You can also use pear as a marinade for beef. It's a Korean thing and the recipe I saw asked for a specific type of pear (which when I saw one, was more apple-shaped) but we just used regular pears. The meat comes out exceptionally tender.

I tried to resolve it with both the host and AirBnB. After a number of emails AirBnB did actually suggest there was a procedure to deal with this, but the host meanwhile sent me a message saying she couldn't (wouldn't?) do anything. We're off one a month long Europe trip in December. It was intended as a dream vacation but it's giving me nightmares! I am very grateful we can do this, but it's more stressful to plan than I expected.

Thanks for the sympathy and interesting to know I'm not the only one to run into this problem. I've cancelled the booking, which means I'm out the AirBnB service charge, but I really, really didn't want to do business with that host after this experience. I'm a bit 'booking shy' now - I'm doubting my ability to make good choices. I've booked us into a large hostel, which isn't ideal as there isn't a kitchen but it's convenient and isn't likely to change its prices on me or cancel the booking or be closed when we want to check in. Right now I need that assurance. Arranging 'budget' travel is hard work!

Poached pears keep for ages in the fridge. Mine have been there over a month. I poach the pears in the syrup, remove the pears then reduce the syrup further. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/how-to-make-poached-pears/

Be warned that you need to read AirBnB's fine print very carefully and assume the most unreasonable interpretation. I just asked to cancel one night of a 5 night booking, made and paid for several months ago. The host agreed to the change, but rather then refunding me one night, AirBnB instead recalculated my booking at a new (much higher) rate and then proceeded to debit my credit card for more money. So I cancelled one night and ended up paying more for a 4 night booking than I had for a 5 night booking. AirBnB's wording is "If the host altered their pricing before you requested the change, your new reservation will reflect this pricing.". I would not have said I was making a 'new reservation' when I cancelled one night, but apparently that's what AirBnB calls it...

A plastic bowl in the bread machine. Ds2 also then switched the bread machine on... Melted bowl is hard to remove from a bread machine.

Given that there are, as wendyroo says, quite a list of things you can eat, could you clear the other items from your kitchen for a while.? There's still plenty for your family to eat, and it would probably help you during the adjustment phase. Aside from that, I'd start looking for recipes from different cultures - would that make things more interesting for you? Tonight we had nasi goreng, that's Indonesian fried rice, last night we had dosa with potato masala (Indian), earlier in the week we had rendang and sticky rice (Malaysian and Thai) . Those would all fit your original list, but certainly sound more exciting than rice and potato and meat, even though that's pretty much what we're talking about. Although that assumes you're ok with spices?

Wait until your enquiring mind has you searching for 'washable incontinence underwear'. Because you really want everyone in the family to know what you're thinking about the whole time you're jogging... After a month I discovered I could click on an ad to 'discontinue' it!

Still, if I saw a 'very orthodox' Catholic, I wouldn't know immediately that they were Catholic, would I? Whereas the same could not be be said of an Orthodox Jew or Muslim. So there is more emphasis on physical signs of practice built into Islam and Judaism, perhaps? If Catholics were following all teaching on practice, wouldn't women cover their hair, for instance? I'm just curious here - I'm not religious (raised Christian - Methodist) but this is something I find very interesting. I can recognise older Catholic women in our area because they wear all black, but I think that's entirely cultural? I don't think there's anything about how widows should dress in the New Testament?

Chat to a sympathetic dentist about options. The receptionist actually gave me the info, but I perhaps should have confirmed with the dentist as none of the options were used in the end (fine for us, but if you want them, make sure the dentist knows). Full anaesthetic sounds extreme for one tooth, but maybe the position of the tooth is an issue? I had that for 4 wisdom teeth. It needed to be in a small outpatient clinic, though, not at the dentist rooms. Dd15 recently had 2 teeth removed. Our dentist only used injections. I declined and sought one who offered gas conscious sedation or whatever it's called - 'happy gas'. In addition they offered the 'whistle' type where the patient can self-meficate as needed. I was much happier with this set up. As it was, they didn't offer dd any of this on the day. They could see she was coping easily. But it was there, and if she was anxious they would have used it.

Thinking of programmes I've used or investigated, 1200 to 1500 is pretty standard for a weight loss programme and that would be assuming exercise like walking for 30 min a day or an hour 3-4 times a week. Exercise more, lose more. 2000 calories is more a normal intake level, not for weight loss.

It's fun, isn't it? Ha! Dd15 has shown some similar behaviour. I know it's not the kids because of the way she describes them (they're decent kids) and because I know her well enough to know she wouldn't be hanging out with bad kids. So I don't worry about that. The key things are: 1) She's a teenager and there are some hormones involved 2) She is TIRED when she gets home. High school is a lot of work and she often doesn't get enough sleep (sometimes her fault, sometimes not). She sometimes naps after school. 3) She's a teenager - it's not going away! - and is naturally wanting more time to herself, it just seems rude to us when she heads straight to her room. 4) She finds being around people exhausting even though she loves it so it takes her a while to decompress once she gets home. She can be snappy during that time. I do try to let her relax before dinner, then she is usually quite friendly by then. If I want her to actively spend time with us - playing a board game, watching TV, doing extra chores - I let her know in advance so she can fit it into her plans for getting her homework done and relaxing. I do sometimes tell her enough with the Skyping friends she's been with all day! In terms of hanging out with friends. There is a large mall and train station right by dd's school, so the kids do walk across there sometimes and hang out for a while after school, grab a snack, window shop. I encourage 'play dates' in her younger sibling, so why not her? (NOTE: referring to them as play dates will not go over well with a teen!) I'm ok with that once a week after school for an hour or so. Sometime she 'studies' in the library with friends after school. Keeping a lid on weekend activities with friends is still challenging for me (she has only really has enough people around for a social life since she started at this school in February) and I need to be clearer about where family activities take priority. When that happens she's good natured once she gets over being disappointed as I do let her see them plenty. Good luck with this! Your dd sounds pretty much normal. I think we really have to try not to push them away at this time - setting up family and friends as a them versus us scenario is only going to make friends look more appealing. And we need to leave room for growing independence and more demanding school lives while still insisting on courtesy and participation in family life. We've found it helpful to make some of these things more explicit (friends x times a week, family arrangements can't be canceled for friends, give notice about family plans etc,) so she knows what we expect.

