^, <, V

[Ransom]

^ Sea urchin sushi. It was okay, but I didn't like the texture, which was sorta like pudding only not. You eat it out of the shell.

< I've tried and love escargot, raw oysters on the half shell with hot sauce, a lot of sushi...basically, I'll try anything once, just to see what it's like. As for liver - I detest liver, but love liverworst sandwhiches. Go figure.

< Sorry, Jacky, but I love a big bowl of sauerkraut with a nice fat bratwurst sausage. Yum!

V Ever have a food you hated as a kid, then later learned to love as an adult?

[Cheeky Actress]

^ That would be blood pudding! My grandmother use to make it when we came to visit. If we didn’t have it for breakfast, she’d serve it for dinner. Just the name being spoken made my stomach turn and I can still remember the dinner table antics I would pull to get out of eating it. Now, I can eat it with bake beans or potatoes.

< Hagias is another story….

V Passing the question along.

[Red Cat Jenny]

^ Head Cheese. Ok aye, those are two words that should never be next to each other...but My Grandma used to buy it at Foods of All Nations along with Olive loaf and Wasa crackers. Being Swedish and all, now I love both. It has to be good..but don't knock it till ye try it! Ooh add a little JArlsberg..mm now I'm hungry.

< Saw blood pudding made on the food Network. Sorry but seeing the guy pour blood from an empty plastic soda bottle and adding all manner of grotesque ingredients to be stuffed in a sheep bladder?

I don't recall Vincent Price writing a cookbook....

V Pass the question

[Hester]

^ I couldn't stand raw tomatoes as a kid. Now I like them on hamburgers and toasted sandwiches (but still not just on their own). The first time I tried both avocado and cilantro (as an adult), I really disliked them. However, they've grown on me, and now I love them.

< Eating tons of black pudding these days, nearly every breakfast. [in fact, I'm just about to go grill some now, with scrambled eggs and grilled tomatoes.] Fighting off that anemia! I'll need all my strength for an upcoming visit to the in-laws. And head cheese is one of my mom's favourites. I don't mind it.

V What's the worst meal you've ever been served as a guest at someone else's home?

[Red-Handed Jill]

^ Pretty much every meal I ever ate at my aunt's house was a horror. I don't know how she did it, but she could make even the most basic stuff taste horrible.

< Red Cat Jenny - I am SO with you on the blood pudding. Vincent Price - heh.

V Pass the question.

[Ransom]

^ A Bar B Q where an elderly gentleman had cooked beef ribs directly on the grill without roasting them or boiling them first. They were like boot leather. Everyone tried to be polite, and taste them, but yikes, it was like chewing on a rubber doggy treat.

< Never tried blood pudding or head cheese. Tried Haggis once, and loved it. Especially combined with tatties and neeps!

V Pass the question.

[Red Cat Jenny]

^ Well it wasn't at someones home, but I went to a wedding at a very fancy mansion. The cocktail hour was fabulous..but the only thing edible at dinner was the bread. ...how do you ruin salad?

< Another swanky wedding..the waitstaff pronounced Salmon with the "L" we kept asking them to repeat the choices cause it was funny.

PS - I had the saLLmon. It tasted just like salmon.

V Catered event horror stories? - come on ya know ya got em

[Red-Handed Jill]

^ A friend of mine turned thirty and for some reason he decided to have a big catered affair with friends and family. Their vegetarian option was Green Giant brand peas and cubed carrots. Bleah! This was over twenty years ago, when folks weren't as enlightened about other diet choices.

< My aunt could ruin a salad...

V Pass the question - too good not to pass.

[Red Cat Jenny]

^ Oh the friend asking you to stick with her cause she doesn't want to dance with someone and all you want to do is get some cake and yer groove on...help!!"

< siiiiiiiiiighhhhhh (unrelated)

V Early fall? thoughts? wagers?

[Hester]

^ My summer don't end until the Equinox!!! And then, I get to see Nick Lowe...

< Valium's worn off. Mr. H. noticed too.

V Best travel survival tip?

[Red Cat Jenny]

^A portable quick energy snack such as granola bars or even a bag of raisinettes..and asperin. Real asperin. Not the sissy stuff. Mints. Everything else you can endure.

< However, I have learned a full survial kit of trial sizes is indespensible.

I have perfected mine over years of trips. Tougher now with the liquid

restrictions, but doable. Oh and locate a liquor store where you'll be

staying.

V Pass the question..it's a good one

[Lily Alexander]

^ Survival tip #1. Don't go to Vegas in August. lol. I also always carry granola bars, maybe some trail mix, any needed meds and hand sanitizer.

I'm so glad it's almost fall. Definitely my favorite time of year.

