A) I was a qualified librarian, and I still read and buy books as I was trained to do: Read the blurb first, then the notes about the author, then the contents page, then the preface or foreword. Next, check to see if there is an index, afterword, glossary, or notes. Then make a decision if I am going to read it or not. If it is a yes, I read the whole thing. Enjoyment is secondary to the acquisition of knowledge.

Q) Whoopee Goldberg or Joan Rivers?

A) Whoopi

Q) Pudding or Mousse?

A) Tough question! Both can be sweet or savoury ... hmmm ... I'm a greedy-guts:

Salmon mousse, followed by steak-and-kidney pudding, followed by lemon delicious pudding AND white chocolate and kahlua mousse.

Q) Cheese at the beginning, or the end of a meal?

A) End (I can't eat many cheeses and they are so filling - If I ate them at the beginning, I wouldn't eat anything else)

Q) Olives; like or not? Favourite variety? Stuffed or marinated; neither?

A) I am the chiefmost olive-fancier of my neighbourhood!
Having lived around Dodecanese Greek folk for so long, I prefer Kalamatas.
I buy them unpitted by the bucket, and pit them myself with a handy little Fowler's-Vacola device.

I rarely bother with stuffed or marinated ones, but I have been known to serve olives stuffed with marzipan as a party nibble.

(This is not as strange as it sounds. The late Mahalia Jackson used to serve dill gherkins stuffed with peppermint fondant in the same way.)

Q) William or Harry?

A) William

Q) Fruit toast or plain toast with jam?

A) In point of actual fact - I usually have my toast brushed with olive oil and dusted with salt and pepper.

However, from the options you offer, I go for the fruit toast - especially if its Mrs Van Den Dickenberg's spicy fruit loaf from the bakery in Tooraddin.
Then again, if there is fig or quince jam ...

Q) If you could get a quantity of real sturgeon caviar : would you throw a party, or just hoard and gorge?

Originally Posted by Silas Sydenham

Q) If you could get a quantity of real sturgeon caviar : would you throw a party, or just hoard and gorge?

Neither....I would give it to someone that could appreciate the gift because i never could.

What day of year, if any do you find you anticipate the most and why?

How selfish would it be if I said my birthday? For real its the anniversary of when our son's adoption was confirmed, cause it is him that made our family a full circle. It is really only a simple day that we do something as a family, something simple like a picnic or sail boat ride and it really only my Husband and I that know why its special.

What day of year, if any do you find you anticipate the most and why?

A) I'd like to say Easter Sunday, because I'm a Church junkie.
But it's actually My Grannie's Birthday. She's long gone now, but I celebrate by throwing a party for friends - with lots of fresh seafood, salad, and silly hats.

Q) Marriage or Civil Union? Why?