Hi Ilene, Do you still have the Lazy Wife beans also? I'm interested in them and the salad mixes. Let me know, Thanks, Remy Here is a link that might be useful: My Trade Page

I'm not so crazy about the winter hot house baby salad mixes. No flavor, just pretty. Seems the dressing is the carrier of flavor. Baby arugula at least has some 'meat' to it like some spinach varieties. I do like the idea of fig, proscuitto, parm. And a toasted nut. Not sure the rest of your menu but that would compliment just about anything. I make a ginger/sesame dressing for salad but it does not go well with some main courses following. As an app away from the table an hour before sitting is fine. Like a spring roll... A sit down salad i think should be considerate of the following meal. I've been making a warm salad of escarole, shallot, leek, celeriac, golden beet slivers...and just a bit of fresh lemon. Then anything i have in the crisper and pepitas or toasted pecans. It has been hit since before Thanksgiving. (when i added shredded brussels). Sometimes quick broiled slices of goat cheese. -pressed into some seasoned olive oil panko, seasoned side up...I have a bag of dried dates that i need to use. Might do well softened for a warm dressing with a chopped slice of bacon or procuitto pan seared with a shallot. I always have olives and feta... Boston lettuce is a nice winter salad cup or torn. Come cold February-March i often put Boston on my list. Nice and buttery. It seems to like, and stand up, to a semi-warm dressing. Just my experience years past when i loved and over-did the sesame/ginger dressing...now used often with a nut/sesame chicken crust or Asian dumplings...or a miso seared beef soup/broth. DH is chopping right now for a warm escarole salad and a French green lentil salad to top it...the main meal is a brothy tomato based soup with fridge crisper drawer 'kitchen sink' soup. Freezer finds like corn and roasted tomatoes from the garden.

There is something about sweet pickle relish that turns me off. Don't even put it on hot dogs and I for sure wouldn't add it to egg salad but that's just me :-)) Except for gherkins, I don't even like pickles much and don't think about putting one on my hamburger!! I just don't care for savory and sweet mixed together.

I sheet mulch/compost (the proper terms for what you are attempting if you wish to do some research) all the time. I have a couple compost piles, but not for kitchen scraps. Kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, etc... go right onto the veggie garden beds. Depending on what I'm tossing, I either just toss it on top (salad greens would fit this...,) or I lift the hay mulch and toss it under (mostly for wet stuff like juicy fruits - not gum lol - or like yesterday when I cleaned a bunch of tomatoes and tossed the scraps into the garden. Tossing it under a hay, or 'lift-able' mulch helps keep the smells at bay. But, in general, sheet composting is an old technique that has worked for me over decades. I do it all year round. In winter, I lift the leaves on my beds and toss the scraps under. Even in winter the worms come up on the warmer days and absolutely love the free food.