Email Address to respond to newsletter replies, requests and tips. Please include date of newsletter, name of recipe and number of servings.  Remember to include your name within the message as well.

<<If you look at the gas gauge on your vehicle, you will see a small icon of a gas pump. The handle of the gas pump will extend out on either the left or right side of the pump. If your tank is on the left, the handle will be on the left. If your tank is on the right, the handle will be on the right. Why don't the dealers share such important information with car buyers?
Mo in KS>>

Sorry, not true...I think this is an urban ledgend. Both our cars, a Pontiac and A Toyota, go against this rule!
Diana in RI

Nancy and Nancylanders: Mo in KS might want to check with snopes.com regarding the gas pump icon on the dash instrument panel of vehicles. Snopes says that the icon hose placement as an indicator of the side of the vehicle the gas tank filling side is located is false. It certainly
isn't correct in my 2006 Tundra as the filling side is on the driver's side of the truck and the hose icon is on the passenger side.
Mr. Myron Drinkwater - Lake Forest, CA

Similar messages were sent in by JoAnn, Brookfield, Wi , Stan in PA

Hi Nancy,
So glad to see the old background back! Much better than the black sides.
Trish in Illinois~

Nancy I am hoping the unpacking is going a long just fine for you. It is never easy to pack or unpack when moving.

In the 8/28 newsletter Barb in San Diego asked Lindsey in the U.P. If Lindsey lives in Michigan the U.P. stands for Upper Peninsula. For many years as a child and an adult I spent time vacating just outside of Petoskey, Michigan. I truly miss vacating in the Upper Part of the Lower Peninsula. Sorry if this doesn't make sense to a lot of you people but that is how it is worded. Barb don't be surprised by how I send this newsletter and all others.

I have lived on Long Island New York, Atlanta Georgia, Columbus Ohio, Daytona Ohio, Indianapolis Indiana, Des Moines Iowa then back to Columbus Ohio just before the 7th grade. All the while in the summers going to Michigan for vacation. Then when my husband and I got married we lived in Columbus Ohio for awhile than moved to Akron Ohio, Stow Ohio and then to Indianapolis Indian and have been here for almost 29 years. I don't think of the different moves as a disvantage but an advantage to be able to see the different parts of the USA. This is why I don't mind traveling with my husband for his job because you get to see the different part of this great country and meet different people.

In the 8/28 newsletter Chris in NM thank you in advance for looking up the recipes. In our moves over the years I have lost the recipes and also some others that I wish I could have again.

In the 8/28 newsletter thank you to Carol from TN for sending in the Fudge Pie recipe.

Good luck to Barb in Kansas City 8/28 newsletter looking for out of print cookbooks. I have never found mine that I lost but hopefully you will have better luck than myself.

On 8/28 I was watching Paula Deen Home Cooking show on www.foodnetwork.com. She had on 2 recipes that I thought that the people in this newsletter might like to see. One is Sauerkraut and Ribs. Now I make this dish but I do mine differently. Many years ago my DH said that he didn't sauerkraut because of how it tasted. I asked him to let me cook the kraut and ribs the way my mother did. Well 41 1/2 years later he has had many meals of kraut and ribs saying that it likes it. The other recipe on the same day that I have made but have cut back on the fat that is used in the Shaggy Man Split Peas Soup recipe. I don't use the butter that she does but I do use the ½ lb. of bacon cooking with my diced onion, diced celery and carrots. Then I use a low fat sausage in the recipe and ,of course, the rest of the recipe stays the same. I have made this soup recipe of hers in the Crock Pot cooking 7 to 10 hours. It is good also using 1/2 sausage ½ ham, all ham and of course all sausage. All the different ways taste good to us.

Everyone have a great day. Nancy and 4 legged associates take care, stay safe and cool. Sorry Nancy that this turned out so long.
Susie Indy

Good morning, Nancy, kitties, and 'Landers! Sue in GA asked about basil oil. Is this Basil flavored olive oil? If so, I would think it would make a great bread dip (add some parm, salt and pepper) or make a good grilled chicken or fish baste (again adding some salt and pepper). Or homemade salad dressing (maybe with some chopped up roasted red peppers and a little red wine vinegar). Hmmmm. I think I'll look for it at the store!
Kathi in Virginia

This cookie is easy to make and a nice change from our usual cookie recipes.

Pina Colada Cookies
1 box Pineapple cake mix
2 large eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 cup coconut
1 cup nuts (your choice macadamia, pecan, walnut)
1/2 cup drained chopped maraschino cherries

Bake 350 for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely. Drizzle with melted white chocolate.
If time is of the essence dust I dust powdered sugar on top before serving. They make a lovely presentation.

When making this cookie i use a small (1 Tbsp) size ice cream scoop instead of rolling them into balls by hand. This procedure is a time saver and makes the cookies uniform in size and bake equally. Judy/Buffalo

Does anyone have a good salsa recipe that you use tomato sauce and catsup in. A friend told me she had this recipe and liked it real well but she can not find. She said that she used green tomatoes and red tomatoes in it.
Judy Z

Florence in Indiana asked how to get rid of pickle odor in tupperware. My mother had a trick that works quite well on any closed container. She would fold several dry paper towels and put them into the container. Cover it for a week or so and usually the odor was gone or very much
diminished.
Leah

Good evening Nancy and everyone!

