Now I am very glad to be wrong on this topic - it's very good news to hear that breeders are actually focusing on taste. Jonagold is quite delicious. I read "The Fruit Hunters" and the author interviewed the Zeigers of Zeiger genetics. They admitted that most of the focus of their stone fruits has been on shippability, but they claim to now have changed their focus, and they are trying to improve on taste - the goal is to have a peach that tastes as good as the old heirlooms, but also ships well and stays good for weeks at a time. Yes, I am not sure I would even know how to grow apples on the East coast. I feel very fortunate to live in the Santa Cruz mountains, we have about the best climate one could ever ask for when it comes to apples. They are so tasty in my orchard, that is what got me so enthusiastic about apples. I spent years trying to grow all sorts of things from subtropicals like macademias to citrus and stone fruits. None rival the perfection of the apples in my orchard. We even get outstanding Summer apples because our Summers here (upper 60's to mid 70's daytime, mid 40's to low 50's night time in the middle of July and August) are equivalent to East Coast Fall weather. Our first apple to ripen is Anna around late May, and the last apple to ripen is Williams Pride in late January. Feb through April is covered primarily by storage apples. But we do get seasonal fluctuations here too that shift which apples end up tasting good. We get a period of hot Fall weather that - if it shows up too early tends to ruin the early Fall apples which seem not to like much heat. If the heat doesn't show up until October, then we get nearly perfect apples on all the varieties. Last Fall the Cox orange pippin harvest was ruined because the hot weather showed up at the end of August. They went mealy very quickly.

These two posts might help you with the recipe arlinek. The first is from a guy who bought a package of the chili from Cupids and listed the ingredients. The second is from a guy who made a batch with canned chili, beer and canned tamales. You might want to add some of the seasonings mentioned in th e first post, ie cumin and oregano to get a better flavor. I might try this tonight, Hebrew National all beef hotdogs are on sale for $3. "I recently purchased from a Cupids location for $40.00 USD the chili as it is delivered to them from STOKES. The chili is delivered in two separate packages, the first being the Chili Sauce with meat and then the Tamale sauce with beef. On each was a label and here is what the ingredients are; Chili Sauce with Meat Beef Suet, Carrots, Cereal (Oats) Spices, Salt, Garlic Powder Tamale Sauce with Beef Beef, Bleached Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Water, Chili Pepper, Oregano, Cumin, Corn Meal, Salt & Garlic Powder I do not know the proportions of these ingredients, however I am certain that someone can figure that out now that I have supplied the ingredients. The guy that sold it to me instructed be to mix the two packages together and add water to the get the desired thickness. ThatÂs all Enjoy Richard" http://www.recipelink.com/mf/14/25164 and also this.... "I did some experimenting after reading the posts in this forum and came up with a close imitation of Cupid's chili dogs. Listen this. You will need: 1 pack of natural skin hot dogs hot dog buns 1 can of chili with no beans (Hormel's tastes a little strong. Find one that is a bit blander. I used a generic.) 1 can of Hormel's canned tamales some beer (I used Heineken) Steam the hot dogs and buns. Heat your can of chili in a pot. As the hot dogs and chili cook, take your can of tamales, stick them in a blender and liquify them (make sure to include all of the juice and no paper). Add the tamale mix to the chili. Now, what I noticed at Cupid's was a distinctive beer taste. So, I added beer to the Chili. This will give the chili a unique tanginess like no other. Pour in enough beer to taste. Not much is needed to give it that special spike! Stir all of the ingredients. It might be possible that the chili is too thin. Vaporize some of the extra liquid by leaving it on the stove for a bit and then letting it cool when you are satisfied with the consistency. This should thicken things up a bit. Slap a dog in a bun, add liberal amounts of mustard, and slather with the new chili/tamale/beer mix. I was quite surpised at how close this comes to Cupid's. It even has that reddish oily liquid at the top of the chili. Let me know what you think. Bon apetit!" and also this.... Here is a link that might be useful: Jonathan's Cupid Chili Sauce Imitation recipe