Answering the coffee question because it is clearly the most important one: I use a moka pot on a single burner gas camping stove. Moka pots can be found cheaply and produce an espresso style coffee shot. I heat the milk on the stove too, for a decent latte. No instant coffee nonsense for me! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot

Settings> General> Restrictions (Set a password) (Switch off as many things under the ALLOW list as you need to) (Exit Settings)

I read recently about a library somewhere in Europe that had installed a karaoke booth. I would find the article and tell your local library that it is a Very Good Idea! This would definitely drive me nuts. I'm also sound sensitive. I tolerate my daughter who sings well, but there are days when I warn her she has exactly 15 minutes to play her guitar because that's really all I can take, or that she must play the piano keyboard with headphones. More difficult with an adult. I would literally beg them to stop, I think. Or leave the house every single time, letting them know why I have to.

As a previous poster said, if they don't do what's asked, life gets unpleasant for them, they want a pleasant life so they do as asked. Honestly, because it's always phrased as contributing to family life they may whinge (as I do over some chores) but they would never not too them - that would be hurting others. It helps that there's not a list, they're asked to do something that needs doing more or less immediately. Its hard to 'not do' something when it's phrased as "Please come and empty the bins and the dishwasher so I can get into the kitchen to prepare your dinner. You need to do it now."

For dd15 - she gets $10 a week and that seems to keep her, once she adds in occasional babysitting earnings (maybe $100 per quarter). When she goes out with friends they usually hang around at the mall, buy some food, maybe a small item. She buys herself music as well. Her savings balance is going up. Big ticket purchases is the last 3 years have included a guitar and rollerblades and a camera. She's managed two of those herself and went shares with us in the other as a birthday gift. So all in all the system works well. Ds9 gets $2 a week and it's an ongoing battle. He is a spendthrift. He likes to buy games for his iPod. We have ongoing drama because he wants to buy junk food (my rule is that they are not allowed the purchase food so that we keep a lid on the sugar intake - this has naturally changed with dd as she got more independent). He does manage to accumulate money (mostly because I forget to hand it over every week) and will but himself something for $10 every now and again. It works out ok, and I wouldn't want to give him more. Everyone in the family contributes to family life. There is no payment for that. You do what you're asked, what needs to be done. We try to limit 'stuff' in our lives, so discourage the kids from fulfilling every purchasing whim. Legitimate needs are met by us. Whims can be satisfied once a year as birthday gifts! (Christmas gifts are small). We have occasionally paid for extra jobs but then they're not token payments - we pay decently and expect a proper job to be done, e.g painting a fence or washing the car.

We're not in the US, but it's about the same age. Kids do work in grocery stores and fast food places. I heard of someone who got a job with the local newspaper sorting competition entries or something like that.

Are you doing off-roading? Shouldn't you have a folding spade or 3? Digging yourself out of the sand with a plastic lunchbox as the tide advances is no picnic (guess how I know that!)

I wonder if the 'happy ending' has grown proportionally to the news industry and especially the globalisation of news? I don't read or watch anything complex or with a sad ending. I always say that if I want sad endings or depressing stories or 'real life' I watch the news. And I do far, far too much of that. Maybe once upon a time you needed to read a book to know about refugees or abused children or tragic loss that you hadn't personally experienced. Maybe that was even a good thing that built empathy. Now we see it playing out in real time every day. None of us need extra schooling in how these things might feel - we see it on people's faces on the nightly news. We know the sad endings.

It would be interesting to look at some of the original stories Disney movies are based on, and see how 'happy endings' have been added. Do they subvert the meaning? Offhand Little Mermaid and Pocahantas might be somewhere to start.

I'll go with mainly in the forehead, but also mouth and eyes. Negative emotions, but not sadness. Irritation, annoyance, frustration. To me sadness is from the heart, it's a deep emotion, whereas a frown relates to more circumstantial, passing emotion.

We did a houseboat vacation. It was only 4 days and the kids still talk about it 4 years on and ask to do it again. We travelled along the river, ate either at restaurants on the banks or on the boat, swam, explored the shores. It was fantastic.

My daughter's feet are often like this, and her hands are icy and change colour (white or red). I do suspect she has Raynaud's. It's not something we've followed up on, but it seems likely from what I've read. I think my mother does too, actually. If not, they definitely both have 'poor circulation' of some sort.

I had them out because an ulcer or abscess or something formed above one of them. They were impacted so it had it done under general anaesthetic. It was an outpatient procedure. I followed instructions on pain meds (codeine) exactly and kept the pain under control. Not fun, but the original infection which prompted it was no picnic either!