My DH gave me a Coach bag in 1994. It was a Willis which is one of their 'classic' styles. He purchased it at a regular store at the Mall and it's still offered on their web site. About 10 years ago I compared it to the Willis ones at the outlet and I couldn't detect a difference. It's possible that the leather seemed a little stiffer but that could be due to the fact that it was new and mine was well worn. I stopped buying Coach (and Dooney and Bourke) handbags for my own personal use when they changed their style and began marketing to the 'teens, pre-teens, tweens and wanna be trendys' That's just not me. I don't want to see brand names plastered all over my purse and I think it actually cheapened the brand name. However in the last 15 years I have purchased quite a few items at the Outlet and I've never been disappointed. I have 3 pairs of leather gloves, 2 or 3 leather belts, 2 wallets and checkbook cover. None of these have a visible logo which I prefer. I checked the 3 Coach bags that I still have - 2 were factory outlet purchases and neither of them have the F in the serial number but I think they were leftovers from the regular stores. When my DD was in college she bought 2 wristlets and 2 small handbags which she used extensively. She also bought knit scarves and gloves. My best deal was the briefcase which I bought in 2004 and paid $159 - it was on the clearance shelf and I had a coupon. My son is an attorney and still uses it daily. The zipper did break last year but that was because he over stuffed it. My other deal was a leather duffle - I paid $129 on clearance and with a coupon. It's like any factory outlet purchase - you have to examine the product carefully. I don't think the items sold at the Coach outlets are significantly inferior - and unless it's changed since I was there last (2 years) they had a decent return policy. It's not 'all sales final' like at some other outlets.

thanks, tishtosh. I'll go find it -- I'm in your DH's uncle's group so maybe it's newbieproof :) And lyfia, may I ask where you live? Because there are plenty of *perennial* plants that yield edibles without much watering at all. It might sound weird, but it's really just as easy as planting, say, blueberry plants or whatever is native in your area, and letting them grow because they're adapted to the particular climate, and harvesting their fruits. It's a little something, and it's not something that yields fruits immediately, but it's sure worth it. We got a summer's worth of fresh blueberries for cereal every day (and then some) from our plants. Same with berry canes. They *like* to grow, don't need that much water, etc. *in our climate* So if you can tell us what climate you're in, area of the country, we can find out what plants are native and will pay you dividends without much investment. And do you get rain? If so, you can collect water from the roof downspouts in barrels (really inexpensive via craigslist - we got four that way) and use it to water your plants. I LOVE using harvested water :)

Well, I've got to go with what my dad has always done in the past. I swear two 25-27 lbers served 50 people when we used to rent a hall for the entire family, and there *were* leftovers. But I guess my parents really like their sandwiches. As I said, my dad's a big eater. According to what I read online, smaller birds have more % bone so 2 lbs per person instead of 1.5 lbs is a better estimate, but *still* I'd think that 11.4 lbs would be enough for 5 adults (2 of them women who don't eat much, my mom would eat like 1 slice of breast meat and I eat the equivalent of 2 chicken thighs max and that's pigging out, won't eat again that day even if we have the big dinner at 2pm or so) and 1 very picky 11-yo. For example, my guys will eat 2 chicken thighs each if I make them, and serve them on the bone (I would normally only eat 1) but if I make soup like I did last night (30 minutes in pressure cooker), or a casserole of something with lots of "filler" then 4 thighs is more than enough for the 4 of us. Tonight I browned 1 lb of ground turkey, saved about 1/2 of it, used 2 quarts of beef broth, 2 cans of beans and some leftover spaghetti sauce with ditalini to make soup. We each had 2 bowls (DS and DH might have had 3, I wasn't counting), and I have more than a quart of soup left over (DD just ate some leftover noodles with plain browned meat). On The Washington Post site I found this quote "One of our staple resources in the Food section is the âÂÂChefâÂÂs Book of Formulas, Yields & Sizes,â by Arno Schmidt. The book says one 22-pound turkey will yield 12 pounds of roasted meat, including scraps, which equates to 22 servings �" lining up perfectly with the USDA guidance." which is 1 lb uncooked per person. That's just over 1/2lb of cooked boneless meat per serving. I'm sure the guys *could* eat 1 lb each (though DH and DS maybe less since there will be side dishes) but yeah, good estimate if they each have a sandwich later that night, there's 3 lbs. Mom, DD and I combined will eat 1.5lbs perhaps (that's with me pigging out b/c no way is DD going to eat 1/2lb of meat), there's 4.5 lbs of meat, no bones. If an 18 lb turkey yields 9-9.5 lbs of meat then we'll have about half left over, I would be fine with 2 lbs of leftovers for sandwiches(plus half the bones to make soup), that should last a week (DH and DS go through a lb of turkey lunchmeat each week but carved turkey is thicker, I think you tend to use more, and I'll be eating it too). That leaves 2.5 - 3 lbs or so (plus half the bones) leftover for my parents. So I really think 18 lbs is enough, no reason to buy 20 (4 lbs per adult!).

I got the same notice, but just ordered in mid-October when they had a similar "stock-up" sale when I purchased by-the-case and got 15% off. The nice thing about Honeyville is they only charge $4.49 for your entire order no matter how much, or how little, you get. I'm going to order more Hi-Maize Resistant Starch because I seem to be going through it faster than I originally thought I would. I'll purchase 50# during this sale and split it with a friend so we both can save some money over buying the 5# bags. I also purchase large quantities of vital wheat gluten from them for making "fake" meat. Another must have are powdered whole eggs. I use powdered whole eggs when they are less expensive per egg than fresh shell eggs for cooking and baking, and keep several cans in my long-term storage. Powdered eggs also work great for homemade "convenience foods" (mixes). We also use the freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. I no longer purchase canned veggies at all since using freeze-dried. It's so convenient for people who only require small amounts. If I want to add 2 T. peas and 2 T. corn to some leftover cooked rice, it rehydrates in 5-minutes in hot water. I like them MUCH better than frozen. I'm going to use freeze-dried raspberries I got from Honeyville in the center of chocolate truffles for the holidays. We'll see how that works.... ;-) -Grainlady