thanks for the suggestion, Mary. I will try it. So far, nothing but (some) iced tea and--one day--half and half creamer all by itself--has been in the category of "doesn't hurt to drink/eat".

My brother has been visiting me from the West Coast and last night we went to the Moosewood restaurant. Yes, the one that was the basis for all the cookbooks. I love the Moosewood but I went figuring probably all I'd be able to have was chamomile iced tea. But they had this mushroom bisque soup on the menu that sounded so good I thought I'd try a cup. Even just the creamy part of it, without any big chunks of mushroom hurt my mouth all over. Sigh.

And then we had an overworked waitress who had an assistant she was training bring the chamomile iced tea. Usually they just bring you hot water in a cup, the tea bag to steep and then another glass full of ice to pour it into. This clueless college-student assistant waitress bring us (my brother ordered iced tea too) the teabag on a saucer and a teacup full of ice water. No hot water for steeping. How hard can it be to get that right? Oh well. They didn't charge us. But the long and the sort of it is I sat there and enjoyed vicariously what my hubby and brother were eating and had nothing I could eat or even drink.

I'm going to keep trying, though, I know there are good and bad days and it has to just be a matter of time.