I have a brown thumb. My sister died recently and my other sis's and brother were divvying out the beautiful plants that were sent. My bro says, "aren't you gonna give Cyd any?" The sis's just laughed and said no. I have two beautiful arrangements a girl at work made for me. They are silk and are in no dangerous of immenent death at my hand.
My hud is the gardener. I'll come for visits to your tropical isle and bring his bounty. My summers end we'll have tomatoes, herbs and peppers of all varieties coming out the wazoo. I guess I'll have to can this year. Maybe I'll just vacuum seal those babies.

Sadly, I don't have time to re-cook the fish dish for the sake of a plating picture.

I have the bad feeling I won't get on the show just because of how the one dish looks, so I might edit to have just the egg dish (thought the fish one is a little more impressive due to the multiture of ingredients and making the sauce from scratch and such...). Don't know yet! I feel like a total dumbass right now for having plated it the way I did.

Oh, and I did make some very rustic-looking garlic bread to go with the fish dish, but I don't think I got a picture of it (roasted some garlic and mixed it with butter for the bread. The butter melted away though so it looks like baked bread with flecks of roasted garlic).

Be careful, there! My Mom is the ultimate brown thumb. She not only killed a no-maintenance air fern, but she also killed a pot of silk tulips! After she'd had them a while, the petals were drooping, and the leaves didn't look so good, either! A true brown thumb can even kill artificial flora!

Don't worry too much about that. I think they're looking for personality first. Plus, if you get your head chef to comment on your video that will help as well.
Roasted garlic. Yumm. I am a garlic maniac. If it can go in a dish it is there.

Oh man, I'm in trouble then.

Hop on board hon!!! No porch but you can wiggle your toes in the warm sand!

Oh so we won't let you help in the garden, but please visit anytime...you can bring whatever you want or nothing at all. Always have room for you toots!

Hey, they more I bring youze guyz the less I have to can. Not a big fan of canning.
I canned some corn a couple of years back and although they sealed, somewhere along the line the seal popped. Not enough air freshener in the world. Pantry stunk to high high.
Think I will stick to freezing.

I freeze my bounty ---canning is too much like work!

Right on sister.

You might like this story--my great aunt made tons of jellies, jams, preserves---really really good stuff...but our favorite part was the parafin wax she sealed them with!

My sis uses that on some xmas candies she makes. B-i-l was questioning whether one should actually eat it or not. We made him leave the room.

Canning??....Are we in the dark ages???
Do you all churn butter too?????
I am jealous but I ain't going that far.
Canning is just too much work for moi..I'm such a lazy git..I hate to cook and I hate the mess...Plus I was spoiled....We always had restaraunts in our lives one way or another...If I could eat out for the rest of my life..save for a few holidays..I would.
How dare I am not royalty or filthy rich???


SA
Listen to these good peeps...BUT you also might want to be a bit crazy on camera....Well unless you are a very experienced chef they will pick you for drama or a flamboyant way about you as they did Mikey.

How much chef experience do you have sweets??
If you don't have a lot....you MIGHT and
I say might .....want to go the wild Andrew personality route.
YET Andrew can back it up with his experience.

Supe's post was invaluable..They use many things for tricks for food shots..You can Google that too.

I wouldn't show any of those photos actually.
It has to be perfect....When does this have to be in by????

Just a few quick things....canning, NO! Dehydrating...YES!

And, no, you don't want me taking charge of plants....I'm not allowed to do anything with plants in this house except (maybe) pick them out! (Even the silk ones LOL!)

I'll see you guys on the beach, sounds great to me.

And SA....I'm sorry if our comments are coming a bit late for you...especially if you're tight against the submission deadline. I doubt the pictures will be the make or break on your audition tapes....seems to me many other things have to go into it as well! Good luck!

JazzikinszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZ

actually, the deadline isn't until the 26th of the month... BUT, I got hired as a camp councelor, and I'll be leaving on the 11th, so I will be very busy the rest of this week getting ready for that.

Canning is not that hard...if this old KS boy can, you can...excuse the pun! LOL

Sorry...didn't mean to be catty...but imagine what Tom or Gail would say! Best of luck!

Allright KK I'll do the cooking but you have to help clean...which ain't all that hard on a tropical island. My biggest issue would be sand in my thong---oh wait I don't wear them so I guess I have no issues.

Jazzie you don't have to can or garden but I'd love it if you would help organize and direct from the comfy chair under the big palm tree. Oh and just so everyone knows I've already arranged for weekly deliveries of bacon and cheese.

