The snow didnt stay around long so none of the palms got damaged by the weight (once the storm stopped last night the snow immediately started to melt off of the trees). We reached 58F today with a LOT of sun so all that's left of the snow are a few small patches here and there which should be gone by tomorrow. Gotta love march snow storms! Hopefully this is the last of them! -Alex

Carolyn doesn't come to this board much any more, but she occasionally pops in on the main Tomato board. She posts at various other sites and is still growing tomatoes and still sending out seeds. Yeah, she has had issues and gets around with the help of a walker and can't do a lot of things she used to do, but she's still the same Carolyn. :-) She would probably blush if she heard us say that she's a national treasure.

Afternoon Jen, That scout camp was at Alpine,NJ. Not bad sites decent size but they were quite a trek from the parking lots. What one lacked in distance to the sites was made up in elevation. When I packed, I packed as if it was "van within 50 feet" camping. Not within 2050 feet camping. Luckily, I brought a Little Tikes wagon but was repositioning the cargo constantly. Unfortunately, it was very uncomfortable during the seminars and show and tell sessions the camp was providing and the kids couldn't wait to leave. I waited as long as possible for the weather to break but it never did. With my 10y.o. clinging and telling me that everyone else was leaving, I had no choice. Packing up after the rain, sleet, snow, and hail in 32° temps was a real trip. I ended up putting my numerous ice ridden mounds of nylon in large storage containers I happen to bring. I've never partaken in winter camping before. With forewarned exposure, it would be different experience when prepared. Thankfully, my son had mentioned he still enjoys camping and we went again as soon as possible to get right back on that horse. I, myself, can't wait till the next outdoor excusion. Maybe in April or May this year cause next year, when he's a "boy" scout, it could be any time during the calendar. I think I have a few purchases to make before then. Enjoy the holidays, Elliot

I have no problem with people dismissing my feedback if that is what you mean by your post. At the same time, there are no absolutes here. And people have different standards. We are all here to share our experiences. I am not here to sell you a Chinese cookbook, telling you that you can duplicate what you eat at a commercial establishment at home. Nor do I have the credentials of Grace Young. So use the feedback for what it is worth taking into account that you are getting free advice so it may just be worth that much :). We are however, are avid cooks and we are going through our second remodel (for a different house). The first upgrade to 15K BTU was a huge boost over the contractor grade gas cooktop. So let there be no doubt about that. And yes, we can smoke the wok and do OK creating "wok hay" on small amount of ingredients -- maybe. But for day in, day out cooking, 15K is merely adequate at best. The kind of wok hay I experience at my favorite Asian restaurants is in an entirely different class than what we can recreate at home. As I post before, a 15K BTU cooktop is not even in the same planet as what is used in a commercial setting. Yes, they like speed in that environment. But when it comes to Chinese cooking, speed is recipe item #1. You canÂt let the ingredients stew in the sauce and expect to have the same thing come out as flash cooking on a high power cooktop. Remember, it is easy to justify what you own. It is much harder to be critical of it :).