tobyt, "I was surprised about TH's in your town Tricia." Yeah, me too. Not often do we encounter such blantant bad behavior from a large corporation. But, it wasn't just my village. I could understand closing an underperforming location, or two. That's not what Tim Horton's did though. They closed every shop in the state simultaneously WITHOUT notifying employees or franchise owners. They ran out of the state under cover of darkness like a thief in the night. Some people had owned their franchises less than two years. I remember one couple who had recently received their franchise as a wedding present from the bride's parents. The parents ended up losing their personal residence & car when Tim Horton's fled. The couple had to sue to get the franchise refund due under the terms of their contract with TH's. TH's wouldn't even meet with the employees until local media forced the situation. Then, they agreed to employment counseling & offered franchise owners other "opportunities" in the mid-west. Nobody took them up on the "offer". Tim Horton is a poster child for poor corporate citizenship in Connecticut and it's a well earned reputation. Coffee was the problem that caused TH's financial losses in Connecticut. Their donuts, sandwiches, etc. were good. Sure, there were some that liked the coffee but too few to meet Wall Street's expectations. Repeatedly, TH's Connecticut customers asked the company for a lighter coffee blend. Repeatedly, TH's response was, "You'll get used to it!" (That's a quote from TH's, BTW...this TH versus the people of CT was a BIG hoopla for a long time.) New Englanders, as a group, are known for being shall we say, "individual thinkers". Connecticut customers were not going to be told how they will drink their coffee. So, they just went elsewhere for that morning cuppa Joe & a donut. TH's also refused to advertise locally. They also refused to help sponsor youth athletic programs, community fun runs, festivals, concerts, etc. like their competition so graciously does without complaint. And now TH has made a corporation decision to allow their empty buildings to sit without any maintenance. We have one here in Mystic. It's in a PRIME location downtown. A blight on our most prominant part of town reminding us every day of how those employees/franchise owners were treated. Good riddance to Tim Horton's. BTW, it was't just Connecticut. They also fled our little neighbor to the east, Rhode Island, for the same reasons and coordinated their stealth flight for the same night. Oh, and while I'm on a toot...they couldn't even get their geopgraphy correct. After all the local hoopla TH made an official corporate announcement of their closings in the local newspapers. They said, "We are closing our stores in Providence, Connecticut, and Rhode Island..." Geesh. /tricia

We celebrated National Ice Cream day in style. The ice cream (vanilla) was quite a hit, even though I made it every summer for years - when the kids were much younger (though without their spouses). Next Sunday they want olive oil ice cream, then I think I'll make Alton Brown's chocolate ice cream. I find that a recipe with about three cups cream/half & half makes just the right amount for everyone to have a good serving with almost nothing left, so I'm adjusting my recipes accordingly.

iluvcats ~ The Kirkland Super Premium Puppy food has the following ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearl barley, egg, beet pulp, chicken fat, potatoes, fish meal, flaxseed, dried brewer's yeast, millet, potasium chloride, salt, choline, chloride, carrots, peas, kelp, applies, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, salmon oil (a source of DHA), rosemary extract, parsley flake, dried chicory root, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine, manganese proteinate, manganese oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganse sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxinehydrochloride (Vit. B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement and folic acid. Everyone knows that rice is far more digestible than corn or wheat. I don't see how this is a bad thing. Crude protein - 28% min. Crude fat - 17% min. Crude fiber - 3% max. Moisture - 10% max. Calcium - 1.2% min. Phosphorous - 1% min. Zinc - 225mg min. Selenium - 0.4mg min Vitamin E - 250IU min. Omega 6 fatty acids - 3% min. Omega 3 fatty acids - 0.5% min. Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) - 0.005% min. It's true that this isn't listed a human grade food but most folks simply cannot afford to pay huge prices for that kibble option. Before the onset of commerical kibble dogs and cats have been a part of families. They used to feed table scraps. Perhaps that wasn't so bad in the day when nothing was processed food and everything was grown fresh. I am pleased with the ingredients of this food. The dry kibble that my cats eat also has excellent ingredients. I wonder if I could find out who makes the dry food for Kirkland. Robyn

Ohhh, I had no idea it was National Dog Day! Happy Doggie Day to all you wonderful canines! Here's my Howie. He rescued me back in April of this year six weeks after losing our 11 year old chocolate Lab. I was not coping well when he showed up on our patio one cold, dark, stormy night. He was soaking wet, starving, full of fleas and had been shot. Discovered 2 months later that he had heart worms :( Just finished the protocol for that on Oct 1. He's been thru hell and back but is one very happy and grateful dog and I am very blessed that he chose me to be his guardian :)