When I had geese, I never could bring myself to butcher them. They followed me around like I was their mother, and were particularly social fowl. I remember one Christmas my father asked my mother to please fix a goose instead of a turkey. My g'mother always had a goose for the holiday meal, instead of turkey like they do these days. She complied, but you could tell her heart wasn't in it. LOL. If it's the grease you want, they certainly have their share of it, don't they? My SIL's mother in England fixes turkey for the holiday meal now, and buys her plum pudding in. Travesty, LOL. She was amazed I still did a suet pudding on my own. In fact, one of my fav cousins asked me if she could come to my house before Christmas and jointly make the Christmas pudding because her family is grown and gone and she couldn't justify making one just for herself. Our family receipt makes one weighing at least ten pounds! We never got around to it since that is a busy season for me with my work, and my schedule didn't fit hers. But, I am looking forward to inviting her over this fall to do our home made minced meat, and this winter we shall be doing the Christmas pudding.

"Posted by: Tolin (My Page) on Tue, Apr 2, 02 at 13:09 I'm from Michigan. There is no other ginger ale. But I can tell you one thing I do miss. Remember Sanders restaurants. And Saunders stores. They used to sell Vernors ice cream. The had a float known as the detroit cooler. I wish I could find some Sanders/Vernors ice cream." Well now you can get Sanders-Vernors Ice Cream again as they have reopened and have a new store. Sanders Candy & Dessert Shop 16837 Kercheval St. Grosse Pointe Park, MI 313-882-4966

If you like fish, then comparing the fish of the Midwest (Great Lakes walleye, Lake Perch, whitfish and trout, and little inland lake fish like perch) to the West Coast seafood would be fun. Produce and baked goods always fab. in both places. The north country usually offers good cinnamon buns or sticky buns in most diners for hungry hikers for breakfast. The pie is usually good in the Midwest, I haven't had any on the West coast so I can't compare. I used to have my own favorite pie place off I-80 but I'm not sure what route you're traveling. MI has Vernors ginger ale which you might try. Also we have Ruby Red Squirt which my east coast friend raved over. I don't know if they even sell it in MI anymore but might be worth a look. I can't drink any kind of soda pop anymore but Vernors really is unusual if you like ginger ale. It is unlike any of the other brands I've tasted, and I love gingerale.

Johnliu, matzoh balls do freeze o.k., though like most things, they're better fresh. I do find they are one of those items that having a vacuum seal system of some sort makes a real difference. I generally have a zip lock bag of my chicken soup in the freezer all made up...I think there is less risk of freezer burn when the meat and veggies are frozen IN the stock. I can tremble and dizzy my way through putting a frozen lump of soup in a pan on low...but if I'm capable of making it from scratch, I'm likely capable of eating whatever might be available in the fridge or even going out to pick up a good batch of Caldo De Pollo from my local Taqueria! LOL about the "inVALID" as that actually attracted me to the thread in the first place...how could cooking be invalid, I wondered?