I found my 1968 Jell-O cookbook and hope I have found the chocolate pie that we have been looking for! Susie, hope this is the one! There is a Delight Pie, but that is the same as the Dream Pie that was in today’s newsletter.

Chocolate Party Pie
1 pkg. – 4 serving size – Jell-O Chocolate Pudding and Pie Filling
2 tbl. brown sugar
½ square Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
2 c. milk
1 egg
2 tbl. butter
1 baked 8 or 9 inch pie shell, cooled
1 envelope Dream Whip

Combine pie filling mix, brown sugar, chocolate, milk and egg. Blend well. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Cool 5 minutes, stirring twice. Pour into pie shell. Chill at least 4 hours. Prepare Dream Whip as directed on package and spread over pie before serving. Garnish with shaved or grated chocolate or chocolate curls, if desired.
Take care! Chris in NM

My sister, Nancy, RJ, told me about your wonderful group! I have a great time reading all the recipes. To be honest I don't or should say didn't cook until recently. My sister & I live together and her age and health is failing quickly. She did all the cooking and I was dish washer! So now I read and try the recipes that you send and enjoy them very much! I tell her that I got the recipe from Nancy and no matter what it is it's always great because it came from Nancy!
SB

Barb in San Diego- U.P. refers to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we are known up here as Yoopers. Glad you enjoyed the site. It is one of my favorites!
Lindsey

This is for Barb in San Diego wanting to know what UP stands for in Michigan. It stands for the Upper Peninsula. Michigan has a lower & upper Peninsula divided by the Mackinaw Bridge.
Linda W. -Michigan

Good morning All,
Dean in West Tennessee I am so envious of your ton of pears. I have lots of fruit bushes and different types of apple trees, but no pears. My best friend only has a pear tree, so we barter. I am waiting patiently for her pears to ripen to make mine and everyman and his dog's favourite preserve. I promise it isn't difficult:

Pear and Ginger Jam
Yield 2lbs

4 lbs of pears
4 lbs of sugar
2 Lemons
1 Dsp of Ground Ginger (this can be varied depending on your taste)

Peel, Core and quarter pears. Place in a large bowl and cover with sugar, leave overnight.

Turn into preserving pan, add grated rind and juice of lemons and ground ginger.

Initially stir over low heat dissolving sugar then bring to boil. Boil gently stirring all the time, until fruit becomes transparent and setting point is reached then jar it in sterilised jars. I sometimes add a cube of hot crystalised ginger to one or two jars, for my ginger loving friends.

If this is your first jam don't be scared. The only difficult part is knowing when your jam has reached setting point. You could borrow or buy a sugar thermometer, this makes it simple. If you don't have a thermometer, place an empty saucer in your fridge. Once your jam has been bubbling for about 15 minutes put a teaspoonful on your cooled saucer, leave for a 15 seconds then with your finger gently push the jam, if there is any sign of a crinkle you have setting point. Pop a small knob of butter into the jam and stir, this will disperse any foam and you are now ready for jarring.

Also have a look on the following site:
http://www.pickyourown.org/jam.htm
Sylvia <Scotland>

To Barb in San Diego, who asked about Sun City/ Georgetown TX in the Aug 25th newsletter:
We lived in Georgetown for 7 years and returned to Colorado simply to be closer to family. We ABSOLUTELY LOVED GEORGETOWN and although didn't live in Sun City, the homes there were beautiful and the golf course was wonderful. Georgetown itself has a wonderful energy and one thing you should check out is Senior University Georgetown, http://www.senioruniversitygeorgetown.org/. Georgetown has grown tremendously since we left and the only negative is the traffic, but I still think it would be a wonderful place to live.
Hope this helps. Sonia in Colorado

For Joe from Leavenworth, the 7 quarts, I store in a cool room in our home in the basement. The room is insulated all the way around. They will keep as long as they stay sealed. I have had some as long as 3 years and they are still good, but most time they don't even last a year.
Emma from Montana

Good evening Nancy and everyone!

For Mo in KS in the 8/28 newsletter about the gas tank vs. the little icon on the dash. We have a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan ES and our tank is on the opposite side of the vehicle that the handle on the icon is. I had to fill up this morning and checked. What Mo said must be just for specific vehicles. It would be nice, though, if they were all the same, wouldn’t it?

For Barb in San Diego, in the 8/28 newsletter, UP means Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I am from northern Ohio and have friends who live up there.

For Florence in Indiana, in 8/28 newsletter, asking how to get the odor of pickles out of hard plastic bowls. I always use undiluted white vinegar to get stains and odors out of plastic. Good luck. By the way, it always works!

You are welcome Linda in Michigan, in the 8/28 newsletter! Good luck! Hope to see your post soon!
Chris in NM

Hello Nancy this is an answer for some of the group for Gina about Heart and Tongue. I cook both of them.The heart I open up and clean and then stuff with bread stuffing well seasoned. Put it in the roaster and add a cup of white wine and bake covered till tender. about 2 hours.

The tongue I boil with a table spoon of pickling spices and a onion or two. I cover it with water and boil till fork pierces easily and I remove it to a plater. Cool and peel it. What is left is the best beef sandwiches there is. Different strokes for different folks. Till I was 25 I had only liver and onions. I still like that too.

For thae lady with all the pears, there is a great recipe in the kerr or ball canning books. I chop, add marchino cherries and spices and cook till thick. I love the stuff. This year I will try Splenda for it. Who knows how it will work till I try it.
Annie in WA State