2many, I actually am pretty good at mudding drywall. I'm slow and meticulous, but it looks good when I'm done! As for that chili dog, well, at least once every summer I go to the local A&W. They still have the carhops that come out to the car and put a tray on your window. I get a chili cheese dog and a frosty mug full of root beer. Then I'm done for a year, but that one chili dog is sure good. As for Zaxby's, we don't have them up here so I'm not familiar, but Elery had their chicken when he went to Tennessee for Aunt Etta's funeral, and he said it was actually pretty good. He had chicken every day he was there, though, and was pretty tired of it by the time he got home. It's one of those foods that you can pretty much figure isn't too unhealthy, a grilled chicken breast, LOL, so he got it every time he had to eat out. Then his sister made chicken and dumplings, and his sister in law fried chicken and there was chicken salad and, well, he came home and wanted chili! Artemis, the best advice I have is to just do it. Don't watch, be sure you get in there and do it yourself. You can watch YouTube and watch someone else and read every instruction in the world, but you really just have to do it. The first one is slow, the second one is better. By the time you're on three or four, it'll take you a couple of minutes and you'll be done. I'm assuming you are plucking by hand, I have that handy-dandy chicken plucker that Elery bought me for my birthday and it is an amazing time saver, but with seven birds, probably not worth the price. Plucking by hand takes me about 10 minutes per bird, and cleaning another 2 minutes. Scalding is a minute or so, so about 4 birds an hour. The plucker will pluck 2 chickens in less than a minute, so that's very helpful. We did 28 birds in 2 hours, packed on ice and "resting" overnight. It took longer than that to break them down and package them. I always let them sit on ice for 24 hours or so, it seems to make the birds less stringy and more tender. And don't forget to save the backs/necks for stock. Feet too, if you can get past the thought and trim the nails! Like you, I'm offended by the life animals have in the commercial food chain, and so I have to raise my own in a humane and sustainable manner. It's not for everyone, but it works for me. Annie

No interesting cooking for people over here, but I’ve been cooking tasty food for dogs :-) We’re in Berkeley taking care of our friends’ very elderly and reportedly on his last legs little dog. I am, of course, determined that he will not expire on my watch, and when he eats enthusiastically I feel better. So, what to feed him? The base is a tasty homemade chicken stock, made from a roasted chicken, carrots, celery, onion - just like you’d make a chicken stock for yourself. We cook a batch of rice with that stock. Other chicken is browned then simmered, and minced up. His kibble is soaked in more stock. Then some more cooked chicken and carrots get pureed with stock into a sort of gravy-paste. Rice, kibble, and gravy are mixed, then briefly warmed in the microwave. Finally, crisp bacon is crumbled on top. I am pleased to say that Elderly Dog positively gobbles his food, cleaning his bowl reliably enough that I can give him his pills crushed in the food. I’d happily eat it myself, actually, except that there’s no salt or spice. Well, I don’t really like kibble. All the fixings are in stored in Tupperware so feeding doesn’t take long.

The seafood cakes look amazing, sleevendog, I'd like those a lot, I think. Neely, I'm not a huge pizza fan, but I eat the ham and pineapple version occasionally, causing great consternation to my daughter's in-laws who are of Italian descent, LOL. My fried rice today isn't nearly as pretty as any of sleevendog's, and I made it with leftover brown rice from an earlier meal that I don't even remember! We did have baked chicken breast earlier this week and it was as boring as it sounds, so I tossed that in the fried rice too, along with some onion, red carrot and snow peas. Roasted some golden beets and white sweet potatoes, which Elery likes better than the orange ones. And then, of course, I didn't take a picture. (sigh) I did go grocery shopping with Amanda yesterday and our local Meijer sells items made at a fancy Italian restaurant in Grand Rapids, Noto's. They had Italian Cream Cake, only $7.00. A slice. Yeah, at the restaurant it costs $10 a slice! So, I did what I usually do, I rolled my eyes at someone paying $7 for one single piece of cake at Meijer, not even a wedding or special occasion, went home and made an Italian Cream Cake. Annie

Neely, I'd be a little sad about selling your vacation home too, those are usually just associated with vacations and family events and mostly good things. Life changes, though, so I hope whatever happens works out well for you and your family. I don't know what is happening there with you but here real estate is selling like crazy in spite of the interest rate increases and the big price hikes, I'm not sure why. I'd need some rice for that nice saucy korma, though! Sleevendog, I need to stock up on flours and things too, I"ve been diligently working to use up or discard old/outdated items or those that have just deteriorated in quality enough that they need replacement. But it's gardening time, and I'm busy babying my little plants, fertilizing asparagus, pruning grapevines and spraying fruit trees for fungus with our weird weather. Anyway, Elery likes Mexican food a lot and we are surrounded by farms and orchards, so a lot of Hispanic workers come seasonally and many more stay year round. Authentic (and cheap) grocery stores are plentiful, although there are just as many that are neither cheap nor authentic, so those have to be weeded out, usually by a bad experience! Lobster rolls sound good, but I'm driving our neighbor to a nearby town as her car is out of service. She says she'll take me to dinner, there's a local pizza joint that is known for their breadsticks and she loves them. So, it'll probably be soup and breadsticks. Annie