Ya mean my fav Junk Do-Dads besides glass for totems and flowers? LOL I especially like funky style things that are handmade. Must take a pic of one of my latest treasures to show. The day I found a large coffee can full of chandy crystals for only $2. was a memorable day! No one but a dedicated YS/crafter/junker could understand that thrill. Other than that my list IS a mile long. I like anything that could be described as architectural, bling, antique, vintage, concrete, rock, or repurposed. Does that cover pretty much any ol' thing I might find cheap at a yard sale? Or sometimes not so cheap at a thrift or antique shop? I've also recently found a little old table for $2 and a very junky bench for $1.50 for my garden or garden house. They need help and I probably overpaid even at those low prices. My DH just shakes his head when I buy things like this. He thinks they're trash and he may be right. But I like them and know they can be reno'd.

I can vouch for Sharon's stuffed mushrooms. They are the best. A few of my favourites. Mushrooms and Pimento in Puff Pastry The Foods and Wines of Spain 1 package puff pastry 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 Tablespoon minced onion 1 clove garlic minced 2 Tablespoons minced pimiento preferably homemade 1/4 pound mushrooms, chopped fine 1/2 dried red chili crumbled or 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes Salt and pepper to taste 2 Teaspoons grated parmesan cheese . Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onion and garlic until onion is wilted. Add the pimiento and cook for a minute, then the mushrooms, chili pepper, salt, and pepper and saute until mushrooms are softened. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese. Roll the puff pastry to 1/8 inch. You can cut Cut into 1 3/4 inch circles and place 1 teaspoon of filling on half of the circles. Moisten the edges with water, cover with the remaining pastry circles, and press with the tines of a fork to seal. I prefer to make them triangle shape,by cutting the pastry into 2 1/2 inches squares, add filling on one half and then folding over corner to form a triangle. (May be prepared ahead and refrigerated) Place on a dampened cookie sheet and bake at 425 F on the upper rack of the oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until golden. ( To cut down on work you could make this appetizer in a larger size and Bake for about 20 minutes.) Then cut into wedges. ---------------------------------------------------------- Blue Cheese Tartlets Source: Williams-Somona 8 ounces tart pastry dough (or frozen puff pastry) 3 ounces spinach or Swiss Chard 1 egg 2/3 cup heavy cream 3/4 cup freshly grated Emmenthaler Cheese 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg Salt and pepper 3 ounces Blue Cheese (Roquefort, Gorgonzola, etc.) 2 tablespoons pine nuts . If using tart pastry, prepare the dough and refrigerator 30 minutes before you are ready to roll it out. If using commercial puff pastry defrost in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Preheat an oven to 425�F. Bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil. Plunge the spinach or Swiss Chard into the boiling water and cook for 30 seconds. Immediately drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to halt the cooking. Drain again, pressing against the greens to force out as much water as possible; set aside. Break the egg into a bowl. Add the cream, Emmenthaler cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste and beat with a fork until completely blended. Coarsely chop the spinach or chard and add it to the bowl; stir well. On a lightly floured board, roll the dough out as thinly as possible. Sprinkle the Roquefort or other blue cheese evenly over the dough. With a fluted pastry cutter about 1 1/4 inches in diameter, cut out 18 dough rounds. Use the rounds to line 18 individual tartlet pans or wells in tartlet trays or miniature muffin pans. If using the former,arrange the lines pans on a large baking sheet. Fill each lined pan with some of the egg mixture and scatter a few pine nuts on top. Place the tarlets in the oven and bake until the filling sets and the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Serve Warm. ---------------------------------------------------------- If you are looking for something easy, both of these are really simple and always well received. You can buy the focaccia instead of baking your own. And the mini cocktail toasts are easy to find in most grocery stores. All you need for this is mini toasts, toasted walnut halves and soft goat cheese and a drizzle of good quality olive oil. Focaccia with Warm Goat Cheese 1 focaccia, homemade or purchases 1 roasted red pepper, cut into strips and drizzled with olive oil. 1 recipe homemade Tapanade (or purchase all ready made) Chevre (Goat cheese) Cut the Focaccia into bite size squares Cut the roasted pepper into small strips Warm the Goat Cheese in the microwave to soften. Put a dollop of goat cheese on top of each square of focaccia. On half the focaccia place a few strips of pepper and on the other half place a small spoon of Tapanade.

Along with heated seats and mirrors, my Audi has a heated steering wheel option that I love. Both the seats and steering wheel heat almost instantaneously. Although it's not as cold here in the PNW as some places, I love having a warm steering wheel most days/mornings of the year. I also wanted a back up camera, as I'm always delivering and picking up my grandson from school and those little ones can be hard to see walking behind the car. One feature I hate about this car, though, is they placed the bright headlight indicator on the lower left side of the instrument panel and, even though I'm not particularly short, I cannot see it without raising myself up to peer over the steering wheel. Not the wheel, but the center spoke/bar of the wheel; it hides the indicator. My good fried with a newer Volvo SUV says the same is true in her car...she can't see the indicator without lifting herself up to see over the wheel spoke. It also has the radio controls on the center console, so if you bump it or set your purse on the digital station settings, it whacks everything up and you lose all your presets. It's obvious that men engineer all these vehicles as the features are often not female user friendly.

whew, ok! I felt i had to check back. Lots of yummy ideas here! I am totally bookmarking this because I always like new salad ideas, as i am trying to eat less meat. For these purposes, I was trying to balance out an existing menu that had several rich/heavy dishes with something light and green. So that was why no starches or proteins for this case. I was going to do a Caesar kale salad someone posted above, but opted for the Spinach and Strawberry because it does not have cheese (making it even less rich). I have made it before and it is both pretty and a great, light side dish.