Pass the question

[Matusalem]

^I carry a windbreaker jacket in my rollie suitcase at all times, it's part of the suitcase....it is nothing but a nylon jacket from a track suit has kept me warm and protected me from rain from Hong Kong to Florida to sailing trips that I expected would be hot but turned out cold&rainy...never failed me, even in the most dire circumstances.

<I cust myself 4 times today (band-saw, glass, paper cut, you name it)....used up the entire band-Aid box and still need more. The Johnny Cash version of trent reznor's song 'Hurt' is now running though my head.

V So.....how has your summer been so far? Has you year lived up to expectations?

[Surfer Joe]

^ My summer's endless, man!

< Ya just can't get enough Johnny Cash, y'know:

V Passing Mat's "summer" Q on to the next contestant...

[Red Cat Jenny]

^ Aye..this Summer has been wonderful. It started with a nicer, drier Spring than we've had in the East in a long time. You just never know what Summer will bring.

< Hester, buy some wickedly expensive shoes honey, and you'll forget all about your hair

V Do you fall alseep on the sofa?

[Lily Alexander]

^ Not any more . We used to have a wonderful sofa, perfect for snuggling or napping. It was so comfortable, sleeping on it was easy to do.

< I'm really looking forward to fall.

v When making difficult decisions, do you follow your head or your heart?

[Red Cat Jenny]

^ Depends on the situation..however I tend to defer to my head.

< Fall is nice, but after what feels like a lifetime in the North East. I crave to be away from the winter (Coats and boots and scarves and hats and wet socks-blah) Still I'd like a change of seasons of some sort.

V I love good solid Colonial furniture as well as Queen Anne and French Country. Cherry, Maple, Rosewood..sigh.

Have a fave?

[Red-Handed Jill]

^ I've always been fond of the Arts and Crafts style furniture, ever since I was a kid. I like the clean lines.

< I bought a lot of my furniture from a place called the Wooden Duck. They recycle wood from buildings around the world to make their furniture, mostly out of teak. Check them out!

V Pass the question.

[Lily Alexander]

I love the furniture my hubby makes. Usually it's oak, cherry or maple. I wish teak wasn't so expensive.

That was a great website. I could do some serious shopping there.

Pass the question

[Matusalem]

^Mssion and Arts & crafts era. it's such a classic American style thanks to Frank Lloyd Wright. I have a 1937-built bungalow, and I made a solid oak dinette set that resembles church pews. ...kind of gothic looking but not really.

<I have an attic window facing the street that I am going to buld using several small lead -glass bottle-bottom panes. I actually got the idea from the Black Pearl Barbossa/Elisabeth scene on POTC1.

V Pass Ye Question

[Red Cat Jenny]

^ Ok No one's biting...new question

< Fireworks? It's September. My neighbors are calendar challenged...

Not looking forward to Winter, but I am looking forward to the Holidays.

V Ready for the holidays? Are you ever?

[Hester]

^ Summer Holidays ... I'm not finished yet! I've got one more week coming up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdJCtqegd8A

< I'm used to fireworks in September. My cottage neighbours used to save up the money from their beer bottle returns all summer, and buy fireworks for Labour Day weekend.

Hester, buy some wickedly expensive shoes honey, and you'll forget all about your hair 

<Well, Jenny, I just might have to do that. I was thinking of putting "Develop a shoe fetish" on my list of New Year's Resolutions this year anyway. In the meantime, 3 weeks after that beastly haircut, it's starting to look less flapperish and more like Queen Elizabeth's 'do from the 1960s. Cripes!

V Worst hairstyle you've ever had?

[Red Cat Jenny]

^ Well my hair's been long since I was about 6. But I did have a guy cut it to a point in the back once "I'll just blend the sides" he said. 6 inches shorter and no tip and a few kleenex later...

< Hester, go for that fetish!! whoo! and maybe curls would look cute

V Pass the question

[Cpt Sophia M Eisley]

^ When I was around 14 or so, I decided to go for a short cut (nearly as short as Demi Moore's cut in Ghost). It was cute for a few months, but then it was very hard waiting for it to grow out to a length that I could stand, which at the time was chin length. Since then, I've grown my hair out and these days it's past the midpoint down my back.

< *plugs ears* I did not hear the word shoes! Actually, I'm more sensible in my footwear purchases nowadays. I might buy a pair or two a year, if that, and those are usually the shoes I wear the most. I love my Bass penny loafers.

V What would be your ideal form of transportation? (i.e. boat, plane, segway, camel, etc)

[Silkie McDonough]

^ Big ol'sailin ship of course! Three or four masts. Looking like something from the GAoP but with all of the modern conveniences!

< needs to shake the blues

V What do you do to shake the blues?