I would love to try some Crab Potato Chips. I agree with the Russians that Lay's Potato Chips are boring. I try not to buy too many snack foods, but I do keep tortilla chips on hand and occasionally buy potato chips to have with a dip I make with sour cream, fresh dill, garlic, lemon juice, black pepper and mayo. It tastes very similar to Ranch dressing, but with a brighter, fresher flavor. I also use it as a sauce for fish in place of tartar sauce. I do buy Japanese snack when I go to the Japanese market, but they are pretty expensive and seem to be mostly air, at least the sembei crackers that I buy do. I like the flavors, however, and Kevin buys Japanese black chewing gum. I've found that I do not particularly like the Vietnamese snacks that I've had, but I find kimchee to be addictive. I'm not sure if it qualifies as a snack, but I eat it between meals, and it is very satisfying. I do not see why people should not put cereal in coffee - I think it would be similar to dunking biscotti. I've always noticed that Mexico had a much better selection of fruit drinks available than we do, although we are getting more of them as the Latin population increases. My favorite juice drink is guanabana, which I first had in Mexico in the mid 1970s. Back then I could not find it here, but that has changed. I've noticed Japanese snacks creaping into the main markets here, but I have not noticed too many other ethnic snacks, other than Mexican, which I do not consider foreign, since they were always readily available in Texas. Have you found other ethnic snacks in the markets that you would recommend? I'm sure there are many that I have just overlooked. Lars

If it's 7 A.M., the temperature is below 20 degrees, I'm waiting for an outdoor auction to start and the only hot beverage they have for sale is coffee, I'll have a cup of it - black. Otherwise, I drink tea, hot or iced. My favorite of many decades is from a tea/coffee shop in our town. It's a full-bodied loose black tea called Russian Fancy, not to be confused with that smoky Russian Caravan. Another workhorse tea at our house is Twining's English Breakfast, which is great for making iced tea by the pitcher. For flavored teas, I like Black Currant and DH likes peach but we both enjoy Bigelow Constant Comment, which I think is a good value. Herbal tea is usually mint. Growing up, we never had dessert right after dinner except on holidays but every night after we finished the dinner dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, we'd have a cup of tea and a treat like cookies or nut bread. I revived that custom and we look forward to it. Most of you know that my best friend and I love to visit tea rooms and they have certainly enjoyed a revival throughout the eastern states in the last few years. I also have a lot of tea paraphernalia and entertain friends with tea parties. On Black Friday, I will be hosting a "Shop until you need teatime" open house like I did last year. Can you tell that I love tea?

I make this in huge amounts - all of my grown kids request it. Our family thinks it's the true cure for sore throats. One kid even has his college coach pleading for more. Even the grandkids like it, but then it's almost straight sugar! The trick is to find inexpensive orange drink mix. My local IGA guy will order it for me - like I say, I make huge recipes of it throughout the year!

Paula, interesting what you say about styrofoam cups. Over here we call it polystyrene, 'styrofoam' being the trade name taken from the Dow Chemical Co. I asked the DH, a bio-chemist, about it and he says that it could prove a problem as when styrene is heated it breaks down into its component molecules; little heat is required for this to happen. It was a classic chemistry experiment carried out using a 'fume cupboard'. John says think of the smell you get when plastic is burnt. There is also the question of the possible effect of freon gas a CFC, being used to turn the solid polystyrene into 'styrofoam'. Mary, when you come to visit I promise there will be no plastic or even earthenware. Our daughter was recently given a set of Wedgwood china (thrown out can you believe by a neighbour with little sense). It is sitting boxed up in her bedroom and I'm sure we could 'borrow' it! There were a couple of side plates missing and I casually thought I would replace them . . . until I saw the price; I came over all weak at the knees :-)