I've eaten dim sum in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I was thrilled when a good dim sum restaurant opened in the neighborhood in Denver that has a high proportion of Asian residents, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Laotian. Our Japanese residents are mostly in the downtown area with Korean citizens living in both areas and in one of the suburbs, there are some very good restaurants in all these areas along with some very good Indian restaurants but good dim sum was lacking for many years until a small family restaurant in the Denver Asian area, there are long waits on the weekend days, Then about two years ago the same family opened a second restaurant, much fancier than the original, about twenty minutes from our home. The dim sum is just as delicious with a greater selection, on carts or to special order from a list, and the restaurant is very beautiful with large round carved dark wood tables as well as smaller rectangular ones, a very large live fish tank you can select from and beautiful etched glass panels dividing the space. I'm sure a lot weddings and special events are held there. A large raised area at the end can hold three round tables for 10 guests each. Not only is the food really good, the atmosphere lovely, but the family has also managed to maintain the same friendly and good service that is at there original location. No tea ggs though, maybe they are not a dim sum dish. But they are still on my to try list. Thanks for telling me about the congee, John, and it's fine that you are not an eggplant fan - I have recipes, just always looking for new ideas. Lee

some of my fav's still around include hamburgers at Redamaks in New Buffalo MI and yes I do drive to MI from Chicago just for their hamburgers LOL. We used to have a summer place in New Buffalo MI and that place is THE place to go for lunch & dinner. I still always visit Teibels in Schereville IN when in NW IN seeing friends, I always have the Walleye grilled. My DH makes us stop at Zel's for barbeque sandwiches & plain pulled pork in Hammond IN and Schoops for hamburgers - he won't drive to MI LOL. House of Pizza in Hammond IN when I'm in the mood for square cut, thin pizza. A few fav's long gone include Puntillo's Restaurant, growing up we used to eat fish (either lake perch or breaded cod) there every Friday, they closed up in the mid 80's :-( Ralphs Pizza we used to get pizza delivered on Sat nite or Sundays for Cubs or Bears games when I was little. There was also an awesome DQ around the corner from my house, we used to bug my dad to walk over there and get us a bag of dilly bars in the summer, when we were too little to go by ourselves LOL. Food was very different back then, I rarely find a place to go out to eat that is as good as the restaurants I grew up with :-( ~ liz

I miss having my siblings around. We all shared a room-some of us 2 in a bunk bed. I miss us all sitting around the kitchen table at dinner time and my Dad making Sunday breakfast. I miss going to my Grandparent's house and I miss their Scottish brogue. I miss my Grandpa showing off my Grandma's china cabinet and all that was in it to any new friend you brought to the house. I miss his dancing jigs around the dining room table and giving me grape Kool-Aid ice cubes wrappe in paper towel to suck on. I miss watching my Grandma M knit and embroider and her teaching me the stitches. I miss the family weiner roasts at my Grandpa's farm and the wheel barrow rides and banding the pigeons. My Grandpa H raised and raced homing pigeons and won tropheys. I miss the money tree and bananas growing on the pear tree. I miss my Grandpa H. I even miss the outhouse. LOL I miss playing with dolls. More than anything on this Earth I wanted to be a Mommy. I miss the backyard ice rinks and being able to skate all day on weekends and all winter. We had lots of snow back then. I am afraid to skate now because I am afraid of falling and breaking something. LOL I miss making tents out of blankets thrown across the clothesline and held down with rocks. My friends Mary Sue and Mary Jo and I would sleep outside in those tents on hot summer nights. I miss going for drives with my Mom and Dad and stopping for ice cream. I miss downtown Windsor when we had a nice downtown filled with stores instead of kiddie bars and strip joints. Stopping at Kresgies for a piece of cherry pie or pastries. Sitting on Santa's lap at Smith's and the smell of lavender from the lavender cart. I miss going to Hudson's Department store in Detroit. I miss my Grandma's pink aluminum Christmas tree. LOL I miss the hustle and bustle of Christmas in this house and my Mom baking up a storm and the smell of the turkey cooking when I woke up in the morning. I miss making leaf houses in the fall with all my friends. We would rake leaves into rooms and we called my friend Kathy Mabel. LOLOL I miss all of us neighbourhood kids getting together and playing hide-n-seek, or Red Rover or Mother May I or Stop and Go and playing baseball on the empty lot or playing tops with baseball cards. I miss the smell of the gum that was inside the baseball card packet. I miss seeing my Grandma M and my Aunt Cissie walking up my street from the bus stop in their matching red shoes and carrying a big string tied box of donuts, Napoleans and Cream puffs from Kresgies downtown for us to eat. Wow, this thread and the Christmas music I am listening to and decorating the treehas made me feel a little melancholy. Plus my sister Lizzie just called to chat and I haven't talked to her in a few weeks. Anne

Oh, yes, those deviled ham sandwiches were a luncheon staple. You'd make sandwiches with it, on white bread, and cut off the crusts and cut the sandwiches into little triangles. We would often make an assortment of these little crustless sandwiches...things like Deviled ham, egg salad, chicken salad, ones with cream cheese, and sometimes tuna salad. I remember helping my mom make them on many occasions. I liked them and I'd eat them today (except for the tuna ones) if someone made them for me. :-) There was always punch to go with those luncheons and I wish I remembered the recipe. It had pineapple juice, and some other juices, and sparking water (or ginger ale?). I haven't had it since I was a kid and my parents did a lot of entertaining. Do you remember when pudding came in a can? I used to love getting that stuff in my lunches. Ding dongs were another favorite treat. Oh, what about those individual fruit or chocolate pies you could buy that were wrapped in paper? Hostess cupcakes too.