Where the Deer and the Antelope Play - Living in the USA (visitors welcome)

[SuperBunny]

East Coast
MaNanny - Boston
Twinmommytobe - Boston
MuminCT - CT
Greatgooglymoogly - NY State
Yesthereare4ofthem - NY State
Brooklynmom - NYC
alarkaspree - NYC
MKG - New Jersey
Mummimamma - PA
Poetmum - PA
Twirl - MD

South
Earlybird - TN
jabberwocky - AR
Sunchowder - Florida
Marls001 - Bentonville, AR
Tinpot - NC
MadameDeathStare- AL

Midwest
SuperBunny- Chicago
Dodgykeeper - Dayton, OH
Chocchipcookie - Ohio
MonkeyLover
KickAssAngel - Ann Arbor, MI

Rockies
Alipiggie - Boulder, CO
Ribena

Northwest
AnnieLaurie - Seattle, WA
Dooneygirl - Oregon City, OR

California
SittingBull - nr San Francisco
Califrau - Milpitas
loopsngeorge - Brentwood, LA
Syd - Manhattan Beach, LA
SofiaAmes - LA
LATyke - Redondo Beach

Texas
Texan - Dallas
Tiggyhop - Houston
Vixie78 - Houston
BananaPudding - Austin
Cosmicdust - East Texas

Canada
Hellish - Ottawa
Shouldlistenedtomymum - Hamilton
Nooka - BC
Jacksmama - Langley

Exotic Islands
Anorak - Bermuda
cp - Trinidad
Barefeete - BVI

Brazil
Albert

Ooo Dodgy, I'd love to meet for coffee My leeks came as tiny dried mini leeks which I just plonked in holes in the ground. I am not sure where they came from - a fellow gardener gave me his spares. Where do you all get your gardening supplies? Which book is the involtini in? I agreed to cook for the man I am seeing.

I need new kitchen scales. lol @ bathroom scales being too frank.

Pole Dancing and Burlesque is meant to be very popular. I don't know if I'd be brave enough though.

lol @ Martha Luther King day.

Cali! Cali Cali Ca-LI! Cali came back here. OOOOOHHHHHH. . . Cali came back home.

That was a song I made up in my head. For Cali.

Hey, Bunny, I hear Crate and Barrel has great kitchen scales. Someone told me that once.

I actually got loads of sleep last night, and I kinda feel giddy drunk because of it.

I wish I had brought my breadmaker. The one we bought here is not nearly as good - the bread is very heavy I've found. I also wish we had brought our Henry, although as he was 11 years old it seemed foolish (plus the power thing).

dh bought (against my explicit instructions) a stick Dyson, and it is the most completely pants vacuum I have ever used . Heavy, awkward, and doesn't even do a good job (and it ate and destroyed dh's mobile phone charger). However we have a central vacuum system here, so I no longer have to use it (well actually as I am working, and dh is at home I don't have to do any cleaning at all any more )

Here's my odd, random question of the day. What do you guys use to wash your fruits and vegetables?

Water

Water

Where would one buy non Nestle butterscotch chips?

[clueless emoticon]

will look for you when we go shopping today

Nowhere around here. Maybe an upscale food store? King Arthur Flour has some online.

Thanks for your answers, btw.

What do you wash your F&V in and why did you ask?

Thanks for butterscotch chip help.

I've just read several places that plain water alone doesn't get rid of the toxins. I've read on several "green" sites to use a wash made with grapefruit seed extract and baking soda in water. So I got some several months ago, but when I mix the two, all it does is bubble up and cause some sort of reaction to make it all drip out of the sprayer. The GSE bottle says only to put a few drops of it in the sprayer full of water, so that's all I've been doing. I've been feeling inadequate at my f+v cleanliness, so I decided to ask. I feel better, now.

And I figured the f+v would be a good thread to ask on, but wasn't sure if anything anyone would recommend would be available here, so I asked the lovely gardener and compost people instead.