KK, my grandma used to churn her own butter. It was almost a flourescent orange. Pungent but oh so good. I miss it. She came from money and married for love. Family folk lore says she was related to Howard Hughes. Maybe that's why I'm so............ fill in adjective here. Disowned and then led a hard farm life. My ma would not ever ever ever let me where bib overalls when they were so cool in junoir high. She said she die before she let one of her kids wear them. If they wanted to our not. My grandma also made the best bread. Couldn't make a cake to save her life but her kitchen always smelled of rising dough.

Jazzie never dehydrated anything before. Is it difficult? Do you need one of those Ron Popeel whatchamacallits? As a rule I don't buy anything I see advertised on my insomnia nights.

I know there were at least a few of you out there who were concerned about my situation at work. Well, late last week, the hammer dropped and all sorts of stuff hit the fan.

When the company recently offered 50% of our employees the voluntary severance package, they were apparently looking for around 155 acceptances. They got 55, so they had to take further measures to pare things down. The result is that they're restructuring our department by merging three of our sub-departments (Graphics, Traffic and Preflight) into one and outsourcing the bulk of our Graphics operation to India (sigh--grr--sigh). Those three departments (around 54 people) will have to reapply for the jobs (in some cases their own existing jobs) that will exist in the "new world" (about 26 positions) and train the folks in India. Those who aren't lucky enough to win one of the new positions will be eligible for the severance package. If they're offered a position but have to turn it down (we're a 24/7 newspaper operation, so there will be some afternooon, evening and overnight shifts that some just won't find attractive or feasible), they will not be eligible for the package.

As of right now, I'm not in any of the three restructured departments, so I'm unaffected. For now, that is. This restructurisation adds 26 to the 55 voluntary, but that still leaves 74 cuts before they hit their quota of 155. So I'm not out of the woods just yet.

The only glimmer of hope for me is that in my 8 years with the company, I've made a name for myself as the "pick up slack wherever necessary" girl. I've routinely volunteered to train for and perform lots of different jobs within our department, thinking every new task would make me a little more valuable (sure, sure, it's a major "kissass maneuver," but if it keeps me on the payroll [and I actually do the payroll since our AA got fired], then "kissass" is just good thinking).

I also just had my yearly evaluation done today, and it went better than expected. I was actually put in for a 6% raise (the max allowable), because I apparently got some really good feedback from other departments as well as our own. I know a few of you won't believe it, but I actually play really well with others in person, on the phone and via email!

Still, all the asskissing in the world doesn't mean my job is safe, just safe for right now. I'm told this restructurisation will take until September, at which point they'll re-evaluate things.

This is all waaaaaaaaay TMI, I know. I think I'm just giving myself a major pep-talk, and trying to play up the positive as much as I can. The real downer is that so many of the people I know--people who have become friends and extended family for me in the past 8 years--are facing the axe, and I don't know how to deal with that emotionally or interactively.

I don't think it's that hard...just a really long process...and we usually have to do it when it's still really hot and humid here. Blanch and freeze is sooo much quicker.

A Bear doon' the can can.
Now THAT'S a video I want to see!!!

GOSH darn
(Did I just say gosh darn????
You mid westerners bring out the gosh darn
in me)

I have been stumped.
I can nowt think of one song for this sumptuous vision up in here.
Oww I miss my pixie Christian


Oh yeah it came to me.... Shweeeew!
I thought I had lost my touch.

Do you really can????
In 2008???
Lawd ...little house on the plains


Yes yes yes we can

Iron Chef.....I'm glad you updated us on your job situation. Believe me when I say this....having come from civil service, it's worse (to me anyway) when it is how long you've been on the job that determines your lay-off rather than ability to do the job. I hated the fact that I lost really good younger and idealistic staff and had to keep older and, unfortunately, some very bitter people. (and not have ANY say in it at all!) By the time I decided to take my early disability retirement, I was more relieved to get out of the chaos than anything else.

And don't apologize for being good at what you do....because every single thing you do well, KissAss or not, makes you valuable and that, in turn, keeps the beans on the table. Hang in there!!

Jazzie

IC I can relate to your dilemna. This year I will be with my company 19 years. Left BCBS (nothing nice to say there) after almost 10 years. When I left there I said I'd never work for another corporation again. Anyway, I found this nice job. I was a medical group claims examiner. We had a nice little self insured trust. Our association is basically a lobbying forum but we offered insurance to our members. Slowly but surely we lost all of our business to the big guys. As of March 31st the trust finally closed. Since I started there I've helped on "the other side". Learned how to read the lobbyist handwriting. Help with legal briefs.... I never considered it kissassing just helping out. For a while I was very worried about my position but the fact that I can cover for the girls on the other side has saved my ass. If the others think that your a kissass because you're thoughtful and productive... screw 'em. I will keep my fingers crossed for you and wish you the best.

