IowaDee

I love the effort you put into each photograph. They are tiny travelogues in themselves. And I come away from each one having learned something new. Thank you for that.

Yes, you will be missed but wish you the best and hope to see you back soon. You and Kerry are such a team, Batman and Robin? Tom and Jerry? Lone Ranger and Tonto? Abbot and Costello? Nope, even better, Kerry and Anna. Take Care and come back soon.

Sort of a "if you've got it, flaunt it" attitude. The "it" being poison. Just nature's way of telling potential predators to back off.

Just got Tacopedia by Deborah Holtz and Jaun Carolo Mena. As it states on the cover, contains the secrets and origins of popular Mexican foods. The illustrations remind me of those in Lucky Peach Also lots of great photos. Going to be a fun book to have.

I recently discovered the annual Cornbread Nation books. They offer a collection of the best of Southern food writing. I'm going to included one in every Amazon order until I have all of them. Not knowing anything about them, I brought number 7, the latest, and than went back to the start and grabbed number 1. At the rate I fill my shopping cart, I will soon have them all. Southern cooking is something I know little about other than BBQ so this will be an enjoyable education for me. Off topic but fun. Our local Amish scratch and dent just became a dealer for Big Green Eggs. It was a hoot to see the young barefooted girls in their bonnets giving us a sales pitch. I'm hoping we get to the demo and tasting this Friday Talk about culture class....

Oh gosh, and I was still working on my menu suggestions. So far: Walk the plank steak Parrot and raisin salad Peg leg o' lamb

I have one of the old Sunbeam mixers too! My grandmother gave it to me eons ago. It was a dinosaur when I got it but still chugs along like an old war horse. I still have the original bowl as well. Did replace the braided cord when it got too hot to handle. Wish new stuff had even half the useful life of the oldies. Not a piece of plastic on that baby.

And lots of those gold foiled wrapped chocolate coins for the wee pirates in training.

Hey sometimes an older base can be a good thing. More money for dining out, more time, no screaming little ones at the table. Even more sophisticated taste at times. Forgot about the amazing botanical center. We were there for the Chihuly show and fell in love with the place, We have several family members in Columbia with plenty of kids if St. Louis wants to rent them out ( and keep most of them)

Lucky, lucky me. Live just over three hours from St. Louis. Now in a addition to the world class zoo and my amazing baseball team I have yet another reason to make the trip southward! Love the town and I'm sure anything you do will only add to it. Not too big, and not too small, just right with a wonderful diverse population that seems to really enjoy their eating experiences. I do hope you end up there!

Are you looking for a location with more and better forging opportunities? If I had my druthers, I would head for the North-West but roots run deep sometimes

If you ever feel the need to adopt another cousin, keep me in mind. What a wonderful family tradition you have made and how lucky the people are who take part in it. Like so many have said, thank you for taking the time to share with us!

And I was so ready to settle in and enjoy watching what those greenhouses would produce. Like Shelby, I wish you luck no matter where your next venture takes you. You have shown that you have such talent and I love the fact that you're so willing to share it with all of us.

We had TJ's tamales today and I thought they tasted just fine until I saw the photos of yours. They look like the best tasting ones ever!

Oh yes, I live in a rural community with one market that has never had lamb or veal in any way shape or form. The next nearest market is 26 miles away and lamb shows up on their radar at Easter, veal never. Out of necessity ground beef works when there are no choices.

Gee I don't know. If I were given the old farts' menu and later saw some middle aged guests eating something that looked much better than what my menu offered, I might be pissed. Not all seniors are stuck in their comfort zone nor do all young diners crave cutting edge. For some, eating out is all about the choices and if the waitstaff takes always half of them on his judgement call, I'm out of there. Separate menus at different times of day sounds okay, at the same time of day might be iffy. Keep in mind that apparently there are few means of communication faster than the senior citizens grapevine! While we are still booting up our computers to email , they have spread the word on your place far and wide. If the words are good ones, congratulations.

When we go out to eat, we usually seek out a meal that is too much trouble to fix at home or that contains hard to source ingredients or offers something we have never eaten before. When talking to older folks I find that many of them no longer are able or want to cook the meals that comfort them most. Many are looking to recapture them when eating out. Often they no longer need to feed large families or have the energy to cook like that anymore. They want old memories not new ones. These people often equate dining out and eating the foods of their younger days with their best memories. I know a local restaurant that has been a big success just because they cater to the elderly crowd. Boiled to the brink of death green beans, roast beef that seems pre-chewed, jello salad with everything but the kitchen sink in it....you get the idea. And they do a whale of a business. It isn't easy to find a middle-of-the-road menu. If you are open for lunch, maybe you could go heavy on the "pasty" stuff then. Around here, seniors go out to lunch more than dinner. Save the more "tasty" items for the dinner crowd. Offer some cross over items to see which will appeal to all age levels. Whatever you do, don't mess with the old ones. If they like you, they will be customers for life and spread the word about your place. The young ones tend to move around and are fickle. have to try a place the minute it opens and often it will become the new darling and your is left in the dust.

Just fantastic news! I'm sure I speak for all of us in saying "Congratulations" What a fantastic journey you have shared with us. Love the idea that is will be coming out with plenty of time to order for the holidays. I picture lots of them under Christmas trees! Mine will be among the first.

This is such an exciting journey. I love seeing the birth of a book from conception to delivery! As a former librarian, I consider myself as a sort of a midwife who gets to share your "child" with book lovers. Thanks for taking us on this trip!

I think the top one just winked at me. I would love to taste them.

I considered this icky at the time and I still do. My mom would combine finely grated Swiss cheese, chopped ripe olives and mayo and spread the gunk on Barbara Ann bread. I hated the bread as well. Buses used to have big ads for the bread with a huge colored drawing of Barbara Ann. One of m grandmothers, the odd ball one, got it though her head that I was the spitting image of the bread moppet. The only thing we had in common was being a small female and wearing horrible floppy hair bows. God how I hated those things. She loved to ask other bus riders if they didn't agree that I was as cute as the bread kid. Trust me, I wasn't by a long shot.

Well I learned something today. I knew that female praying mantises ate their mates but not that garden spiders did as well. More of a bug eat bug world than a dog eat dog world isn't it? I scored some Hatch chiles Wednesday but it must have been a rough trip back to Iowa.. Glad I only bought a dozen. My home grown mini peppers have skin so thick is could pass for dinosaur hide. Not a good garden year for me. but I sure enjoy seeing the others..

So glad to see you posting again...been way too long. Wonder if the erupting volcano is near you. If so, I see a volcano cake or two in your future. That strawberry-blackberry cheesecake is just amazing and what I wouldn't give for a slice of it!

I have really enjoyed spending the week with you. Keep us posted as to how you use all those wonderful garden goodies. Don't tell anyone but a couple of our windows have big garden spiders that live on them. Once in a while i get a kick out of tossing a bug into the web for them. They can wrap those things up at warp speed. Lord, but I'm easy to entertain or as my husband once said, "a cheap date."

How about the old favorite, Shit on a shingle?