Well it died. =[ The tinyyyy spear that was inside of it pulled. Along with two of the fronds at the same time. Almost the entire inside of the palm was rotted out. I lost a lot of my palms this winter, and all I have left right now is a queen palm. Shes holding on strong though. I did read on here that pam cooking spray could be used to get rid of mites in multiple posts when I typed spider mites into the search bar. I thought it sounded crazy too, but it killed them, so I subscribed to the idea. I guess I know to just rinse rinse rinse next time. I'll also improve my soil mix for all my future palms. No more miracle grow for me! I think my other mistake was trying to imitate their environment in the summer too much. I should have been trying to keep them cool and dormant instead of warm and wet with limited light. Sorry it took so long for me to respond. I left this post when it seemed relatively dead, but then I come back and there's 29 responses! hahaha

I am new to rice paper wrappers so I have very little experience using them. I have never deep fried any rice paper rolls because rice can absorb a large amount of oil. When preparing, I pretty much "run" the dried rice paper through water in a shallow dish quickly. Place it on a large serving plate then wrap away. The paper may seem a bit dry at time but as I wrap, the paper continues to absorb the water from the surface, it's just about right by the time I finish wrapping. I don't have any experience saving them for later though. I always use them immediately because I find them best tasting that way. Having said that, I don't make completely "raw" rice paper rolls. My husband and little man won't eat it unless there's some juicy meat inside. I use very little oil in a frying pan to crisp up the outside. The fat from the meat will crisp and "seal" the wrapper so the fillings won't fall out when eating. Al

I feel for you. I did the same thing, except mine was my electric tea kettle. I had just had a call from a friend who was wanting to move back here from NC, and she was so unhappy and in pain. After I hung up I was in tears and I just had to have some hot tea. Without thinking, I filled the kettle and instead of plugging it in, I put it on the stove and turned the burner on. Yep, burned it up, completely. I hadn't had it long, and got another one just like it. My friend was never able to get things worked out to move back here, and she died three weeks ago. I hope you get your pot cleaned; probably you wouldn't be able to replace it. Sue

As of this year, I have a LOT more prep space than I used to. I don't always sprawl, but when I do, I sprawl with gusto! I used to have about 4' x 2' for prep and got very good at doing all my prep on a 2-sq-ft cutting board. I had no choice but to clean-as-you-go. When I had houseguests, if they were "sprawlers" who liked to "help" in the kitchen, I'd usually have to excuse myself during meal prep to take a few deep breaths so as to not throttle my helpers!