I don't know which ones show up on late night TV, like you, I steer clear of them until I can view it at Wally's World (AKA:WalMart) Our dehydrater was something my hubby got when one of his buddies moved years and years ago. It was something he was fascinated with, then put in a cupboard for more years and years. I've just started using it, and I do really like it. It has a low tempature heating element, and about five or six plastic open air trays that stack one on top of the other. The cover has a sliding lid that you can adjust to let in more or less air. What works well for me, is finding sliced fruits and veggies at our 99 cent store and just tossing them on the racks, plugging it in, and asking the hubby to check it. I'm still learning though, and found out that for finely sliced stuff (did two packages of coleslaw mix) I need to put a cheapie aluminum throw away type pizza pan to keep the thin stuff from falling onto the heating element. Not a fire hazard, just a pain to clean up. What's really nice for me, is that I love to cook soups...this way I should always have a little something on hand to throw into the pot along with whatever meat shows up on our "manager's special" that day.

Now cleaning I'll do..I don't like to do the
dishes really and hate that chopping mess but give me a bathroom and the kitchen floor..cabinets and refrigerator and I'm there.
Oh tropical island...Palm tree polish??

Whoever invented thongs was either a dentist promoting dental floss or a sado masochist
or... well aren't all dentists anyway
??
I really just had a very naughty thought about
the thongs and useful purposes.
I'll keep that for my dreams tonight.

If you don't wear a thong...then we need
a chimney sweep for the sand????

IC, not to be doom and gloom, but start looking now. It used to be if an employee worked their butt off they became a valued part of the company---now it seems we are all numbers--salary, benefit package, insurance costs, etc. I'm not saying you won't make it through the final cuts but it can't hurt to find out what else is out there and you have a little time.

I've been through *restructuring* and managed to do ok but watching what happens to peoples lives when the rug gets pulled out from under them is horrible.

Jazz... I wanted to answer this.

I'll email you all the stuff I have learned about the redistribution food programs.
It's impossible to start one here.
County health laws .... we tried.
A few counties down you can.. I love it and it's SUCH a great idea.

The food we throw away in this country is a sin.
NY has many...All the restaurants donate the left
over food...You would see homeless guys getting mad 'cause the prime rib was too rare.
But we loved it....I mean how gawjus is that...They get to eat really great food and complain about it like the rest of us.

My idea for a restaurant/ homeless shelter.
A big compound..BIG guest chef's donate time.
Peeps pay more than or less than or nothing depending.... Tax write off's for the rich and a bit of sainthood for the liberal rich......Poor peeps get to eat gourmet.

We grow all kinds of stuff out back and we give jobs to peeps and we dress up any body who wants to come eat with us...I thought about that for a long time and maybe someday.

Did you start a program yet????
You just have to call every restaurant in town
and talk to local government..They are very
strict about food stuffs.

KK, to be frank, hint hint, I'm still waiting.

It's not Tuesday?????
I know I know ....but calm down there honey.
I'm only one woman

OK .....Will do.

Yowza. Mike's tape if out there!

Yes, I really can. My favorite is pickled okra. It is sooooo easy to do. Well, cold packing tomatoes is just as easy. Really...and we do have air conditioning here in the wild midwest, so no more standing over a hot stove on a hot, humid day in KS. Now we stand over a hot stove in a cool house! Really, there is nothing like the pleasure one gets when putting food "by" as my Grandma used to say.

Well, where we are at right now? We tried to connect with the Food Not Bombs group, but they are too far away from us, and the young adults involved are a bit erratic. We are working with the "social concerns" section at Mission San Luis Rey. They just lost their bread donations due to changes in the local grocery store. So we are looking to help find donors and start non-perishable collections. Right now it is more likely to be on-going with my son's school next year, but we are doing as much as we can now. The social concerns section is pretty much one lady trying to run a food pantry, and she loves that we (as a devout Buddhist family) are participating on an "ecumentical" basis.

Thanks BJ, I am just concerned about getting the nicotine out of my system and I'm at least going to try. If it doesn't go well or I think I am in danger of puffing I can slap a patch on. I went almost all day today, didn't sleep much due to appointments during the day but I actually forgot to put the patch on until around 6:30 this evening and I didn't have very bad cravings or anything to noticeable. I sat outside in the beautiful sun and read a new book that I just got for my birthday. Into day 5 now!

