I don't do pickles any more, my vintage recipe isn't approved to current standards and I haven't found one for crisp pickles we like as well :( I love having my own tomatoes. Green beans (which I cannot eat frozen) I make a case of raspberry jelly for my BIL every year, so simple and he thinks I'm genius :) This year I canned a few clams for dips and chowder, but had to campaign for some for canning - somehow clamming has become a group event any more with family having a house at the beach. We meet, dig together, clean them together, eat together, there's never any left. My biggest annual canning job is tuna but it's a household staple - I don't think I've picked up canned at the store in 20 years. I've heard wonderful things about Annie's salsa and have been wanting to try it, maybe this year.

Baker Creek! It's my favorite thing in the whole world! Yesterday was just the best day! Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Fedco was, but I was totally underwhelmed by them this year. Tomatofest Summerhill Richters (although they don't carry a lot of the things I need, now) Horizon Online (I choose not to get a lot of catalogs and just use online sources and some places have no catalog) The Fragant Path various tomato pages for folks who sell on their own Georgia Vines Hazzards Everwylde Plant Delights (a great resource to see what you might like to try and grow from seed instead of buying it ALL ;)

Pam, We are nothing here if not enablers. We all enable each other, whether it comes to gardening, preserving or cooking. I have heard of Linda Amendt's book, but don't have it. I think you could do a search on the Harvest Forum and find reviews of it there. The three non-Ball canning books on my bookshelf that I use the most are these: "The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving" by Ellie Top and Margaret Howard. My copy is from the second edition, published in 2007. They may have a newer edition or a more current revision out, or even a newer book. I haven't checked lately. This book has marvelous small batches many of which make only 2 to 6 half-pint jars, which is a great way to try new recipes without making huge batches you might never eat. It also is ideal for items you grow in smaller quantities or can purchase at the Farmer's Market. This book has a lot of great recipes for everything from the usual jams, jellies, salsas and pickles to flavored vinegars, mustards, marinades, dessert sauces, syrups and even liqueurs. I use this book pretty often. "The Joy of Pickling: 250 Flavor-Packed Recipes for Vegetables and More from Garden and Market" by Linda Ziedrich. I have the second edition, published in 2009. This book has a huge variety of recipes and they are different from a lot of the standard pickling recipes. For example, she has a whole chapter on recipes for sauerkraut, kimchi and other cabbage pickles, and a different chapter on rice-bran, miso and soy-sauce pickles. There's a full chapter on fermented pickles, and also full chapters on sweet pickles, quick pickles and freezer pickles....as well as chapters on pickled meat, fish and eggs, and a chapter devoted to chutneys, salsa and other relishes. I love this book. "The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits" by Linda Ziedrich. My copy shows a copyright date of 2009. I am not positive if all the recipes in this book are free of commercial pectin, but nothing I've made from this book has included commercial pectin. It is full of amazing recipes for anything and everything you possibly could make from fresh fruit, including these: apple cider syrup, apricot-pineapple jam, cantaloupe jam with mint, maraschino cherries, fig jam, rose petal jelly, rose petal syrup, red grapefruit marmalade, lemon curd, lime syrup, orange jelly, peach-fig jam, hot green pepper-lime jelly, plum-apple conserve, pomegranate syrup, pumpkin butter, quince jelly, raspberry jam, raspberry vinegar, strawberry-orange jam, tomatillo jam, tomato marmalade, yellow tomato-pineapple preserves, watermelon rind preserves and watermelon molasses. If you are looking for recipes that are a little different from the usual fruit recipes in canning books, this book is full of them. I was watching the same football game and thinking at times that it looked like they were playing the game inside a snow globe. I know you'll be busy today ahead of the brutal cold front. It is almost noon and we're still below freezing. It is hard to imagine that a week ago we were in the 70s and hit the 80s a couple of times. Today it is a whole different world, and a very cold one at that. Dawn

This will be a bit long, but I think everyone here will appreciate the story. The course I excelled in was one that males weren't allowed to take. I became a ground breaker when I was finally allowed to take the course and paved the way for other male students. I wanted to take Home Ec (actually it was cooking, but they didn't call it that then) in my sophomore year, 1963. When I told the counselor I was told "males can't take that course, you need to take some type of shop". When I asked why, I got the answer "because home ec is only girls". Sooo, I went first in mechanical drawing which I promptly withdrew from after pinning the instructors shirt sleeve to my board with my compass. His sleeve naturally ripped off when he was walking away. This time mom came with me (she was catering at that time and thought I should be allowed to take the course)and was handed the same line. So off to wood working I went. I lasted all of two weeks before I sent back to the counselor's office. Reason? I kept breaking the stupid saw blades. Once again mom and I make the trip and again meet the same stupid reason. O.K. electrical shop it is. To this day, I have the dubious distinction of being the only student ever to blow the entire electrical system in the school. Don't ask me how I managed that (I think the system was actually faulty and my overloading one of the outlets was the real reason it blew) but you should have seen the counselors face when mom and I went into his office. His response? "He can take ANYTHING he wants Mrs. K as long as it's not a shop." So I spent my last three years in home ec and maintained a straight A average. I did have a couple of the gals who tried to make it rough for me, but the instructor brought that to a screeching halt. I graduated in 1966 and was so upset when Mrs. D called me into her office shortly before graduation and handed me a thick package. It contained a scholarship to the chef's school in Chicago. What she didn't know was that I had enlisted in the Navy and this being 1966, there was no way out of that contract. I never did make it my career (the military wound up being my choice and a good one) but still enjoy cooking especially when we have a party. Thanks mom and Mrs. D for being pioneers in your own right too.