I also hate to be pessimistic, but even if it the label said "no sugar," that doesn't really mean much to me. The juice companies often strip juice (white grape and apple are commonly used) of every redeeming quality *except* for the sugars, then blend that with juice. Then they get to say "no sugar." However, by that point, it's not all that different from sugar nutritionally, IMO. (Which, it seems that many people forget, is a plant product, and therefore "all natural"!)

My experience with dogwoods - C.mas, I've only sampled unnamed seedlings - fruits are very tart & astringent until 'dead ripe' - I like 'em, but many folks don't; C.kousa - the ripe fruits contain a pleasant-tasting, somewhat grainy pulp, with a flavor reminiscent of pawpaw(to me, anyway). I've not had many folks I've shared kousa fruits with who really liked them - but most don't care for pawpaws or persimmons, either. Mulberries - hard to beat Illinois Everbearing, though I don't know for sure how it performs in the PNW - long bearing season(early June-late July, here), large berries with great flavor & sweet/tart balance. Collier & Stearns are also very good producers with good flavor; I've been disappointed with Wellington. Pakistan, Shangri-La, and some of the other large-fruited M.alba selections might also work well for you in a zone 8 setting.

Here is Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam - it is delicious. Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam 4 cups tart apples, peeled and finely chopped 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 4 cups sugar 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 1 box pectin 1/2 teaspoon butter Add water to chopped apples to measure 4 cups. Place apples and water into large, heavy saucepan. Stir in lemon juice, cinnamon and allspice. Measure sugars. Stir pectin into fruit. Add butter. Bring mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in both sugars. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. Ladle quickly into hot, clean jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on finger tight. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. I also had ALOT of apples this year. Made lots of apple butter, apple pie jam, dehydrated apples (good way to save many apples and use little space). Thinking of canning apple pie filling - though I've never made an apple pie. Happy Coring and Peeling!

Deeby, you are more than welcome. I had mine with a cup of freshly roasted Honduran coffee for breakfast, but a Coke would work too. Make mine Diet Coke, please. sheilajoyce, that sounds like a recipe that would work well for me, something that comes together quickly with easily obtained ingredients. I'm definitely remembering that! Colleen, that sausage/apple combination sounds good too. Do you usually add the cream? I could easily see that over rice or noodles. And soon I'll have pork chops and sausages. hattichranch, we have an old handcranked cider press that Dad built for me and we press cider every fall. We always run out by January, no matter how much I freeze. It was in the single digits here, though, and nearing zero at night, and the water is frozen out there. Even at those temperatures, I'd have dragged out the press, but with no water available other than that I truck in for the animals, I couldn't clean up my mess efficiently. I thought about it, trust me. More than once! eibren, I don't know about efficient. I do tend to have a lot of energy for an old broad, I'll be 59 in May, LOL. I did make a kind of waldorf salad which we had tonight with salmon patties, and I threw some shredded cabbage in there too, gotta use what's on hand, you know. Madonna, I love maple, so I couldn't possibly pass up the Apple Maple Jam. I've used it to fill small tart shells too, and add a topping of toasted walnuts. Ah, the cookies. I have to warn you, I "healthified" them quite a bit. I still liked them a lot, as did Elery and Bud has been happy as can be, eating "cookies" for breakfast, something not normally allowed. A couple of cookies, a cup of yogurt and some homemade applesauce and he is one happy little boy. Apple Oatmeal Cookies 3/4 cup shortening (I used half butter/half applesauce) 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 large egg 1/4 cup milk (I used skim because that's what I had) 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 cup flour (I used white whole wheat) 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 3 cups quick oats (not instant or old fashioned) 1 cup peeled diced apple (I'm lazy, I shredded the apple with the peel on) 3/4 cup raisins (optional) 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional) 1 Preheat oven to 375° and grease cookie sheet. 2 Combine shortening, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla in large bowl. 3 Beat at medium speed until well blended. 4 Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, soda and nutmeg in a small bowl and mix into creamed mixture at low speed until just blended. 5 Stir in oats, apples, raisins and nuts. 6 Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough about 2-inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. 7 Bake for 13 minutes or until just set. 8 Cool for a minute or 2 on cookie sheets and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The recipe said it made 30 cookies but mine made 36, dropped from my tablespoon cookie scoop. Annie This post was edited by annie1992 on Wed, Mar 26, 14 at 20:39