My mother went totally deaf in one ear from a medical condition, and the other ear is now profoundly hard of hearing from her advancing age. I don't know what to say to her when she complains, as she is not the complaining type. I just ask her if she had to lose either her sight or her hearing which one would she rather keep. Her answer, consistently is her sight. I also remember my grandmother, who for my entire life was blind. She got on very well through innovation and minimal assistance and lived independently until she was quite old. I remember even as a very young child, closing my eyes and trying to do anything, to try to understand what the world was like for Grandma. I couldn't comprehend it then, and I don't think I can now. My heart has wrenched each time you talk about the progression of the loss of your husband's sight. I don't have any platitudes to say either except that having people who love you unconditionally is a great blessing, because more shoulders make the weight lighter. He seems to be positive in his outlook, and I'm sure you beside him has helped.

The first link is for making/using lemon curd: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/msg0117114015932.html This one is for making/using limoncello: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/msg0323334527237.html Here is a recipe from 2011 for a pudding cake--looks good! Posted by doucanoe (My Page) on Sun, Jan 23, 11 Made these last night, a light, elegant, and as it turns out, a super easy and wonderful dessert! Made six, brought the remaining four to my mom's for dinner tonight with mom and my sister. Still fabulous! If you are looking for something ridiculously easy, super good and actually not too bad as far as calories and fat, this is a keeper recipe! Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com Meyer Lemon Pudding Cakes 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for ramekins 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2-3 Meyer or regular lemons 3 large eggs, separated 2 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted and cooled 1 cup whole milk 1 pint raspberries, for garnish Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins; sprinkle with sugar to coat bottoms and sides. Shake out any excess. In small bowl, whisk flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. grate 1 1/2 tablespoons peel and squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat egg yolks and lemon peel and juice. Whisk in butter and milk. Gradually whisk in flour mixture. In another large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add one-third beaten whites to yolk mixture and, with rubber spatula, stir gently until incorporated. Gently fold in remaining whites until just incorporated. With ladle, divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins. Arrange ramekins 1 inch apart in large (17-inch by 13-inch) roasting pan. Fill pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Carefully transfer pan to oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cakes are golden brown and tops rise 1/2 inch above rims. Cool cakes in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. With sturdy metal spatula, carefully remove ramekins from pan with water and transfer to wire rack to cool 15 minutes longer. Run thin knife around edge of 1 ramekin. Place small serving plate on top of ramekin and invert plate and ramekin together; remove ramekin. Repeat with remaining ramekins. Garnish each cake with a couple of raspberries and a mint sprig; serve warm. Recipe for Lemon Brownies from a lady I really miss! Lemon Brownies Marilyn-Cooking Forum 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter; room temperature 4 eggs Juice from 1/2 lemon Zest from 1 lemon 1 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Additional lemon zest for garnish Preheat oven to 350�. Grease and flour the bottom only of a 9X13X2-inch baking pan. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt; add butter. Stir together eggs, juice from 1/2 lemon and zest from 1 lemon; stir into batter and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. When brownies are cool prepare glaze by stirring together powdered sugar and 2 tablespoon lemon juice; drizzle over brownies and sprinkle with additional lemon zest. Another goodie from about the same era: GLAZED LEMON LOAF WITH RUM ================================== Note: This cake is also nice with the addition of poppyseeds. Make sure the poppyseeds are not stale. 4 cups all purpose flour 3 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 3/4 cups cup sugar 2/3 cups melted butter 4 eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 cup rum Grated zest of a lemon 1 tablespoon real vanilla Lemon Glaze 4 tablespoons icing sugar (powdered) 2 tablespoons rum 2 tablespoons lemon juice Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 3 or 4 loaf pans (depending on size) Into large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In separate bowl, blend butter, eggs, milk, rum, lemon zest and vanilla. Add the liquid ingredients all at once into dry ingredients. Blend just until moistened. Turn into prepared pans and tap pan to smooth out mixture. Bake 60 to 65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean. Let cool slightly in pan, and then remove and place on a wire rack to cool. Poke top in several places with a toothpick and brush with lemon glaze while still warm. Glaze, Blend ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Servings: 4

True. Sometimes they just say "mince", as well. But then there's mincemeat, which originally contained meat, but is often just fruit, booze and spices, sometimes with meat fat, nowadays (according to Wikipedia, because it's something I've only heard of and marvelled at--but now that I know it used to have meat in it I understand better why it's called "meat" :) ). Ci_lantro, I'm sure you're right about it being regional. Calling it "hamburger" made me think of old movies where they say the boxer's face looked like "hamburger". I always knew they meant raw ground beef, not sandwiches. :) But they inevitably had some kind of New York or maybe Boston or Rhode Island, accent. Distinctively Northeast, anyway. The kind of guys who called clueless people "mugs". OH!!! "Mugs"! Like 'Muggles"!!! Oh!! Found a cognate! How fun!

Linda - you are certainly an accomplished hostess, I always enjoyed the stories of your very large parties. Even though we do buffet, I always use "real" dishes. Years ago, Winners had cases of plain white dinner plates and dessert plates. The brand is Hotel something. I bought 3 dozen of each, they were about 10.00 per dozen. I am well stocked with silverware as well. I have my mother's, my grandmother's and a set that my MIL picked up at an auction. They are all different but lovely patterns and the set from my MIL is engraved with a "B" which was a joke between us. When she gave it to me, she said she bought it because they were practically giving it away and that I should just tell every one that the B stands for Bonaparte of whom we are descendants. I miss her so much, but laugh every time I see the monogram on the silverware!