That sounds a lot like what I did, only I lived in my little dwelling for 6 years and then "added on". I bought 8 acres of open land in 2003. Built a little 24x24 double car sized box with a 6x6 bathroom in one corner. Shower, no tub. Electric tankless water heater, because I knew I wouldn't be living there the rest of my life and didn't want to waste that electricity keeping water hot in the future. Along that wall, there is a full size washer and dryer, shop sink (deep plastic free standing), full size dishwasher with adjustable top shelf to fit quart jars, Jenn-Aire drop-in cooktop with down draft exhaust vent, and more counter space with a microwave sitting on it. I had a larger toaster oven that replaced the need for a full sized oven. I have a full size refrigerator and an upright freezer (that's in the big house now). The cabinetry is all raw unfinished oak and particle board stuff I got from Lowe's and hung or placed myself. Particle board/formica counter tops. Bought an old chemistry lab drawer cabinet and topped it with more counter top. That's my "island" sitting next to a couple of sets of 6 ft tall, 2'x4' metal frame shelves that separate the "living room" from the "kitchen". Separating the "living room" from the "bedroom" was a rack I built to hang clothes on. There's baseboard heat on 3 walls, and a through the wall AC/Heat combo unit mounted up high on the "living room" side. So half the structure is "wet" (bath/kitchen) and half is "dry" (living/bed). Had a little 13" TV sitting on top of a stereo. Two doors. 8 windows, ceiling fan, electric outlets mounted 4 feet high instead of 18" from the floor. I can actually see the outlets above the couch and not have to crawl around looking for them. Very nice! I hung all the insulation, the paneling (actually outdoor lapboard panels with a woodgrain finish that looks really nice, rustic, cabin type). I hung the cabinets, painted the concrete slab floor, the ceiling, trenched and buried 700 feet of water line, made the connections to the supply and the house, and hired everything else out. It had a 12x24 covered porch on the front, and a 12x24 pad on the back (in hopes of possibly adding a greenhouse type structure in the future (not yet)). Had a septic tank put in that was large enough to compensate for the little house and the future bigger house. Worked out very well! In 2011, I added onto the front of the structure more carport, and a 3000 sqft house and use the original structure now for tool storage and canning. Bought lots of surplus office shelving cheap and use those for storing extra empty jars, full jars, tools, and other junk. Stereo is still there and I crank it up when I'm canning. So these are connected now by 36 feet of covered concrete pad (3 car carport). Metal roof covers everything. Vinyl siding, gutters. Quite happy with it all now. Quite happy I built the little house first. I couldn't afford the full house in 2005. So it all worked out. Built a pole barn in 2010. Nice to park the tractors under. Want to channel the water to tanks to use for irrigation. Have two 40 ft storage containers on either side for dry storage of materials and tools that can stand the heat. Have another one out in the pasture with a bunch of my brother's stuff in it and another couple thousand canning jars. i struck it with someone on Craig's List one time and made an unbelievable deal, so I had to store them somewhere. :-) They keep getting more and more expensive, so maybe one day, I'll start selling some of them off. Lots of older jars that I'd never consider using. Lots I would. Still collecting... :-( :-)

Thank you for the advice and reassurance :) I tried it last night ... turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself! It is one of my first jams so I was fairly happy that it worked. I made 8 cups of fruit, and only used 1 package of pectin (which is only half what they recommend) but I figured that plums are a high-pectin fruit apparently and can be used without any pectin ... so I only put enough for the cherries. It "set" really well so I guess that was ok. I used basically the recipe I posted above except only 2 cups of sugar. It is certainly sweet enough like that but I was just worried because the sugar is meant to be the preservative, and I wanted there to be enough to be safe to store. If I used 2 cups of sugar with no-sugar-needed pectin and 8 cups of fruit, how long will it last on a shelf? Regular Jams usually seems to last a couple years, would this reduced-sugar option be less? I used allspice which was really nice with the plums and cherries. Tastes more like a fall jam than a summer one but that's ok ... it will keep till then. Next time I will try vanilla, that sounds incredible too!! Liqueurs are a great idea too, I hadn't even though of that aside from the Red Wine that was in one recipe I found. Thanks! I only had ground allspice but I understand what you mean about the cloudy jam ... mine doesn't seem to be (yet) but I will definitely keep that in mind and look for whole spices that can be removed :) So if I was going to use Sugar instead of Fruit Juice, would I just substitute it 1:1 Cup? The cherries seemed to be juicy enough without much added liquid so I don't think I'd need the juice for liquid. Next up (tonight hopefully) is Raspberry - Lemon Jam. Again, high pectin fruits so will try using 8 cups of fruit and only 1 pkg of no-sugar-needed pectin with 2 cups of sugar. Raspberries are pretty juicy too, I think.

Silvercook...there are plenty of recipes on this forum! Just do a search, on pickles, let's say and many links will come up. Many of us 'newbies' have learned a lot from the wisdom of these folks in addition to using certified, SAFE, recipes as well. We also have many that teach canning, involved in canning research, or are way advanced in the world of canning on this forum. You are in good hands! You can also do a search on the names of the foods that I won ribbons on. They are all here. We do use the BALL BLUE BOOK and the NCHFP, see link below. They even have an online class to learn about canning! I took a refresher class a few months back at the local cooperative extension as I had never worked with a pressure canner before, just boiling water bath. I'm sure KY has coop. extensions as well. Call your local extension and you can find out a LOT!! Welcome to Kentucky! I am in NC but was born in Lexington, KY and really miss it. And welcome to the Harvest Forum! I'd love to know where in KY you are. Click on my name, and you can send me an email. Good Luck and Happy Canning! Here is a link that might be useful: Nat'l Center for Home Food Preservation

My dh' favorite dessert is cherry pie, and I have made dozens of pies in the 22 years we've been together--high school sweethearts. Fresh sour cherries are difficult to find and also very expensive. Even frozen sour cherries are scarce. We lived in the Detroit area for a few years and even then it was difficult to find pie cherries. We were young newlyweds, so it wasn't possible to afford to stock up on cherries for more than a couple of pies. We were fortunate enough to have a few friends who introduced us to Trader Joes and Zingermanns. Then we moved to Chicago and discovered Richard Walker's Pancake House in Crystal Lake. We fell in love with the Montmorrency cherry Belgian waffles. A friend mentioned that Trader Joe's Monchello cherries were similar and made a wonderful waffle and crepes topping. I then tried making a pie filling with them, which my dh loved. I agree with those that say tapioca makes the best thickener. My key for the best filling is cooking it on the stovetop to ensure the correct thickness and flavour. I take the filling off the stove when it's still a bit too runny because it will continue to cook in the oven. I've also made pies with sweet cherries-- fresh and frozen. I add a bit more lemon for tartness and less sugar. I'm not a fan of a lot of almond extract. A few drops of real almond extract in the lemon juice for making filling with sweet cherries gives it a little j'en n'aise pas although I prefer a little splash of Amaretto in all my pie fillings if possible.