"Hey, what is it with the Carolinas and double cousins? My grandmother was born in NC and she had a bunch of them." I think it is because a lot of people were farmers in the 1920's. The kids, at least in my parents family and the surrounding farms, didn't go to school very long. They had to help on the farm. Dad made it to 7th grade, Mom the 3rd. That reduced the number of people that they got to know. My parents family's lived about a mile apart. Plus transportation, If you had time, you had to walk 10 miles of dirt road to get to town. The church was local, about 4 miles away and they walked to church. All of those kids wouldn't fit in the model T Ford! And when you got to church, who did you see? Your neighbors! The only time that they went to town was once a month or two for staples, or to take their farm goods to the market.

Marda, I could buy one of those sandwiches to go and it would last me for my whole stay. First time I came to NYC and saw one of those I was appalled. The gravy on some of them looks good. Noisy, noisey here. And hot hotel room. I forget about those things. I need a couple of days to acclimate. Cool weather but dry and I'm off out for breakfast soon and then, camera in hand, I'm going to walk down to the UN and then off to MOMA. Very exciting.

Hi hoboken-seeking-a-house, You know the real estate market far better than I , but it seems to me that in very many areas of the U.S., this sub-prime mortgage debacle won't sort itself out for a long time. In the meantime, if house prices fall for a time, I'd not want to be owning one. What I'd suggest is buying some stocks, mostly with cash from the house that had sold. The price will go down some, quite likely, but you won't have lenders chasing you, and should one of you get laid off, as happened to another person posting on this forum (who'd bought larger than they could afford, expecting continued increases), you won't be sweating blood, trying to get all the bills paid and the mortgage - or lose the house! Down the road a while, when things get sorted out, and you've had a better chance to become familiar with the housing market where you now live, I think you'll be in a better position to buy. Plus, you'll have some equities that may well have fared better than a house might have. You'd have a choice, whether to liquidate them and put cash down on another home, or let them run, taking a larger mortgage but using the stocks as additional collateral, quite likely to increase in value, over a period. I prefer to have at least a five-year time horizon when buying stocks ... ten year is better. One proviso is that when you have $10,000. worth of reasonable quality stocks, usually the bank doesn't want to lend you more than $5,000. around here. As I think that you may well have somewhere in the neighbourhood of $100,000. on hand, I think that if I were you I'd be inclined to buy stocks directly, paying commission in and out, but no annual fee, where mutual funds usually charge a purchase or sale fee (that dies if you took the sale end and hold them for half a dozen years or so) - but they usually want about 1/5 of your average growth over the years as management fee. About 85% of them, despite their claims of such marvellous money management skills, don't manage to outperform the market as a whole. Even with an asset much smaller than that, I'd be inclined to buy stocks directly. Make it your business to not only learn about housing ... but money management in general, as well, over the next while. Do you figure that Exxon-Mobil's about to die over the short term? Or JNJ? Or a couple of dozen others. Plus, in the light of the U.S. Dollar's value having slipped substantially lately, and likely to continue to do so, how about buying some stock in well-chosen foreign assets? If you'd bought Canadian Dollars about 5 years ago, you could have got one for about 65 - 69 cents ... now it's costing you US$1.00. Had you bought $6,500. worth of Canadian stocks then, given no growth (or allowance for dividends), you could now cash them for $10,000. Careful, though - a few years ago most people felt that Eastman-Kodak was a money machine! Sometimes technological advances can leave one sitting out in left field, in the rain ... when the ball game is over! If you put your money into a bank or a bond, first off, there's no long-term possibility for your principal to grow. Two rats eat that kind of cheese - the IRS want to talk to you each year about the income produced ... and, as you know, they want part of it! If the only money that your principal will ever produce relative to this year is produced now, the second rat goes to work. The first one dealt with your current income. This second one nibbles off a corner of each dollar in guaranteed asset, annually. If you'd put $10,000. into the bank 20 years ago, it would have bought a decent car - my Dad bought a rather fancy Ford new in 1947 for $1,600. If the bank had paid you the agreed rent on your money in the interim, and you went in to collect your money now, what would you get? Exactly $10,000. - that won't buy anything like a decent car, now. So, each year, you must feed the income tax folks, and the rat that eats at your asset ... and you get what's left. Which in recent years, was not much (if anything). And, know what? The rats eat first! They always have. Just some thoughts that you may want to consider. By the way - if you carry any credit card balances over from month to month - pay 'em off! Regular cards charge 15 - 18% usually, and store-issued cards (wait for it) 25 - 28% annual rate, most of the time. Not my idea of a good time! Make money work for you, not against you! ole joyful

