Cooking With Friends

The Cooking With Friends Club is a unique community that encourages people to cook together and use their friendships as a main ingredient. It's a cost effective, emotionally rewarding and fun way to cook. The club offers a website, a free monthly e-newsletter and a Yahoo group for inspiration and guidance. Here's the link to the Yahoo group: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/CookingWit hFriendsClub/

When joining the Yahoo group please put my name (Susan Lowe) in the comment box, as they are tracking referrals for a contest!

I've gotten so many good tips and recipes from this group, I know you'll love it too. And the good thing (as women are want to do) is -- you can change your mind at any time and drop out of the group.

It's Fun!

It's Free!

Any you just may come out with some lifelong family favorite recipes.

Donate Life California

I have signed up with the
Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry.

Please join me in saving and enhancing the lives of
thousands of people in need of your help.

It took me only a few minutes to sign up --
minutes that could mean years of life for someone
else.

Perhaps you, like me, had always "thought" about doing it,
but never quite got around to it.

Well, here's your "ROUND TUIT."

My decision was prompted by the death of a dear friend, my
daugher's best "college friend" who died while waiting for
a transplant.  Maybe if one more person had donated, he'd
still be alive today.

To sign up or for more information, please visit

http://www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org.

Happy Birthday America!

We Americans celebrate our country's 232nd birthday this week, the anniversary of the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776.

One year later, Americans in Philadelphia set off bonfires and placed candles in the windows of their homes and public building. Bells in church towers rang out. Ships shot off their cannons. People throughout the thirteen colonies flew our country's flag, and shopkeepers displayed red, white and blue decorations. Veterans of the recent Revolutionary War marched in parades, and gathered together to hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud. In 1941, Congress declared the 4th of July a national holiday.

How do you celebrate our nation's birthday? As a child, I delighted in holding sparklers in my hands, tracing patterns with them in the night sky. Summers spent in Seattle with my Grandmother meant traveling to a park where I watched fireworks being set off over one of the city's lakes. Rollin and I spent our first 4th of July holiday together watching fireworks explode over Humboldt Bay.

This week, we will celebrate with that American summer tradition, a BBQ. Hamburgers, hot dogs, my Mom's recipe for potato salad, and my one pot beans will be enjoyed by all. Later that night we will gather in the driveway and watch our own mini fireworks show.

However you choose to celebrate this week's holiday, please stop for a moment to remember our country's humble beginnings, and say a little prayer thanking God for this great country we live in.

Warts and all, America is still a mighty fine place to be!