Cheese straws are very easy to make, IMO. It's basically grated cheese, flour, butter and often cayenne or paprika. We usually put the dough in a cookie press and just squeeze out long lines of dough, often making a snake back and forth across the cookie sheet -- it doesn't matter how long it is. After they bake, you can break them into pieces. This recipe looks very similar to the ones we make. https://www.pauladeen.com/recipe/cheese-straws/

I don't know what kind we had last year, but we bought a (very expensive!) single plant at Home Depot or Lowes. It didn't even look that good, but one of my sons really wanted it. Well, we planted that thing, and it took off. We had cilantro for a good long while. One thing we did was to always keep it trimmed to extend the time until it went to seed. I do that with my basil, too.

I bought a bunch of seeds at Dollar Tree today. The only thing I really wanted that I couldn't find was sugar snaps or snow peas. I did find regular peas, though. And I forgot to buy summer squash.

Adding that building a house can be very stressful. It's not something I'd want to do again, but I'm glad we did it. We had an architect design our house, too, and that took up a bit of time as well. Surprisingly, the architectural design didn't cost as much as I thought it would, although the guy who did it consulted on the side, apart from the architectural firm he worked for, and that helped with costs. However, I think you can do just as well buying plans that are already made and then customizing them a bit. My biggest advice is don't build cost plus. That was a huge mistake we made

This is what we did. We bought our lot several years before we actually began the building process.

I agree, so sad, and I feel so old. I love my china. The pattern I registered for was Wedgewood Palatia, and my crystal pattern is Waterford Kildare. Just a few days ago for Christmas my table was set with with these beauties, and I didn't even mind hand washing them because they are so beautiful. They make me happy. I guess I can understand why people don't want to bother with fine china anymore. It's not even just the fine china, but it's the work of having a formal meal. You have to enjoy preparing it, serving it, and cleaning up. I'm lucky in that my husband enjoys making fine mea

This is the best stocking stuffer thread ever!

My graduating Senior is planning to work at Boy Scout camp, just like he did the previous two summers. Yep, his Boy Scout camp was the only traditional Boy Scout camp in the SE that stayed open all summer with nary a case of Covid. They had strict mask and behavior protocols, and all the staff had to take on sanitizing duties in addition to their normal jobs. It was a super heavy workload for the staff, but my son grew by leaps and bounds last summer and found his clan. I think maintaining all the Covid protocols brought them closer together as a team. He teaches the Wilderness Survival,

Thanks for posting this.

In general, the sales seem to be underwhelming this year. I don't see nearly the enticements to buy as I've seen in the past.

Yesterday I was texting with my SIL about my son's research statement (he's doing research on frog calls), and my SIL and I got going with all kinds of quips and jokes. We are not biologists, but we had a lot of fun!

I love this thread! Thanks so much for sharing. One of my favorite homey recipes from my mom was frying up leftover spaghetti with onions and butter, and breaking in an egg or two. You can do this with leftover potatoes, too. I haven't ever done it but I was talking about it with her recently, and I think I'll try it. It was so good! From a young age I learned to make homemade vinaigrette. We would never mix it up in a jar or cruet, but made it directly into the salad bowl. The basic recipe, adjusted for quantity, is 2-3 tablespoon of tablespoons of vinegar, maybe a little less

I think this has helped my son transition to college, too. It's hard for him with hybrid classes, but at least he doesn't have any social pressures to have to deal with. He's a junior transfer student living in a dorm, and he's not going to college for the partying. In his own words, rolling his eyes, "Mom, I'm not going to college for the social life. I'm going to get a degree."

We have often been able to find a campground right outside the city. We have a motorhome, and don't even tow a car, but we've found campgrounds that provide transportation into a city, and we've also rented a car and used Uber. We've visited Boston, New Orleans, Niagara Falls and Dallas/Fort Worth this way.

I hope everything is straightened out today.