrants and not the native countries, but it made it easier to make the recipes. I have found some recent cookbooks on Asian cuisine that have good glossaries describing exotic ingredients, where to find them, and what substitutions to make if they can't be found. I like this trend, and I hope to see more books with completely authentic recipes that the chef can then adapt as he likes or needs to. I have an old Chinese cookbook that my sister gave me in 1987 (although it was first published in 1966), and it goes into detail about how to make the skins for spring rolls and egg rolls but say nothing about making noodles from scratch, which I think would be easier than spring roll skins. It's called The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook, and I've used it as a general reference for several years now, although I seldom follow the recipes to the letter. Many of the recipes offer quite a few variations, and so I felt that adaptations were encouraged. Lars

Look, I'm not saying that it isn't impolite to speak a language in front of someone who doesn't understand it. And it is certainly true that it is her home, too. The only point I wanted to make is to consider the cost of turning it into a battle. Yep, you can win it. It's your house, your way, everyone speaks English only if you are in the room. Hey, it's not even your rule -- it's a basic rule of etiquette. Rules of etiquette apply at home, too (This works best, though, if she never, never breaks any herself, even at home). You are reasonable and blameless. You win! But ... what do you win? You win ... ... and the children don't feel at home at Dad's. ... and the Dad and kids have to speak to each other in a second language (to them) if you are present, which can be fatiguing and also just harder to express yourself as you really want to. ... and Dad's relationship to the kids is different if you are there. ... and things feel even more strained and there is even less communication, even if not a single word of Spanish is spoken. How does that make everyone feel about each other? Think it through, from each point of view at a time. NOT from the point of view of who is RIGHT and who is WRONG -- from the point of view of how this will all play out, no matter who is right or wrong. Now, believe me, I'm not saying that the only solution is for her to learn Spanish and/or to suck it up! I definitely agree that the children (and dad) need to think about how all the Spanish conversation makes her feel. They, too, need to see things from her point of view: she needs to feel at home and equal as much as they do. Who knows -- a kind, positive discussion about everyone's point of view on this might actually strengthen their relationships -- assuming that everyone goes into it sincerely trying to see others' perspectives, not just assert their own rights. And I do think that if the children see she is making an effort to learn Spanish, and especially if she enlists them as her teachers, they are going to be much more inclined to make sure she understands all the conversation. It just seems to me that there has to be a much more constructive (and pleasant) way to solve this problem than to cite etiquette rules, issue ultimatums, demand shows of respect, and turn it into a whose-house-is-this-anyway power play that will alienate the children, make Dad feel pulled apart, and ultimately not leave her feeling satisfied anyway.

After building a house and doing tons of decorating and seasonal changing of accessories, I tired of it, and stopped looking at the Home Decorating discussions side. I've recently, as in the past month or so, started going there again and the difference is astounding, especially the nastiness of several "pros" (and I use that term loosely, no professional I know, in any field, would ever speak like that to a client), it's as if they enjoy making sour comments. In the past I felt like GW members were very kind, sometimes too kind, as in not critical enough, but now, yikes, I cringe at some of the comments from those alleged pros and it does feel like a different place. And I'm not inclined to post over there, I know I would clap back, and not not gently. However, I've had no problems navigating on the site, but I rarely use my phone, mostly my ipad or laptop.

@Sara Malone. I'm not disputing the existence of roof rats or the problems they cause. Ivy like many other plants is one convenience that they take advantage of simply because of it's being there. Where roof rats are discovered to be, a homeowner should remove any plant that scales his house walls or is too near it, or any dense vegetation in which rats could hide -- honeysuckle, star jasmine and blackberries being on the list, too. Better yet, they would discover the food source that keeps rats coming and eradicate it. I can definitely get on board with taking those steps to resolve the problem. My son lives near the west coast, in Oregon. Near his house, the next door neighbor has stand of bamboo that has crept into his yard. Since he and his wife liked the look of it, and because there was a concrete structure that limited how far it could spread, they didn't mind it being that close. But some time later, they discovered roof rats had infested their attic. They cut the bamboo back considerably, in a addition to trapping and eradicating all the rats. Later, they would have the same difficulty with a family of racoons that used a nearby tree to access the upper floors of their house, where they set up housekeeping for an extended period. (They would do it again, later, for a second time.) It wasn't until the son and DIL set up permanent camera surveillance that they were able to see the extent of the problem and do something about it. It's the case that humans don't want any wild animals invading and living in their homes. It's also the case that many of the wild animals who will and do invade homes, use plants as an aid in gaining access to the structures. It's a matter of practicality that every homeowner is aware of this and takes steps to make sure that, at their property, plants are not situated in a way to aid the wild animals in gaining access to the home. This problem is really not limited to rats and ivy but actually includes all homes, all animals capable of invading a home and all plants capable of enabling the animal to invade the home or remain undetected in it. To say that this should lead to eradication of all the species of plants which can possibly be used by animals, is without question a case of trying to shoot fleas with an elephant gun! If that logic were followed, we would be getting rid of bamboo, honeysuckle, star jasmine, palms, blackberries (to speak of just the plants mentioned in this discussion) and on and on ad infinitum, as surely there are countless that aid animals in accessing houses in some way. If you, yourself, Sara Malone, don't have vermin or any wild animals invading your own home, isn't it because you've made sure they don't have access? As someone who is aware of the problem it seems like that's what you'd do in order to take due diligence and protect your home from animal invaders. Why wouldn't it be sensible for other homeowners to do likewise? And I'll have to add that in my own experience, that's what they do. If a homeowner has any suspicion that an unwanted animal species is entering, or could enter their home by the aid of a plant, they take steps to make sure it doesn't happen, without lobbying that all the potentially "helpful" plants be eradicated and prohibited. I can't get to where we get to pin this problem on a single plant species.