Having just found Garden Smart and Great Lakes Gardening on my PBS channels, I feel like I am doing GOOD!! We have had Victory Garden consistantly on Saturdays, except for their pledge breaks. I do enjoy seeing the many different things presented. Both the new shows also show different gardens and cover topics of interest. Today I learned about Ginko trees, more than I had ever considered one tree doing! Learned how weeds help or hinder gardeners, ways to control them better, with a speaker right from the MSU garden dept. Also saw and learned how to trim, freehand, to get spirals on bushes for planting interest. Garden Smart showed us an Herb garden with a VERY knowledgable person explaining their methods of reproduction, trimming and growth to keep the garden producing well for the resturaunt that uses the food and herb products. The chef gave recipes for 3 herbs infused and uses of the herbs in syrup. Covered a lot of herb ground in many areas. QUITE worthwhile I think. Last week they covered green roofs in downtown Chicago, part of the City planning by the Mayor. Integrated a lot of areas in city, like retraining workers in landscape work, using the gardens for parks, cost saving on buildings owned by the city. Reducing roof heat in those buildings and city overall. REALLY great stuff. I know there was some writeup about Ford Company using a green roof in Detroit area on buildings. Hope some more cities take up the ideas. Everyone watching programs seems to have such different ideas of what is interesting. I have read this topic several times here. There are only so many ways to plant seeds or new plants. New tools don't come along that often. Getting really specific on bed layouts, plants to use, may not be helpful on other growing locations. Can't please everyone. Visiting other big gardens with paid help can be discouraging to others. I watch whatever I can catch, usually pick up some kind of tip or idea. These 3 are all done pretty nicely, very enjoyable to me. You don't have to love the host, just take in the free information they give away! Run with the ideas to use in your own gardens. Something is better than nothing. We don't get cable, so none of that is available to me. I LIKE my PBS stations!

If Indiana is right in the heart of the Midwest, then I must be living on the west coast. Better start learning the language. "Gag me with a spoon"? And why go crazy because someone uses more salt that you want? Don't you think you could, let's see. hmmm, maybe use less?? Recipes are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Recipes will often vary, even when followed to the letter depending on a number of variables. I seldom follow a recipe to the letter since I might not happen to have the free range grapes, cage free milk or organic Vanilla Wafers that Marco Pierre White's recipe might call for. I often will add spice I like and tone down or eliminate what I don't like. Amish/Mennonite, etc cooking has a lot of crossover with what some people term "Midwest" cooking. If you consider Indiana "midwest" then I exempt this from consideration. However the midwest of the United States are generally or at least were, big farming areas and Amish/Mennonite, etc were also big farmers. Meat, potatoes, bread, coffee, milk, dessert was your typical farm fare. The midwest didn't use much in the way of rice however certain areas, including the upper midwest would have wild rice available and that could be included in the later menus. Native Americans of course used wild rice much more heavily than many others until others found out how great it is. Actually you'll find a lot of crossover in German, even Russian and certain other ethnic types of foods when they're living in a colder climate and doing a lot of hard work, but then again considering the number of Scandinavians. Germans, etc who populated the area, it shouldn't be a surprise. But the food changed to adapt to what's around. You won't go to Norway, Sweden, Germany, Russia, etc and find the same things. Just as "cajun" or "creole" won't be found in France, and probably not much in the French areas of Canada. As Annie said, hearty meals were needed for the heavy workload on a typical farm. You'd rise early and work late and burn a lot of calories. Actually what many people term "comfort foods" is quite common among both the A/M/etc and midwest farmers. You won't find finger sandwiches, consumme or sushi on these menus. You will find hearty soup, stew, roast, meatloaf, pasta and much much more. You'll also find a lot of pies, cakes, cookies and rolls. You'll find great breads, rolls, etc. Around here, mac & cheese is essentially baby food. A blue box and a package of Corn King hotdogs fed many a toddler by a new mother. Never could stomach mac & cheese. No meat, why bother. Watching Cookin' Cheap is different. Two gay guys doing their "cooking" and then dressing in drag to show a gadget of some sort. A pickle slicer, nut cracker or whatever. The "Cook Sisters". Initially it was to show people you could cook cheap. They'd figure out the cost of something and figure per portion. Although if they had a leftover from something before, they didn't include it in the price and would come out with 58¢ per person "meals". One thought he knew how to cook and the other admitted he knew nothing but would try anything. They both fancied themselves far better standup comedians that I would. Watch it sometime, it's, well, different. I wouldn't say it's funny very often, but entertaining usually. Actually hotdish for the food, (and go ahead and debate "food" if you're a Miracle Whip snob) and "hot dish" describes the ladies cooking or the temperature of the plate. Scalloped potatoes and ham is a type of hotdish. Marilyn's Party Potatoes, sometimes called "funeral potatoes" is a hotdish, etc. People stick out their tongues and stick their noses in the air over foods. Yes, some will be a can of cream soup with a can of something and a package of onion soup mix. But then again, people buy "blue box", TV dinners and produce from Walmart for cryin out loud! LOL Contrary to what a couple of you believe, not one of the terms hotdishes, A/M/etc or midwest cooking mean all from a can or a pouch. It can and often is made from scratch. The shortcuts are more publicized since it's a timesaver and many people who hit the net want to save time. I would defy most anyone to have tasted and claim they didn't like the scalloped potatoes and ham that was served at my aunt's funeral, or for that matter the roast beef and mashed potatoes served at my cousin's funeral or any of my mother's holiday meals, all made from scratch. I'll take that any day over foo-foo food! Or for that matter the Tex-Mex you get at Taco Bell, or the seafood from Long John Silver, or should I continue... Back to topic, a couple other shows I enjoyed watching included the Galloping drunk, er, Gourmet though never really learned much from his shows. When Andrew Zimmern was a local cook he was interesting to see on the local channels before he decided to concentrate on bugs and exotic roadkill.

YES!! I always look at those great colors and think of doing a mosaic of it!! LOL Some shows, I end up looking at the plates on the walls and don't listen to the dialog for a while! MAria

Actually have been to the movies recently!! Two times in two weeks!! Saw 'Little Women' last week - enjoyed it but it jumped around time-wise a bit and was sometimes challenging to follow. Last night went to see 'Just Mercy' and that was superb!! A true story, it will get you fired up for various reasons. One movie was pure entertainment and the other got you thinking and incensed and involved.