Ok.....you lurkers still have over 24 hours to sign up!!! You know you want to!!! FYI~Brooke(my 3 year old) will be drawing the picking order. Wonder who will start us off with the basket stealing on Mon morning? Look for a new thread posting the baskets in one post on Mon too. So what's ya'lls big plans for Mother's Day? My day will be kitchen duty free. Hoping to spend time in the gardens also. Anyone else a Home Depot Garden Member? They emailed me a buy 1 get 1 free rose bush coupon. Plus they are on sale this weekend too. They may not have a pedigree,but they still smell good!! Amanda~Snow!! Hard to imagine...it's still 78 or more out there right now. Carmen~ good to see ya. Hope everything improves for your family. Picnic Packers: Linda Dan Chellflower Vina April later....April

Hiya Nikki, if you look at your photobucket album you will see the options on the top right side of the screen that says upload from "your computer, web url, cell phone or email", choose cell phone and then it will give you the email address to send your pictures straight from your cell to your photobucket account. I just did it for the first time the other day. They will send you a confirmation text message back to your cell. I don't know how to turn that part off though. I got a little annoyed at my phone buzzing every time I uploaded another pic! lol! Hey Karen, Mmmmmm, that cake and ice cream sound awesome! Chocolate cake and frosting are one of my favs! Especially the recipe on the back of the hersheys cocoa box! Yum! Happy Birthday to your hubby! I hope he got all he wished for. Nighters! Tracy

I have both, a basic model Cuisinart made in Japan and a Robot Coupe made in France. Both vintage. Both machines are heavy duty and should be able to handle any duties required in the home. Interestingly the parts from the Cuisinart fit and work on the Robot Coupe but not vise-versa. I suggest that all parts and blades be washed by hand. Do not place these parts in the dishwasher. The heat of the dishwasher drying mode will weaken the plastic of the parts. Also be careful when twisting the lid on and off the bowl to prevent the locking/power engagement pin from breaking. Most importantly DON'T DROP IT! If you have a machine with a malfunctioning locking/power engagement pin you could manually depress the button using a pen or knitting needle. Be careful though as you no longer have the safety measures of the power engagement pin to protect you. The question about 3D printing your own bowl....This is not a viable solution for many reasons including: the plastic used has to be food safe. The bowl needs to be strong enough to handle the torque and stress of day to day use. And the plastic needs to be able to handle heat especially if you use the machine to puree hot items. Finding parts for these machines is difficult. Take good care of them and you should be enjoying your smoothies etc. For many many years. Happy cooking!

I send my husband to work every day with a lunch in a small cooler with blue ice packs and he often brings home leftovers, still nicely chilled...and here in the CA central valley, where Summer temps often get into the triple digits his cooler is in his hot car for at least a solid 8 hours. If your ice does melt, don't forget that just about every convenience store, grocery store or liquor store on your route sells bagged ice. I love cold grilled chicken for picnics. I always try to think of things that will suit any special dietary needs when I'm attending a party, and most people can eat grilled chicken whereas many try to avoid fried. (Not that I don't LOVE fried, myself! :D ) Something that is almost always lacking at pot-luck type affairs is vegetables. For a veggie fiend like me, this is a problem. Generally, somebody or other brings a green salad and sometimes someone brings a veggie & dip tray, but often these can be insipid stuff. I love to bring a grilled vegetable medley, which is quite tasty served cold, drizzled with a bit of olive oil & sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan and fresh herbs. Lightly poached (just enough to take the raw off without losing the crunch) broccoli & cauliflower are very nice in a slightly sweet vinaigrette with a few toasted and crushed nuts. Here are a couple of my recipes for salads that go over well at potlucks and are fine either cold or room temp: Asian Noodle Salad Dressing: 1/2 c soy sauce 1/2 c sesame oil (Asian brand, not Indian...it should be dark in color and smell strongly of sesame) 1/4 c balsamic vinegar 1/4 c sugar salt to taste 1 T Asian chili sauce or red pepper oil One bunch green onions-finely sliced...should be 6-8 onions) 4 T cilantro, chopped. One pkg fresh Chinese egg noodles (about 14 oz) You can use a variety of vegetables, meats, or seafood in this salad. I adore it with grilled vegetables like eggplant, asparagus, peppers & yellow squash, but blanched vegetables work very well too, like julienne carrots, bean sprouts, snow peas (slivered), cabbage and broccoli. I like to toss in some raw slices of mushroom, radish & cherry tomatoes. It's a great salad for using up leftover meats, or I like to quickly poach a couple handfuls of shrimp. Really, you can just have fun. Anyway, in the morning, you cook the noodles, toss them in half the dressing and put them in the fridge. Then, just before dinner, you toss in all your vegetables & meats, and then add the rest of the dressing to taste. Generally, I've put so much stuff in the salad that I just use it all. Serve it cold or room temp, and it should serve 4 as a main dish or 6 as a side. Mixed Grain Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash A mixture of grainstry to use at least 3 kinds, of different colors. I use varying combinations of basmati rice, long grain brown rice*, barley, bulgar (tabuleh), quinoa, wild rice, millet, and sometimes, to lighten the texture, I add couscous. Onions, celery, carrots-chopped Green peas (frozen are fineif you have fresh, blanch them first) Roasted butternut squash cubes** Cranberry vinaigrette*** Chopped parsley & green onions Chopped, toasted nuts (I like pecans or hazelnuts) Cook grain selections separately, according to directions, but remember that they will absorb dressing and soften, so a bit al dente is better than over cooked. Saute onions, celery, carrots until tender, but not too soft. Toss with grains, parsley, green onions and vinaigrette. Gently fold butternut squash cubes in. *Short grain rices are too sticky for this dish, in my opinion. **Roasted butternut squash. Peel squash. Cut into ½ inch cubes. toss in olive oil and roast in the oven, checking frequently until just cooked, but not mushy. If it doesnt brown at all, pass under a broiler after cooking just to brown the edges a bit. ***Cranberry vinaigrette. Make a basic vinaigrette with olive oil, red wine or champagne vinegar, garlic & onion powders, salt & pepper. Put the vinaigrette in a blender with about 3/4 Tablespoon dried cranberries per cup vinaigrette, and puree until smooth. Then, add about a quarter cup of dried cranberries for every cup vinaigrette, and pulse blender until cranberries are chopped, but not pureed. Let vinaigrette sit over night. Before tossing the grain salad in the dressing, taste the vinaigrette for sweetness and add a bit of sugar if need be. It shouldnt be too tart or too sweet. Sprinkle the toasted chopped nuts on top and garnish with sprigs of parsley, green onion tassels or carrot curls and a few whole dried cranberries.