Well you guys and gals almost had me hooked on a Virco... That clasic is one awesome looking grill... I couldn't really afford that much, even though that is a good value for that type of grill... The Mark VIII was going to be my choice, due ot it's scaled back price... Even so... in the end I choose a Great Outdoors grill for $300, normaly priced at $400... The MV7 would have cost me $460 or so... pushing the limits of my budget... If I had been able to actuall see a Virco in person I may have stuck with the idea of buying one... I'm surprized they are not selling the Virco grills in places like Lowes, Home Depot, and Menard's yet... They'd probably sell like hot cakes... Anyways... thanks for all you who commented on your grills, it was extreemly helpfull in my quest for finding a quality grill at a good price... Back to your Virco talk now...

Different than what's been suggested thus far but perhaps another direction to consider? As I understand the front faces south, and that you'd like an interior entrance particularly for those cold snowy days, why not an enclosed glass sunporch across the whole front face (maybe 8' deep)? The area where the lights are could be built into a long closet to store outerwear, new front door(s) of double french doors; one end of the 'porch' could house a games/snacking table/chairs and the other end a small sitting/reading/chatting area while the center contain the boots & coats shedding area. Replace the present front door with a single french which could keep summer heat contained to the porch (considering the south face) or vice versa allowing heat and light into rest of house. In time both the present window (DD's room) and the Slider could be replaced with French doors or perhaps a full length Fr Door 'window' for DD's room so space isn't broken up to much for furniture placement. Porch Roofline begun under dormer, could be a short peak with longer front face or simply another slant down. I'd be thinking to face the knee wall (below all the sun porch glass) in faux stone. Flagstone or similar the area in front of the porch entrance and in summer, big hanging baskets on both sides of the entrance double french doors. You could do much of this in stages, particularly the interior stuff plus adding the faux stone and the flagstone. You could even frame in the walls for windows, board it over exteriorally for now and put in the windows later. Kind of long term project where you upgraded some part each year. And, while you didn't ask, I'd be inclined to take the centre two sections of porch rail out on the back deck and create deep steps from the deck down to the lawn area across both those sections. And perhaps faux the fp chimney as well. Nice big pots of geraniums or similar every 2nd step on the edges. Mmmm - I like it. This could all be done largely bit by bit rather than spending a chunk all at once. You may be able to use the boards on the front face of the house to clad the 'new porch' for now, replacing them on the inside with drywall. Same with the front door -- frame it for double French but utilize - for now - the present front door. Actually if you used a single/twin bed on the "new front sunporch" for seating with bolsters behind, you could use it as an extra bed from time to time. Anyway - just another idea for you to play with. :-))

Beets, olives, and bleu cheeses due to taste factor. Raw oysters, for texture (I'll eat them in chowder, so cooked is fine). For health reasons, I can't eat goat cheese. I love cheese, it's just that one, makes my tongue tingly. Better not try it again! Escargot are ok as long as they're not overcooked. It really makes me laugh when people say, ick, no! to organ meat, but to eat muscles is just fine. What makes one ok and the other not? HA! Don't think too hard about it being muscles (and fat).

It's really fast and easy to make that mixed veggie salad. I do it for church luncheons all the time...for 100, pound of carrots cut into buttone, 2 heads broccoli, 2 large sweet onions 2 peppers of different colors, about 5 Roma tomatoes with the seeds removed, two large cucumbers and a couple of zucchini. I do a quick dunk in boiling water of the broccoli and the carrots....dress with a quick vinaigrette...1 T dijon mustard, 1 T honey a clove of garlic crushed 3 Tablespoons of cider vinegar and `1/2 cup good olive oil.... Then you can add a can of olives and/or a jar of artichoke hearts or some raw mushrooms, cauliflower...whatever. I can toss a batch of that salad together for a dozen in about 20 minutes....with a food processor!.....and it's so pretty!