Hmm, you can buy that spray stuff, can't you? I don't know what is in it but they sell it in places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. I decided that water would be preferable to spray stuff. I suppose the solution is to buy organic/ grow your own. We never wash fruit from the garden but probably should.

I only wash things that actually look dirty (like leeks or lettuce or potatoes). Maybe I am as a result full of toxins. I'm not totally sure it really matters that much.

sb, caramel chips in the baking section of all the supermarkets round here, next to the chocolate chips & marmite, of course

SuperBunny I found Chipits butterscotch chips by Hershey at my local grocery, as well as the store's own brand (Western Family), they're owned by the Overwaitea Food Group and as far as I could find out, neither are owned by Nestle. Want me to grab some and chuck them in the mail for you? ExpressPost can get it to Chicago in three days and it's not really expensive.

a dash of water and that's it

another peck of dirt person here

Thanks Jacksmama - I will have a good look when I at the shops this week but if it gets desperate, I will let you know.

All this talk of washing fruit and veg has reminded me of the hours I spent peeling grapes when DS was a baby [pfb]

You bet, the grocery and te post office are two minutes from my house.

What are you planning on making with butterscotch chips?

Hang on a mo, I found a recipe for home-made butterscotch chips:

This is a really great recipe for homemade butterscotch that I make frequently. You could just break up the butterscotch into very small pieces for baking in cookies and the like. Here's the recipe:

Ever have real butterscotch candy? If your only exposure to butterscotch has been through pudding, the bright yellow candies with a chemical taste, or manufactured "butterscotch" chips, you're in for a much tastier treat. Here's how to make the real thing.

Things You?ll Need:

• Brown sugar
• Sugar
• Light corn syrup
• Butter
• Water
• Vinegar
• Vanilla extract
• Heavy saucepan
• Cookie sheet
• Aluminum foil
• Silicone spatula
• Candy thermometer
• Glass of ice water
• Stove
• Powdered sugar
• Sharp knife
• Airtight container

Step1
Place 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup corn syrup, 1/2 cup butter, 2 tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. vinegar and 1 tsp. vanilla into the saucepan.

Step2
Put the saucepan on the stovetop, and warm the contents over medium heat.

Step3
Melt the sugar and butter, then reduce the heat until the mixture comes to a medium boil. Stir with the spatula and scrape the sugar mixture off of the sides.

Step4
Heat the mixture until it reaches 300 degrees F on the candy thermometer. If you do not have a candy thermometer, drop some of the hot mixture into a glass of ice water. When it has reached about 300 degrees, the mixture will form hard candy balls that crack when dropped into cold water.

Step5
Cut a piece of the aluminum foil to fit the cookie sheet and butter generously. Pour the hot candy mixture onto the buttered foil and cool slightly.

Step6
Score the top of the candy to form squares. Allow it to cool completely.

Step7
Break the candy apart along the scored lines. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, to keep them from sticking together, and store in an airtight container.

This method makes a little over 1 lb. of butterscotch.

Oh know! I will have to make that now.

I mean, oh NO, not know

going back to previous topic in the thread, we've just had chick pea & sweet potato curry. was yummy, but had a whole tin of cocnut milk, so don't think it counts as low fat., about 15g of fat per portion isn't loe enough, is it? still had (low fat) sour cream with it though.

That sounds delicious. I don't know how little fat you need for it to count as low fat. I just had carrot and lentil soup - it's very good but rather orange.

And we've just had totally NON low fat Yorkshire Pudding . Boy was it good, with home made onion gravy too. Went to see Hotel for Dogs yesterday, laughed out loud, and cried. Highly recommend it to anyone, but take the kleenex, particularly if you're a big softie like me.
Rest of the weekend left a great deal to be desired, Ex again sigh.

So who wishes they were going to be DC on Tuesday then?

I so wish I was going! I know several people who are going to stand on the Mall. I won't even be able to watch the Inauguration

Movie sounds good, Ali. Sorry for crapppiness.