Some of the recipes below are a lot older than 50! Just updated to Metric by Yours Truly. Acid Drops 500g sugar 150ml water 1 teaspoon tartaric acid icing sugar to coat (optional) Put the sugar and water into saucepan, stir over a moderate heat until the sugar dissolves then boil the mixture until it reaches the 'brittle' stage at 156C. Remove any scum that floats to the top of the mixture during boiling. Allow the mixture to cool slightly in the saucepan, then, while it is still a pouring consistency, carefully blend in the tartaric acid. Mix thoroughly. Pour into tiny moulds and allow the mixture to set, or pour into a tray and leave until sufficiently cool to handle, then form into long rounded bars. When cold, cut into small pieces. Roll in a little sifted icing sugar if desired. Basic Honey Toffee 1 cup honey Cook honey to hard crack stage, stirring constantly. Pour onto a buttered marble slab. As soon as outside edges are cool enough to touch, fold to centre and make a long roll. Start stretching or pulling while hot. Pull until honey becomes light and porous and small strings develop. Cut into short pieces. Place in paper lined metal containers for two days to soften. Creamy Peanut Toffee 60g butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon golden syrup 3/4 cup condensed milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts Stir butter, sugar and golden syrup over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Stir in milk, bring to the boil. Reduce heat and stir for 8 minutes or until the colour of straw. Add vanilla and peanuts, mix well. Pour onto a greased oven tray and leave until set. Break into pieces. French Toffee 5 cups sugar 2/3 cup hot water 1 cup sweet cream any flavouring desired Combine sugar and hot water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Boil. Add cream slowly. Stir constantly. Do not allow syrup to stop boiling. Boil to hard ball stage. Add flavouring. Pour into a well-buttered pan. When cool, pull until it will hold its shape. Form into long bars about 3cm wide. Cut with a sharp, hot knife in 2cm lengths. French Rocks 500g sugar a little cream of tartar 1 large cup water essences and colours as desired Stir sugar, cream of tartar and water together over heat until the mixture boils, then allow to boil for another 5 minutes. Turn onto a large greased baking dish, sprinkle with a few drops of essence, fold over and over with a wooden spoon. When cool enough to handle, keep pulling it out until it is white and firm. Form into a long roll and cut into pieces with scissors. Many varieties can be made by varying the flavourings and adding colourings. Honey Almond Brittle 1 cup sugar 1 cup toasted, chopped almonds 2 tablespoons honey Place the honey and sugar in a saucepan and heat together over gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved, stirring once. Bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the almonds. Pour mixture into a greased 18cm square dish. Cut into 12 pieces while still warm, then leave to cool. Potato Candy 1 cup warm mashed potatoes, unseasoned 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla 1kg icing sugar 500g chocolate, melted for dipping 2/3 cup crushed peanuts OR 1 cup coconut Combine the potato, salt and vanilla in a four-quart mixing bowl. Sift the icing sugar over the potato, stirring and adding about one cup at a time. The mixture will liquefy when the first sugar is added, then gradually begin to thicken. When it becomes the consistency of stiff dough, knead it even though all the sugar has not been added (likewise add more sugar if needed). After kneading, cover the mixture with a damp cloth; chill until a small spoonful can be rolled into a ball. Shape into 1cm balls. Dip the balls into melted chocolate, then roll in peanuts or coconut. Makes about 8 dozen 1cm balls. The amount of water in the potato affects the quantity of icing sugar you need to add. The trick is to add enough sugar to produce a candy mixture with the consistency of a stiff dough so that you can knead it. The result is a type of fondant that you can dip in melted chocolate and roll in chopped nuts or coconut. Or you can omit the dipping and decorate the candy pieces with nuts. Best when eaten fresh. Russian Caramels 2 1/2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons condensed milk 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat, stirring frequently as it will burn easily. Boil for 15 minutes, or until it forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Remove from heat, add the vanilla. Beat until creamy and just beginning to thicken, pour into a greased slab tin. Cut into squares while still warm. Scottish Tablet 400ml condensed milk 1kg sugar 1 cup milk 1 teaspoon butter vanilla essence 2 teaspoons golden syrup (optional) 100g chopped walnuts (optional) Combine the condensed milk, sugar, milk, golden syrup (if adding walnuts) and butter in a large saucepan and bring to the boil very slowly, then simmer for 20-30 minutes or until a rich creamy brown colour and a small amount dropped in a little cold water firms nicely. Add vanilla and beat until thick (the beating is important - it is easier with an electric mixer). Quickly stir in the walnuts if using, and pour into a greased slab tin. Leave until cool, then mark into squares. Remove when cold. Toffees 3 cups sugar 1/4 cup brown malt vinegar 1 cup water Place sugar, water and vinegar into a saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat, boil rapidly, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until a small amount, when poured into cold water, will crack. Remove from heat, stand saucepan in cold water for 1 minute. Remove from water, allow bubbles to subside. Pour into paper patty cases. Leave 2 minutes before decorating with coconut, hundreds and thousands etc. Butterscotch 2 cups sugar 2/3 cup liquid glucose 1 teaspoon lemon essence 1/3 cup water 125g butter 1/2 teaspoon salt Combine sugar, water and glucose in a heavy saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce heat until very low, boil 8-10 minutes or to 150C on a sweets thermometer; mixture should be light golden brown. Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients, stir until well blended. Pour into lightly greased lamington tin. Mark into squares while still hot. [A lamington tin is your Jelly Roll tin.] Old Fashioned Barley Sugar 1/2 cup pearl barley thinly peeled rind of 1/2 lemon juice of 1 lemon 5 cups cold water 4 cups sugar Put the barley, lemon peel and water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for two hours. Remove from heat, and let the barley water stand for about 30 minutes so that the solids settle to the bottom of the pan. Ladle off enough clear liquid from the top of the barley water to make 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Pour the barley water into a saucepan and add the sugar. Set the pan over low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved, then let the syrup boil without stirring. Add the lemon juice, and boil the syrup again until it begins to crack (140-145C on a sweets thermometer). Pour the syrup onto a buttered platter or buttered marble slab. When cool enough to handle, cut it into short strips with oiled scissors, then hold each strip by its ends and twist the ends in opposite directions. You will need to work quickly, before the mixture cools. Makes about 1kg.

Well there is a lot that babies and the antique have in common...no hair, no teeth, wear diapers... :) Talk about adults dressing like babies, did you see Dencia at the Grammys? Including the sequined drop drawers? Ridiculous. Loonlake, just for you, here's me on the way to the library today. Actually, after my Mom died (age 81), I went through her closets and took a bunch of her clothes. It was fortunate we were the same size. I was still working at the time and whenever I wore her stuff, I got compliments...when I wore my own, silence. What can I say? She was hipper than I! Of course, she got carded when she went to apply for the golden age pass in bowling...you had to be 80 to get it and they didn't believe she was! Cindymac, the colors in the jacket are pretty. I think what would make the difference between "blair" or "alfred dunner" and not is the presence/lack of a waistline. If it were mine, I'd probably take in the side seams in some way in the waist area to give me a little more shape. Here are some before and after tailoring for men...same applies for women. Vermont Country Store is another place to find styles untouched by time.