Nina, last night I pulled a Bluto Blutarsky (in the school cafeteria scene) and shoveled a big glob of Dulce de Leche in my mouth, but unlike Bluto, I swallowed. Lee, your poached pear looks fantastic. And I have to add, I like that background; I'm guessing it's a needlepoint table runner? Anyway, it's lovely. Patti, if you don't have a canning rack, place a kitchen towel in the bottom of the pot, and rest the cans on that to keep them from bouncing around. Sharon, go ahead (threatened the little devil on Sol's shoulder), find a good hiding place for them - and use only when absolutely necessary; I'll honor and respect your Dulce de Leche manifesto ;-Þ Sol

a2gemini: Our granite is juparana oro. The backsplash tile you see there is an inexpensive 4x4 porcelain tile. Sorry I don't remember the name but we got it at Lowes a few months ago, it is made in Italy and was $0.33/tile. It was on the shelves by all the tumbled marbled stuff that I think it's supposed to mimic. We mixed it with a tumbled marble noce pencil tile throughout: And with a few handmade tiles behind the range: Good luck with your remodel!

"cynic- Why do your put your pasta, sugar and flour in the freezer? Is that to kill any pantry bugs? That's exactly why maire_cate! We don't have anywhere near the problems that some states have with the bugs but I've been in the back rooms of enough grocery stores to say, in the freezer! I actually put them in a plastic bag to bring them home, then into the freezer, plastic bag and all for 2-3 days minimum. I've never had to clean out flour bugs from my house and hope I never will have that duty. Or should I say dooty? Say Wildchild, about your comment "Like my friend the people I see using the cheap non washable bags are those who can least afford them." Are you talking about paper/plastic from the store? Usually they're "free", but with reuseables, many stores here give a 5 credit. We all know the cost of these bags are factored into the overhead, therefore into pricing at the store. If you're referencing the reuseable bags you buy, I haven't seen one yet that can't be washed so if that's the reference, where do you get this idea? I've even washed plastic bags from the store! (The cheapie "free" ones.) Also, I have to question your position: "But if you follow the money you will see that this is just another way for stores to save money on regular bags and make a profit on cheap reusable, most of which will end up in the landfills taking more space than plastic or even paper." *If* the store has you bring a bag, AND not give you a credit for not taking a bag, then yes it's another way to save money and to that I say why not? Stores *are* in business to make a profit. However, if the store gives the credit, then I dispute your position since the bags probably cost the store less than 5¢ each so in many cases, it can cost the store money for people to bring the bags in, to say nothing of the loss of bags people don't purchase - grab, use and not mention it to the cashier. Next I'll take issue with the landfill: Yes, one reuseable probably takes more space than one paper or plastic, but I don't think it's fair to say we'll throw the reuseables away after only one use! Or for that matter after 2-3 uses even. Therefore they would keep a number of bags out of the landfill so, are you suggesting that one reuseable takes more landfill space than 50-100 other bags? I don't know what the ratio is, but I know I've used mine now at least 10 times each and they're still like new. Granted there's some wobble room there since some of the other bags would get reused as trash bags. Sometimes get reused even several times (for Aldi trips, carrying things to the vehicle and the like). And yes, sometimes I'll take a bag on top of it as mentioned. But I can't "buy" the theory that there's more landfill space used. You'll have to "sell" me on that one! For the toilet paper core, I agree completely. I've said they should have a minimal size tube in it, 1" maximum. For that matter, make the toilet paper holder thinner. 1/4" would be more than adequate. However, people buy from looks. They tried reducing core size years ago and are trying it again but in the past people rejected it as they did compaction of the laundry detergents. Didn't think they were getting their money's worth. I buy Scott 1000 sheet cheekscrape and it takes less room in the closet, costs less and is as good quality as most any other and far better than many. Compare how many rolls you need to get 1000 sheets sometime folks and you'll see what I mean. On cardboard, Aldi let's you (encourages you actually to) take and use the boxes in the store. Saves them trash costs. You dispose of it. And finally, I can't hit submit until I address the "China Syndrome"! I keep seeing the woe-is-me posts on here about all the business going to China and although yes I think it's sad, I realize what's going on. Why do we get so much from China? Because that's what people BUY! I remember the tearful threads about Walmart not carrying fabric in some stores anymore. That's not carried because people don't BUY it! Trust me, if people bought fabric and made their own clothes and such, Walmart would probably have a store called Cloth*Mart, charge you $75/year to enter it, make you check out 3 times to leave and charge you 50% more than buying it somewhere else! And people would brag about how much they save! But until people buy, they won't keep selling. Stores need "turns". It costs them money to keep the lights on and every item has to carry its weight on profit. Oops, one other thing. I found the comments on that link about sanitation of the reuseable bags to be quite interesting and I think they made a valid point. Don't forget to read the comments there if you read the article.

Martha Scott, I don't know how old you are, but I'm 62. I still don't think that adding a cup of water to a package of mix for gravy is "cooking", but I do know that a lot of the younger generation(s) just don't cook at all and this would be a stretch for them. There is such a proliferation of convenience foods and fast/casual restaurants and delivery services available that it seems "old fashioned" to some young people to cook. Unfortunately it's that availability and mindset that brought us a generation of children that think chicken only comes in nuggets and causes us to be the most unhealthy we've ever been. (sigh) writersblock, maybe it's my age, but none of my aunts, my Mother or my Grandmother who lived with us ever used a package of frosting mix, I didn't know they existed until I was a young adult. The only convenience food I ever saw was canned soup, an occasional frozen dinner, Appian Way pizza and Jiffy Mix which my Grandmother used occasionally for banana bread because it was made in Michigan. They were all terrible, LOL. Olychick, I have made the Hot Milk Cake into cupcakes, to be used for strawberry shortcake They worked OK, but I was careful not to "handle" the batter too strongly so I didn't reduce the loft I got from beating the eggs. Just remember, this is not a "light and fluffy" cake, so it won't have the cake mix texture that most of today's kids recognize. Plllog, my cream cheese frosting is simple. A stick of butter, a package of cream cheese, beat it together. Add as much powdered sugar as you want, the more you add the sweeter it gets. I usually use a pound. Add a teaspoon or so of good vanilla and a tiny bit of cream if you need to. You're done, it's frosting. 4 ingredients, maybe 5, less than 5 minutes. Plus you have a bowl worth licking. (grin) A caveat? It doesn't crust, it stays soft. Annie