Sue: After reading your latest post about your husband never doing things for you on Vday or your birthday, I just had to post about what my then husband did one year. All the guys he worked with were talking about what they were getting their wives for Vday, and when he said "nothing", they started in on him. They embarrassed him so much that on Vday, he brought me a box of chocolate covered cherries. He went to work and very proudly told the guys. He should have just shut his mouth but he had to 'brag' that the candy did double-duty as it was also for my birthday on the 15th. They razzed him for a long time over his cheapness. It was the ONLY time though that he ever got me anything for either day. Ahem, do you think that might be part of the reason he's my ex? lol Shirley

Who says "Red Velvet Cake" is for Christmas only! Try these for your special one: Red Velvet Cake Balls 1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) 1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.) 1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) wax paper After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.) Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.) Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.) Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.) My cakes tend to crack in the middle so this would works great for me!

LOL, 2many, I think Sriracha tastes like vinegar and hot peppers, but can't taste any other flavors. I'm a wimp, I like just a little heat but I don't want the enamel on my teeth to bubble. I think if it's so hot I can't enjoy the flavors of the food, it's kind of pointless, but Elery loves heat, the hotter the better. That is one mean looking panty liner, BTW. (grin) Sleevendog, I found a similar potato in my storage: I left it propped up on the counter for Elery to find and he didn't even notice it, LOL. So much for that Valentine's Day thought! Thanks for the sriracha tip on hummus, Elery would love that. I suppose I could just mix it in at the end, so the entire batch isn't "contaminated"? (snicker) AnnT, the steak looks delicious, as always, and although I don't care for very many hot chilies I love peppercorns. It's a different kind of heat. Annie

See! You could have used one of those as a stamp before you cooked it! Story: The shovel digression reminded me. I have a hammer. I'm not sure exactly where I got the hammer but I had it in college. It might have been a freebie that my father handed off to me. I got all kinds of weird things that way. I still have it. It hammers things. It has a good claw. I can lift it. All's good. But one day, my father was at my house helping me with something and asked for a hammer, so I handed him my hammer. He looked at it with great disdain and a little puzzlement. "That's not a hammer," he said. Um...it's a better hammer than those flowery girly ones, but whatev. So he went to his truck and got a "real hammer" (not bigger nor heavier, surely better balanced, separate head and wooden handle, whereas mine is all in one, probably some kind of pot metal with a chrome finish and rubbery grip, but I don't know what made it so much more real. I think you have to be better at driving nails than I to know). After he finished the job, he tried to give his hammer to me, though I wouldn't let him. It was his favorite hammer. He'd had it since long before I was born. What greater expression of love is there than a man who wants to give you his favorite hammer when you don't even know why it's better than the one you have?