Hey IC, I know what you are going through. The hospital that I have worked at for 20 yrs had restructuring about 15 yrs ago (lots since then, but not affecting me) and they told me that I shouldn't worry since they weren't cutting the ER staff. Well they did lay me off and when I went to my manager I said could they look at my personnel file and that of the other person who bumped me out of my job. My record was superb and she was constantly out sick and making serious mistakes. Bottom line I was told that it had to go strictly by seniority and this other person had 5 weeks more in than me! long story short I took the opportunity even though we couldn't afford it and went back to college for a semester. I took 4 classes and got 4 A's . It did wonders for my self esteem which was wounded when I got layed off. I even took math which was a subject I had avoided like the plague . Got an A in math! After 5 months most of the 53 people who lost their jobs were hired back. I had to take a different position but now I'm back in my old job. Everything happens for a reason whether we like it or not. Hang in there and things are going to work out.

Since I seem to be going lyric crazy, I will add the following.

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

(To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)

Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me, hmm?

(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right

(You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between)

You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate (well illustrate) my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between

SORROWFUL POST ACTOR...................

YOU ARE SOOOOO RIGHT

LIFE IS FLEETING IN SOOOOO MANY WAYS

FOR YOUR FRIEND'S AND THIER FAMILY'S ...CONDOLENCES

PERHAPS A BAD INSTANCE FOR LESSON HERE

BUT THIS IS THE REASON TO APPRECIATE THE LIFE

YOU HAVE

CARPE DIEM! ALWAYS

BECAUSE NO MATTER THE LIFE YOU "THINK" YOU HAVE

FATE CAN ALWAYS DEAL YOU A DIFFERENT CARD

LIFE IS REALLY TO SHORT

SO KEEP LOOKING FOR THE SILVER LINING

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

TOUGH CALL IC

THERE ARE REALLY NO WORDS OF ADVISE

I KNOW YOU WILL RECIEVE MANY.............

NOT SURE IF LOOKING FOR OTHER OPTIONS...

IS A GOOD THING.....

AS IT MAY INTERFEAR WITH FOCUSING ON CURRENT TASKS

IT SEEMS YOU DO HAVE A NEEDED POSITION

BUT I DO FEEL YOU WILL FEEL COMPETITION FROM

THE INSIDE.........AS SURVIVAL WILL BECOME

IMINENT TO SOME

YOU JUST HAVE TO HANG TOUGH

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

AND SHOULD THE CIRCUMSTANCE ARRISE

THAT YOU ARE ASKED TO WALK

WALK WITH PRIDE

THE EMOTIONAL PART OF SEEING FRIENDS GO...

PROB THE HARDEST TO DEAL WITH

REALITY IS IT IS OUT OF YOUR HANDS

IT IS EASY FOR US TO ARMCHAIR COACH YOU

BUT WITH THAT IN MIND

PROB THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS WISH THEM THE BEST

TOUGH TIMES ARE AHEAD .................

PRETTY EVIDENT IF YOU KEEP AN EYE ON THE CURRENT

ECONOMIC STATUS.........

SO HUNKER DOWN........

KNOW WHO YOUR TRUE FRIENDS ARE..........

DO WHAT YOU DO BEST



SORRY NOT MUCH TO GO ON

BEST OF LUCK

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

Aaaaaww.. you editing that ugliness on our behalf? or to save you own ass from bannage? Aaah... nevermind answering that... doesn't matter.

You have used every kind of sneaky type of ploy to play one poster against another. All I did was to repeat what you have announced on this board.

So please spare me the whole, "your using things against my son against me." Because if it hadn't have been for YOU announcing that he had a porn site here on the board, we wouldn't have it to use.

All I said was that you should practice what you preach. And that maybe your son shouldn't be exploiting women via his "girls gone wild pay per view" type of website. I don't see where any good parent on this board has yet to disagree with me on this issue.

I'm glad to see that you realize that this is all about you. We have known this all along with all of your attention-seeking posts & your jabs at myself, JustMe, Brillke, Lia, Note, Misty & WAJ. But hey, congrats to you for learning a lesson, however late in life. What a relief it is to know that you know this. Because, when you first came after me... gotta kinda admit I was a little scared of your craziness. I double checked the locks on my doors for months afterwards.

Anyways... high fiven' you now, and keep up the good work. Wilford Brimley has got my nomination for "Saint of the year."

Oh man... I am so sorry to hear the fate of your friend Actor. Seems that new life & death surrounds us all. Joyousness & dreams follow the new life, while sorrow & sadness follows the life lost.

