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blender, juicer, deep fryer, bread machine, toaster, toaster oven, ice maker, george foreman grill (people keep giving them to me & i keep giving them to charity).

If I am actually feeling lazy enough to not walk or even drive 1 block & pick-up my own pie, the guy who brings it to me piping hot deserves at least $5. The guy from the Chinese place a few miles away gets $10 or 20%, whichever is more. (longer drive, bulky order with 22 little cardboard & plastic containers).

We've had a few things close around Houston lately, but nothing I miss (Good riddance, Bennigan's!) I noticed one local dive cut their hours way back, but I think that has more to do with the owner/manager being 80y/o than the economy b/c my favorite restaurant just expanded their hours to serve breakfast & I have to get there early to get my table on weekends. The economy is still pretty good here & is likely to remain at least decent, unless oil slides back down under $40/barrel & stays there long-term.

I am having a blast "ramping up" my holiday baking again after spending the last 3 Christmases managing various crises & eating Christmas dinners at Denny's (@!#!!!!) & various hospital cafeterias, so here is my list:

1. Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake (in a ridiculously large quantity, which will still not be enough)

2. Chocolate Chip w/ & w/o nuts

3. White Chocolate Chip w/ Macadamia nuts

4. Iced Cut-out Sugar Cookies (complete with non-digestible silver balls which my aunt will yell at the children for swallowing)

5. Gingerbread Muffins

6. Sand Tarts

7. Date Balls (which only 2 people actually like, but everyone eats...it's a tradition)

8. No-sugar Pumpkin Pie (but don't tell Granny or she'll swear it tastes funny)

9. Fudge w/ & w/o nuts

Geez, now I remember why half my cabinet space is devoted to baking equipment!

My mother was the "cookie mother" in our troop, too. I remember selling GS cookies back when I didn't have to go door-to-door b/c father, et al. could just lay the order forms on their desks & they would magically get filled out over a couple of weeks with hundreds of orders. These days, they have changed the recipes (to be lower cost, i think) & the names (to be more pc - did a Samoan actually take offense at the fabulous cookies bearing the name of their homeland) so much, that the cookies are barely recognizable, so no wonder the Cookie Mafia has to extort in front of grocery stores in order to unload their ever-shrinking boxes of cookies.

Imho, GS should've started updating their image 25 yrs ago. It was totally unhip when I was a "brownie". I went to a day camp for a week once & it was lame (not even any swimming in the Texas summer!!) really lame. All we did was have meetings & make dumb little crafts (made better ones at home) & sing songs that were babyish even to a 2nd grader. I was in it b/c (a) there was nothing better to do in our one-horse town & (b) let's face it, my mother made me do it. I am afraid that it is too late for GS to update their image, but they could start by getting rid of the "scout" part.

Restaurants, grocers, food distributors, etc. throw out good food by the ton every year. It is really a shame that there is not some organized system whereby this stuff is distributed at the end of business to those who need it. My b-i-l used to bring home CASES of snack foods (jerky, chips, dips) that were "expired", but still guaranteed by the company to be good for 2 weeks after the date. He has a houseful of kids & they still couldn't consume all the food, so my sister started leaving bags/boxes of it on her porch (in town) with a little note for anyone who needed it to please take some. A couple of nearby families & a few homeless people came by her porch regularly. Also, we would carry a box of it in our cars to give to beggars. In another instance, my favorite waiter at my former favorite cheap buffet place got FIRED for taking food from the GARBAGE home to his fixed-income elderly granny & their neighbors! Needless to say, that restaurant immediately went on the "lifetime ban" list. Also, a recommendation on getting free food for a party: contact the trade association for the product you want. My aunt contacted her state's "Dairy Council" & offered to BUY some cow-shaped balloons they had for her BBQ party & they gave her a bunch for free AND gave her 100+ 8oz cartons of white & chocolate milk for the kiddos (lots or daddies went for the chocolate milk, too! :) )

Talked to CM today, the deli person actually told me to go down to Bellaire b/c the eggs are usually about 1/2 the price @ the Asian food markets there!

Thanks.

Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla, floating in a tall glass of Coca-Cola or in a bowl (never, never, never a cone), plain or with whatever toppings/sauces are in the fridge/pantry. My grandmother serves it every single night at 10 to anyone present & willing (Who isn't willing?!), so this is a family tradition, not just a super-tasty way to get some of your 12000kCal/day! It is considered an affront in my family to serve a lesser ice cream (which is all of them, according to them). I think that is a Texas thing, y'all. ;)

We grew up calling everything a "COKE". (Yes, it is a TEXAS thing!) Now, having realized that the world does not end at the state line, I have "graduated" to referring to carbonated beverages as "soda" or by the specific brand or flavor.

I have oodles of fall table decor & love any excuse to decorate for a party. However, the average age at our Thanksgiving feast will be under 20, with the grade schoolers outnumbering the adults. Therefore, paper & plastic are the order of the day, as at least one paper plate will be dropped on the floor - full, & one will be used to make a mask involving olives & toothpicks. My china & glasses will stay in their cabinet next week, & I shall admonish the little cherubs' mommies (again!) to teach them some table manners.

Ditto for the RevereWare. My granny has had hers for 40+yrs. I've had mine for about 15yrs (since I 'went off to college'). It is durable, but cheap enough that you don't have to go ballistic when your son leaves it on the stove until all the water boils out, starts a fire & ruins the pan. (I went ballistic, anyway, but, hopefully, you have more self control than I do. : |)