Oh yes that halibut looks good doesn't it. And also Dixie's apple cake.....I'll cut and paste your recipe Stacy. And lovely presentation of the canapes Dixie. Welcome to the WFD trsinc...I bet your enchiladas were delicious! Yesterday I had the best osso buco I've ever tasted....and I made it from a recipe from the web that looked interesting as it used dry sherry and brandy in the sauce. Oh was it ever good! I halved the recipe as I was using two pieces of beef shank (no veal here) about one pound in weight, and I increased the chopped vegetables. We had it with steamed and mashed potatoes, carrots, leeks and cabbage. Now I'm going to also drag out my slow cooker and try using the same ingredients for some other pieces of beef. Here it is: New Italian Recipes Presents ITALIAN OSSO BUCO Ingredients: 3 lbs. Veal shanks Note: If you can't find veal, or the cost is prohibitive, you might try lamb shanks. Some recipes say you can substitute beef shanks. Keep in mind, if you use lamb or beef, the meat won't be as "fall off the bone" tender. The wonderful, meaty-vegetable stew taste will be there, however, so it's still worth it. Additional Note: If you use veal, you may want to tie cooking twine around the shanks to keep them from falling completely apart during cooking. 3-4 T extra virgin olive oil 2 T butter or Butter Buds 1 red onion, coarsely chopped 1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped 3 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped 1 large stalk celery, coarsely chopped 5-6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1/3 cup Marsala wine or dry sherry...(I used a very dry sherry) 1/3 cup brandy 1 T balsamic vinegar 2 T tomato paste 1 sprig rosemary 4 sprigs thyme 2 bay leaves 2 cups chicken broth (homemade chicken stock recipe) Veal or beef stock can be substituted. Salt and pepper to taste Gremolata: 2 T chopped Italian Parsley 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 t grated lemon peel 1 T lemon juice Mix in a bowl and reserve to sprinkle over individual servings. Preparation: In a large skillet or Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, add 2 T olive oil over medium high heat. Season shanks with salt and pepper on both sides, then brown them on all sides. When browning is down, remove the shanks to a bowl to be added back in later. In the same pan, reduce heat to low and add 2 T olive oil and butter or Butter Buds. Add the onions, peppers, carrots, celery and garlic. Stir well to coat, then cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. (This will allow the vegetables to release their juices. Add the Marsala or sherry and the brandy, also the balsamic vinegar. Stir in well, cover again, and let simmer on low for about 6-8 minutes. Make a "bouquet garni" out of the rosemary, thyme and bay leaves. (Wrap them in cheese cloth and tie with cooking twine.) Add this to the simmering vegetables, along with the tomato paste. Increase heat to medium-high and add the shanks and chicken, veal or beef stock. Stir both in well to mix with vegetables. When broth is boiling, reduce heat to low again and cover. Cook for about 1-1 1/2 hours. Veal should be "falling off the bone" tender after an hour or less. Lamb or beef might take a full hour and a half to reach maximum tenderness. Falling off the bone is probably not going to happen with lamb or beef, but the meat should be very tasty and quite tender. Garnish with gremolata, and serve the osso buco with the above-mentioned risotto, or with creamy mashed potatoes. In keeping with true gourmet cooking, here are a couple of variations for you: 1. Add either a 14 oz. or 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes at the point you add the Marsala and the brandy. 2. At the end of cooking, mix 1 cup of sour cream with 1 T of flour. Stir into the osso buco and remove from the heat. (This would give you a German version. Call it German Veal Shank Stew!) Source: New Italian Recipes printer version of online recipe. *************************************************************************************************** Sharon's Note: I halved the recipe but used 1/3 cup each of onion, celery and carrot chopped very finely into a mirepoix. rather than chopping these three ingredients coarsely as called for in the recipe. SharonCb