I tend to agree with Jean. I'm in zone 8B/9A and my oranges were quite good this year. I thought you might have had the rootstock taking over your tree, but your photos clearly show that this is not happening. I did notice that the leaves were not as well colored as they could be. Have you been feeding the trees well, citrus does tend to be heavy feeders, so as soon as it gets warm enough in your area to begin fertilizing, I'd begin a fairly heavy feeding schedule. Good luck.

The strawberry vodka we made (with the fine Popov brand of vodka) is a beautiful, clear red and has a strong strawberry flavor. We mixed it with tonic water (we're V&T fans anyway) and a generous splash of lime, very tasty. We also put a splash into glasses of both pinot grigio and cheap champagne and it was also mighty tasty. We're not martini drinkers, but a friend who is had me make her half strawberry vodka and half regular vodka (some Stoli we had kicking around), iced it down well and added fresh lime and that was also good. We kept the mashed strawberry mixture in there a good month, and shook it up every couple of days, then strained it out and let the vodka cure. Also used the leftover mashed berries with vodka in a frozen vodka daiquiri, and that was STRONG, but good. We have a little left and it's just in the plastic Popov Vodka bottle but next year we have plans to make more and use it as gifts, so we will also be on the hunt for good looking bottles. I was also thinking about making pineapple rum, maybe kinda sorta Captain Morgan-esque? Good luck, all- sandyponder

Here is the lime Jello recipe. Make it the day before serving. I will look up the au gratin recipe for you later. Buy the small box of lime flavored Jello and the small sized can of crushed pineapple and 8 ounces of sour cream. Drain the pineapple well, pressing the pineapple with a large spoon in a sieve to get the juice, and save the juice. Follow the directions on the box for how much boiling and cold water to use to mix it, but use all the drained juice for the cold water, adding enough water to make it the right amount. Sometimes I use 2 or 3 tablespoons less of the cold water to help make the Jello firmer. When the Jello is thoroughly dissolved, stir in 1 cup of sour cream--I use a whisk and room temperature sour cream to make it combine well but do not beat it with the whisk or it will make it frothy, just stir it. Then cool it in the mixing bowl in the refrigerator until it is starting to set and is somewhat thickened. Stir in the crushed pineapple so it is evenly distributed and pour into a very lightly oiled mold or individual molds or custard cups. Put back in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. When it is time to serve, garnish the individual salad plate or serving plate with leaf lettuce. Run your finger around the edge of the mold to loosen the top of the mold from the very top of the edge. Fill a large bowl or the sink with hot water and dip the bottom of the mold up to the edge of the Jello into the hot water. 5 to 10 seconds for a custard cup size mold, 10 - 15 seconds for a large mold. Tip over the cup mold into your hand and give it a good shake. It should drop out onto your hand. For the big mold, quickly tip it onto the lettuce on the plate and give it a good shake to loosen it. Voila. You can make a larger recipe by increasing all the ingredients if you are using a large mold. You could even make this in a lightly oiled glass baking pan, cut it into squares and use a spatula to lift out each serving.

I used to cook like that a lot; now my children get on me at the dinner table to immediately write down what was used if they like the mixture. Sometimes I can remember most of the ingredients... Once I made a sloppy joe type of meal that everyone loved, but I could not recall what was tossed in to make it so good. About two years later, the distinctive flavor was repeated. Turned out to be some Taco Bell sauce packet extras that someone had left on the kitchen counter. Now my husband occasionally brings them home for me to add to dishes. Yeesh.