>  ML> were > accidentally dropped or what. I'd not like to carelessly lose
>  ML> something > I put work into.
>  ML> People may not feel that way about losing stuff
>  ML> someone else put work into, and anyway, kids
>  ML> abandon the darnedest things.
> True but not everybody feels the same way.

It's mostly kids, who can be very cavalier.

>  ML> Speaking of which, in the San Diego TSA checkpoint
>  ML> they had a cane hanging up hooked over a partition,
>  ML> so I pointed to it and asked, what happened, somebody
>  ML> have a miracle?
> Stranger things have been known to happen. (G)

Steroids!

>  ML> life more interesting. Cf. the entertaining and
>  ML> recommended book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman?
> Not one found in my library.

That's what public libraries are for - you get to
read interesting stuff that you wouldn't be 
inclined to pay for or enrich the author.

>  ML> > Quite so. Only thing consistent is inconsistency.
>  ML> Luckily that's an exaggeration. Like when I look
>  ML> around and imagine that the only thing human is
>  ML> inhumanity.
> I'll draw the line, lest I go into forbidden territory.

No problem: I trust the moderator's judgment, though.

>  ML> though if you inspect the cycle closely, things may
>  ML> not seem that way (clothes sit around in that murky
>  ML> mess for a long time).
> My washer is a front loader; loads are in action most all the time and
> it uses very little water.

I find they clean less well, though they are more
energy and resource efficient by a lot.

>  ML> So I eat pizza or grilled cheese once in a while.
>  ML> Precious metal utensils are a pretension and taste
>  ML> funny as well.
> But they do add a bit of elegance to serving.

You can guess my feelings about elegance!
Physical elegance anyway.

>  ML> I've been drinking coffee, because it's what Hilton
>  ML> gives me free, and oddly my sleep has not been
>  ML> suffering too much. Hilton beds are, of course,
>  ML> quite comfy, and that helps.
> I'd still rather have a cuppa tea. I usually try to avoid caffiene from
> mid afternoon on but do have some times when I've had it and slept well.
> Other times, even with avoiding it, my sleep has been poor.

It's got to be only one of many factors, but for me
it's always been a major factor, that and related
alkaloids theobromine and theine.

>  ML> > And quite different from the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook that
>  ML> came > out in 1950, which broke everything down into very basic steps.
>  ML> I remember that book - it was written for families
>  ML> whose mommies (and daddies) didn't give the kids a
>  ML> proper apprenticeship in the kitchen, whereas the
> Are you thinking of the kids cook book or the adult one? I had a copy of
> the kids one when I was young but inherited my grandmother's first
> edition BCPC.

I've seen both I think and don't remember the adult one
as being written for adults either! Someone gave my sister
the kids' version, but neither of us really paid it much
heed, as it was way 1-2-3 for us. My mother had a copy of 
the original one as a wedding shower present (1950 or so), 
then Lucille had the binder edition. I didn't learn anything 
from them except the proportions for certain baked goods and
that people even back then liked semi-homemade and salty.

>  ML> Penn Dutch and similar historical ones were aimed
>  ML> at people who had some idea of what bake in a quick
>  ML> oven means.
> Those that grew up cooking in that style.

Or with any capacity for reasoning.

Creamed chicken
categories: celebrity, main, poultry, one, two, five
servings: 4

1 md fryer, cut up, salted, peppered 
1 Tb butter 
1 sm onion, sliced 
2 Tb water, more as needed
1 c cream (or more, if extra gravy is desired) 

Melt butter in frying pan and add chicken. Keep 
stirring to sear, but not brown. Then add onion 
and let simmer about 1 min. Add 2 Tb water. Cover 
and simmer slowly for 30 min. If more water is 
needed during cooking, add just enough to keep 
meat stewing. After 30 min, remove cover and add 
cream. Simmer for 5 min and eat. 

Be sure not more than 1 Tb water is left in pan 
before adding cream. Stir meat in cream a couple 
of times during last 5 min.

Lawrence Welk