I know that what I am saying is of no comfort to you, as it wouldn't be for me. But I hope that you & Jenn can be a comfort to each other. And that you both can feel some of the love I am sending your way.

HE/SHE SLEEPS ALOT

SO YA NEVER KNOW EH RIVER

NOT THAT IT'S A REAL CONCERN FOR ME

AS THIS PAST PR WAS THE FIRST TIME I

KINDA SORTA PARTICIPATED IN.........

STICHERY NOT BEING A PRIORIY INTEREST AND ALL

WAS AN INTERESTING SEASON......

BUT ADMITTEDLY I'M PRETTY MUCH A JEANS

AND T-SHIRT PERSON

I'M NOT REAL INTERESTED IN THE "FASHIONS" THAT ARE DONE

PERHAPS MORE IN THE PROCESS...THOUGHT...TECHNIQUE

THAT GO INTO THEM

SO WETHER OR NOT THERE ARE BOARDS UP

HERE OR ANYWHERE

PRETTY SURE I WON'T BE PART OF IT

GOOD NEWS EH

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HUH?

WHAT'S UP MH

HOW'S THE RECOVERY GOIN?

MAN YOU MUST HAVE SOME GOOD PAIN MEDS

AS YOU JUST REPLIED TO ME WITH SENTIMENTS FOR

ACTOR

GOOD TO SEE YA

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

Whoah man.... good gawd... how stressful!!!!

All you can do is your best, and then if they do get rid of you, you will at the very least have a good reference.

If it doesn't work out, I'm thinking that it was meant to be that way... and that there are better opportunities out there for you. You are soooo talented gurl... i don't even think you realize just how talented you are.

ZOMGz you geekasourous! I was responding to Actor, just tagging in on your post to him. (same with Lia in my last post.)

Hmmm... pain meds sound good right now... see ya later alligator!!! Off to hallucinate about me bouncing from cloud to cloud & licking a lollipop now. I'm sure that i will have a dream about corn tonight.

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

BOOTY CALL????????????????????? 8)



UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

EITHER HIDE AND SEEK....................

OR....

FOUND MONEY UNDER THE SOFA ;D


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

SIGN ..................OUT???? 8I



TAKING CARE IN THE CHAIR

CATCHING ALOHAS

HAVING FUN

LOOKS LIKE YOU MIGHT NEED A HOBBY WOSH

HEY THEY JUST RELEASE GTA V

YOU CAN RELIEVE ALOT OF AGGRESSION PLAYING THAT LOL






HAVE TO SHARE YOUR SENTIMENTS RAD

AND ADD

JUST THINK WHAT WOSH CAN DO WITH ALL

THE EXTRA FUNDS SHE WILL HAVE



TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN

I THINK YOUR SUPERMAN WILL WISK YOU OFF

A FANTASY FLIGHT THROUGH THE NIGHT

FOR YOU AND YOURS NOTE

Nijuuyo-jikan ugomeku machi wo
TONIGHT TONIGHT Kakenukeru
Hijou kaidan hitomi no mure ga
SIGN OF THE TIMES Sagashite 'ru

Me ga kuramisou na aoi daiya mo
Garasu ni kawatte shimau
Ki-wo-tsu-ke-ro

HOLY LONELY LIGHT
Isoge Jibun wo shinjite
HEAVY LONELY LIGHT
Yami no naka kara kotae wo mitsukedase

Uchuu wo zenbu kureta tte
Yusurenai ai mo aru
Nani ga hontou ka Nani ga uso ka
Wakaranai toki mo aru

Mitsumeau dake ja asa wa too-sugiru
Dakishimetai kon'ya dake
Hi-wo-tsu-ke-ro

****HOLY LONELY LIGHT
****Moyase Karada no shin made
****HEAVY LONELY LIGHT
****Ni-do to kokoro wa ushiro wo furimuku na

HOLY LONELY LIGHT
Isoge Jibun wo shinjite
HEAVY LONELY LIGHT
Yami no naka kara kotae wo

****refrain

DON'T LOOK BACK AGAIN
Furimuku na
DON'T LOOK BACK AGAIN
Furimuku na
DON'T LOOK BACK AGAIN
Furimuku na
DON'T LOOK BACK AGAIN

TRANSLATION AVAIL IF YOU NEED IT

A SONG OF INSPIRATION

MACROSS 7

BASARA NEKKI

FIRE BOMBER

TAKE CARE OVER THERE

ALOHA

HAVE FUN