Hi, my sister did one of these for Halloween one year. We all sat in the dinning room and she and her MIL were the waitresses. They had pads, and each guest ordered 3 items at a time. They had each item on the menu numbered so we ordered by number and they had the correspoding items lined up in the kitchen (out of our sight) labeled with postit notes by number. Here is her menu - I saved it because it was so fun I thought I would copy it some day - I hope it gets your creative juices flowing... Halloween Mystery Menu 1. scaredy cat (chicken) 2. monster mash (mashed potatoes) 3. slimy works (spaghetti) 4. graveyard grass (salad) 5. vampire stake (toothpick) 6. tiny tombstones (corn) 7. frankenstein's brains (apple pie) 8. bucket of blood (V8) 9. table tines (fork) grainy grenades (rolls) crystal compound (water) bovine extract (milk) witch's warts (peas) guano cake (brownies) jiggly junk (jello salad) black magic (coffee) cold as death (ice cream) spill remover (napkin) gravedigger's shovel (spoon)

Stacy I still haven't tried Sue's roadhouse sauce and I must do that the next time I find ribs here. It sounds like a winner and has been popular for a long time here on the forum. Peppi I had a real feed of white asparagus from Germany here once in a German restaurant. I can see why they talk about it so much. It was really good, and served in a typical manner together with boiled potatoes, ham, hard cooked eggs and a whole bowl of melted butter...ohhh! Thank you Ann...the birds are now so used to my window feeder and the babies are no longer afraid to get close that they come three and four at a time now. Your week's dinners look delicious, especially that roast chicken with cream gravy! Last night was a ladies' night out for a Chinese dinner in my neighbourhood. I went with three girlfriends and we sat and ate and talked, drank wine and talked some more until 11 pm. It's so nice to get together with friends in person rather than on the internet for a change LOL. Today I made a Salade Nicoise....and it turned out very well. I made too much but we kept refilling our plates and Wolf ended up licking the salad servers because the dressing was so good. I usually follow Delia's recipe as well as for the vinaigrette herb dressing, using mint, parsley, thyme and chives. It's so refreshing and tasty. I put the dressing into a little empty spice bottle and it was just right as a dispenser. Tomorrow I'll be making pesto again. Wolf says he could eat it once a week, it's so good. I've planted basil again but at the moment I have to buy fresh basil at the supermarket as mine isn't ready to pick yet. SharonCb

Shirl, the chickens were ones we raised ourselves, but they were smaller than the last batch, which averaged 8 pounds each, dressed! These were closer to 4 or 5 and it made a huge difference. I spent my teenaged years working at a fried chicken/sub sandwich joint, so I learned to "break down" a chicken in less than 2 minutes. From whole chicken to 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 breast pieces and a back. The breast pieces weren't as big 45 years ago as they are now, so they stayed a single piece. Now I cut the breast pieces in half and so I get 10 "edible" pieces per chicken plus I use all the backs, necks and feet for stock. OK, we raise beef, pork, chicken. What did we have for supper? Kale enchiladas, LOL. Elery made them with a lot of cheese, some kale, some of my home canned tomatillo enchilada sauce/salsa, some kind of Mexican rice on the side. I spent the day at the shop doing Dave's books, so it was nice to not have to make dinner, and I didn't complain at all, even without meat! Annie

I've heard that a good rule of thumb for recessed lighting is to have the spacing be about half the height of the ceiling. So 9 foot ceilings would have an approximate spacing of 54". But then you have to take into account task lighting and make adjustments based on that. I have to agree with the other people you've talked to. You have too many. I also don't think that recessed lighting should be your only source of light. A mix of different types is better. Is there anywhere where a standing lamp that directs the light up onto the ceiling would work? And I doubt that a reasonable size 'chandelier' light over your dining room table would block that much of the view. Just don't make it massive. Pendant lights over the kitchen peninsula might be a good idea too. If you do decide to go all recessed, then line them up. The random pattern over the breakfast nook and dining area looks weird to me. 3 rows have 4 lights, one has 3. The row over the dining table with 4 lights has a different spacing than the rows over the nook.