I'm Getting A Dutch/French Oven.

I just need help picking a color. I have a favorite, but I'm afraid it may be dated in a couple years. Somehow, I think all the color options may be dated in a couple years.

A ton of recipes I've read call for cooking on the stovetop then moving the food into the oven. I have no tool that can accommodate these recipes. The straw that broke my back came a week & a half ago while trying to make baked beans from scratch. The recipe said it made four servings, so I tripled it. Now... dry beans expand. A LOT. I ended up using three of my Corningware dishes, and I had to tend to the beans very frequently to make sure they stayed moist in the oven.

According to Cook's Illustrated, the best one to get is Le Creuset - the 7.25 quart one. They're pricy, but from the reviews I've seen, they'll outlast me.

So now, the biggest decision of all... COLOR. Cast your votes on the following:



BLACK









CARIBBEAN







CHERRY RED









CHESTNUT








COBALT







DIJON









DUNE








FLAME








KIWI





Ok. Vote!

Hello, Sprout!

I love Spring. Not only does it mean more exposure to sunlight, but it means the beginning of the growing season: flowers, trees, fresh vegetables. It's a rebirth of everything that went dormant during the winter, including me.

Those of you that know me know that about this time every year (since about 2000), I start a bunch of flowers and vegetables from seed. There's something soooo wonderfully fulfilling about putting one teenie-tiny seed into a peat pellet, watching it sprout, and then reaping the rewards of an entire summer-full of fresh vegetables. From one little seed!

I also plant annuals, including coleus and wave petunias, which start as such tiny little seeds (smaller than a pinpoint) and yet grow into ginormous colorful plants. The petunias are particularly difficult to germinate, but this year, I think I may have discovered the trick... Due to an unseasonable frost last week, I brought my seed trays inside - away from my outdoor mini greenhouse, put them in our half-bath, left the lights on and brought in an additional three-bulb lamp. The seeds LOVED it. Even more seedlings emerged in the small, warm room. So many that I'll be able to transplant them into new little peat pellets to create even more plants!

So seriously, if you want any plants, let me know. I'm going to have more than I can handle. And if you give me a dollar (or more!) for every high-yielding plant, I'll donate it to Give the Gift of Sight.

Picture of the Week

Here's the fam. Those of us that could got together Sunday. The occasion was that my cousin Ben is taking off Wednesday for the Army boot camp. He entered the Reserves last week with the rank of Specialist. He was assigned to the 100th Division Army Band at Ft. Knox. That's him towards the middle left with the Army cap on. Somehow, I do believe that he won't get sent into combat. He and his dad made good arguments to the fact.

Family's important to me. And I think I'm probably the unofficial family photographer. Every time we all get together, we take a group photo, and I think I've trained them all to sit still for me for about two to three pictures. :)

As I've mentioned previously, I love to cook. For this event, I got to make some pork barbecue, corn bread, baked and green beans. Roman made some cookies for desert that were REALLY good.

Everybody had a good time - as we typicaly do when the family gets together.

We all wish Ben the best.