annabelle

Very true. Us included.

Since we are in the midst of several shooting wars and a number of police actions, billions hardly seems adequate.

My pleasure. The Good Cook series was how I learned to cook 35 years ago. My mother, bless her heart, isn't much of a cook.

Having mice infest your home will change your mind about Mickey. I can tell you that.

You're my kind of girl, Elizabeth.

toni, many years ago Time-Life put out a series of books called "The Good Cook". One of the volumes is devoted to cakes of all kinds. It covers the basics and advances to fancier preparations. The first third or so of the book is a pictorial and the last an index of recipes. It is out of print, but you may be able to find them in a used book store or on eBay. If they are unavailable, I would look for other older texts that explain more about how ingredients react to each other and the proper techniques involved. Many newer cookbooks are too interested in being cute or are devoted to trendy items like cake pops. One of the most helpful books I have is "The American Woman's Cookbook" that was my mother's. It is also long out of print, but is good for meal planning and explaining what to make with extra egg whites and yolks and the like. Unfortunately, it assumes that most of the users are familiar with cooking times and what a low, medium and hot oven are without giving any temps. It's still a good home ec kind of a book. Best of luck!

What is this catching? My dogs can barely catch the speedy little monsters and they're fast. You shoot them. Right through their little eye. When I was small, most little boys were very adept at this.

Same here. I love me some rabbit with gravy. Re: chitlins. Gross. ------------------------" You like sausages? dcarch We were talking about chitlins, not sausages. Chitlins are an alien life form that should only be eaten by one's worst enemy. Stuffed with tasty sausage meat? That's different.

Same here. I love me some rabbit with gravy. Re: chitlins. Gross. They smell terrible and don't taste any better.

Meredith, if you want to try squirrel you'll may have to go plunk them yourself or get someone else to do it. They are tasty, by fussy to clean, although their skin comes off in one piece kind of like rabbit. After you do all that, you also need to figure more than one squirrel per person. Happy hunting!

I think you are thinking of a ganache, toni. That's made with melted chocolate, sugar and cream. I'd try what Lisa is suggesting. It sounds like you made an American buttercream and overcomplicated it a little.

It looks like a large rat or a guinea pig. Perhaps it's a Nuaga? (Naugahide was popular years ago for recliners and such. )

They're Inuits. The foods of indigenous peoples are weird. They also make "ice cream" out of wild blueberries and whale or seal fat. They also bury seal flippers and let them decay for months before eating. Yum! Leslie, you can freeze peeled grapes and get the same effect only more sanitary.

So much for all that nutritional information on the side of the bag, eh? I always laugh to myself when people pile their baskets with "light" chips and triscuits or wasabi peas. When did snacks become a food group, anyway?

Yuck. Of course, the Chinese eat a lot of pretty gross, by my standards, stuff. Beating snake's heart, anyone?

I've never found pate sucree difficult to work with if properly chilled and not handled much. It just isn't applicable for many of the tart shells/pie crusts that I need. I'll make it for a specialty tart with pastry crème, but in general it is so rich that it is unbalances the fruit tarts we like.

I've dissected a number of cow and sheep eyes. While I knew that people ate them, it isn't on my bucket list.

Norm, I'm perfectly fine with the idea that Flyoverlandia invented cattle. They certainly seem to have invented the cattle drive. I've only been to KC once and didn't have time to eat any BBQ but it always gets fantastic press.

I'm having serious stove envy, Franci. When I was first married, we lived in a house that had a gas stove that is still one of my favorites, although I don't recall the brand. I had to light the gas in the oven with a match and it was the most even heating oven I have ever had. They built things to last back in the old days.

Hey, now. OKC's airport is named after a guy killed in a plane crash. We have all kinds of HOF baseball players (Mickey Mantle is from the town up the highway from me) and no baseball team. At all.

Boy, that's for sure. I've had nothing but bad luck with them as far as cheesecake goes. I suppose they work wonderfully in a woodburning stove, but since we don't do that anymore, I skip it.

Correct, rotuts. Eating fruits will also keep you feeling full whereas juice will not stick with you. This is one of the drawbacks to the juicing craze. Juice will also skyrocket your blood glucose and then crash you to the ground. Whole fruits will satisfy both hunger and thirst and will keep you on an even keel.

You could try making a New York style cheesecake. It has a pate sucree or sugar cookie-like dough crust. You partially bake the bottom crust, then take it out of the oven and let it cool until you can handle the tin and then press the rest of the dough around and up the sides of the pan. Then fill with the cheesecake mixture and bake. I don't make this with a water bath and it always comes out great. No cracks and is very easy to slice, as well. The trick (for me at least) is to leave it in the oven after the baking time is up, with the heat off, for an hour. Then take it out of the oven and cool completely on a rack. Then refrigerate, loosely covered.

Franci, I was at Lowe's home improvement store today and found a product that is similar to the Glass Wax I mentioned upthread. It is called Cerama Bryte and is made for cleaning and polishing ceramic appliances. I haven't used it yet, but it looks promising.

We are agreed that in the aggregate, being law-abiding makes for a civilize society. We are likewise agreed that many laws are archaic, redundant, unenforceable or silly. We are further agreed that the best way to change these laws is to petition the lawmakers. In that spirit, I urge you to call the city hall or wherever these laws are made and try to get a real person on the phone. Finding out the steps to get to the correct place to lodge a complaint is an eye opener. It's next to impossible, if not downright impossible in a city the size of New York. Legislation is passed with no input from those who it will be effecting and it is solely for the purpose of collecting monies. This leaves third parties who are not a part of city government who may grease the wheels for a fee. Protection money, as it were. This isn't desirable, still costs money and is itself illegal yet it is expedient. Or it leaves the fourth option which is to ignore the law. Insisting that everyone follow the rules is a pipe dream because their are always those who will not, even when money is not a barrier, c.f, Bernie Maddoff, and others. Hope this helps.