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re #10: I brought my potted jalapeno into the house this fall (we live in New England) and it recently started flowering. I've got two little peppers on the way! Peppers are self pollinating, so one plant is enough, but I would think two would be better. We have been using tufts of dog hair as a sort of paint brush to move pollen from one flower to another since we don't have bees in the house. So, it is possible to grow a little bit of food indoors in the winter.

Well, this probably isn't what you meant - but it is frozen and hot and guilt-inducing - hot homemade brownie with peppermint stick ice cream on top. And hot fudge sauce if you wanna go the whole hog.

When I was a kid my mother got some kind of little frozen bacon appetizer thingies. Just once (she didn't buy a lot of convenience foods). They were wicked good. I have no idea what they were but if anybody knows of a frozen bacon appetizer thingy that's yummy, please let me know!

Dark, 70% -ish.

I also, I admit, like Hershey's milk chocolate, but only the thin bars.

Unsalted butter, cheddar sliced transparently thin, French mustard (and apple-smoked ham) on a baguette. After that you can take me to Pere Lachaise and file me 6 feet under, completely satisfied.

I like bacon best just before it crosses the pliant/crispy border. Nice and smokey. Apple or hickory smoked. Please. Now.

I am SO tired of hearing people complain that eating healthy is expensive. Eating ORGANIC is expensive, but buying and eating lots of fresh produce and cooking at home is much cheaper and better for you than processed, fat&sodium laden crap that is turning the poor/middle class fat. Fast food is a convenience - if you take a *little* time to cook real food, you'll find that it doesn't break the bank and will do wonders for your health. Yes, this can be difficult for those working two jobs or just otherwise stretched to the max, but there are PLENTY of people who aren't so overburedened that they can't cook a simple meal.

He actually said "great-grandmother," not grandmother. And he doesn't mean to exclude things like sushi--it's made of fish and rice, which is obviously food. What isn't "food" are basically the items referred to in #2--things that aren't whole foods.

Okay, as a general guideline I like the rules. I think that they would be very difficult to adhere to all the time, and perfectly, as they are written, but they're generally decent rules. There is one exception, and it's as much about the other comments as the rules. Everyone is very keen to help "The Poor" eat healthier - get more fresh foods, less processed foods, etc. In principle, I'm bang alongside that. In practice, that won't necessarily help. Having a refrigerator stocked to the brim, for free, with good things won't be all that useful to a lot of the working poor. If you're working two jobs, trying to get your kids to and from school, possibly caring for a sick relative, etc, food is just going to slip to the bottom of the priority list. (I have a very good friend going through all that right now). You're going to pick up convenience foods that probably taste like feet, but fill you up and get you out the door quickly. Given that there will always be a certain segment of the population that is dependent on convenience foods, perhaps there needs to be more focus on making those foods less harmful than on eliminating them from use.

So, Ed, what brownie recipe did you use?

Dorie Greenspan's brownie recipe with a blondie baked on top...can't remember the exact title of this recipe off the top of my head -- but WOWZERS were they fantastic! She's my baking goddess! SHE ROCKS!