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 Want to learn how to make the best pie crust in the world? 

Do your homemade cookies turn out misshapen and burnt? 

Can you put a gourmet dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes? 

Interested in learning more about Italian cuisine? 

HRH Pat Condelli, The Cookie Queen, also known as "the practical Martha Stewart," teaches all the tricks of the trade in fun-filled classes at the Castle in New Kensington, Pa. 

Home Economist Pat Condelli 

Pat received her degree in Home Economics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been teaching cooking, baking and home making since 1968. 

Choose one of the following classes or tell the Cookie Queen what you would like to bake or cook and she will plan a class specifically for you and your friends. 

Pat also is available for LIVE consultation on SKYPE. If you have a web cam, message Pat on the internet for a time for a live SKYPE consult on your computer. 

* Dough Re Mi - How to handle all types of doughs - yeast, phyllo, pizza, pie, biscuit. Hands on. Sampling. Take home something wonderful. 

* Hassle-Free Holidays -. Save time and your sanity with easy holiday recipes. Hands on. Sampling. Take home something scrumptious. 

* Kids Can Cook - Easy recipes. Lots of fun. Hands on. Sampling. Take home something to show your family what you made. Class limited to six children. 

* Cookies to Die For, Cry For, Lie For - Learn to make "professional-looking" cookies that taste fabulous. Men of all ages really love this class. Hands on. Sampling. Take home some goodies. 

* Yes, You CAN Make a Pie - Anyone can and I’ll teach you how. 

* Intro to Cooking for the Single Man -Basic cooking skills for guys. Prepare wonderful meals for you and your buddies. Food safety. Learn how to host a party. Hands on. Sampling. Something to take home. 

* Carry Me Back to Old Italia - Grand recipes from the North and South of Italy. Family-tested for generations. Hands on. Sampling. Something to take home. 

* Ethnic Cooking With American Flair - You’ll get a little bit of everything in this class - Italian, Greek, Polish, German, Mexican, Dutch, Indian, Chinese. Six sessions.$300. Come for dinner. We eat first. Then I’ll show you how to make it. And you can take some home for your family to taste. Class size limited to six students. 

All classes feature hands-on (not just watching me do it) experience. And everyone gets to take home something they themselves made. 

Most classes are just one 2-3-hour session. There are morning, afternoon, evening and weekend sessions available. 

Individual Classes: $40-$60 (depending on items being prepared), which includes recipes and something delicious to take home. 

To register for a class, phone the Cookie Queen at 724 339-0920 or E Mail: cookiequ@verizon.net 

Yesterday I received in the mail some very nice address stickers from the National Wildlife Federation.  And a letter asking for a donation to help save the polar bear population.

I appreciate the stickers but that letter just set me off because like everyone else who cries “the polar bears are dying, the polar bears are dying,”  the National Wildlife Federation cannot back up those claims with any credible statistics.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to count polar bears? It’s not like they line up and count off 1-2-3-4-5-……….

They live in environs that are not people friendly and they move around a lot not just from town to town but from one nation to another.  So maybe the polar bear you saw in Alaska and counted yesterday could be the same one someone will count in Russia next month.  No one is tagging the bears or shooting them with colored paint (at least I hope they are not doing that).  Also a lot of polar bears live in Russia and we have to rely on what the Russians tell us.  I’m not doubting the Russians - I’m just saying…..

The fact is that in the 1960s we had NO IDEA how many polar bears there were. Even now, about half of our population estimates are only educated guesses. So comparing guesstimates of today with guesstimates from the 1960s is just a foolish waste of time.

The guesstimates are wide ranging.  Those who say that global warming or “climate change” (previously known as weather) is causing the polar bear habitat to melt say there are only 15,000 polar bears world wide.  Those who have no preconception put the total at 39,000.

But none of them - NO ONE - knows for sure.  

There is one thing we know for sure:  polar bears APPEAR to be increasing in number in areas where there is a ban on hunting them.  Hmmmm.  Who’da thunk?

I just wish everyone who claims to KNOW for certain that polar bears are on the decline would show me some PROOF.  And please don’t give that song and dance about melting ice cap. I’d love you to have a talk with the  scientists who went to the arctic to measure “thin” ice whose ships got stuck  the last two years. The crews had to be rescued by helicopter because the ice was toooooooooooooooo thick for their boat tout through it. 

There is no way to know how many polar bears there used to be.   There is no way to know how many polar bears there are now.   And there most certainly is no way to even guess at how many polar bears there will be 50 years from now.