Christine That's the way my family has done it for years, the only difference that we do is the lids. We cook the tomatoes the same way and put them in the jar hot. But the lids and rings are put in boiling water in a small sauce pan, taken out and put on the jars with tongs(not as hard as it sounds) Screw them down tightly using a towel to protect your hands. We put them on a table covered by a towel to hold the heat and check after they have cooled(a few hours later). Press the tops if they don't pop they have sealed correctly. Take the rings off an use on the next batch(money saver). These will be good for years to come. I am 40years old and my grandmother taught us and she is 87 this year. Easiest and quickest way to can and tomatoes you will be proud to give to anyone.

Dorothy, We only dropped down to 3 degrees and the pond froze over on top but not all the way down. All our fish must have survived just fine (I didn't see any floating dead bodies when the ice melted). I've heard of people putting them into rain barrels but haven't tried it myself. Jo, I fold them up and stack them on a high shelf in the garage. I've never had anything get into them or into the floating row covers stacked on the same shelving unit. If the thought of pests or rodents getting into your stored stuff (it hasn't happened to me, yet....) bothers you, you could buy a storage bin with a snap-on lid and store them inside of it. I do pick up things carefully (most of the time), but that's because I'm more likely to find a coppehead or a rattlesnake than a spider. Either last year or the year before, I picked up something off the ground in the garden and something that was underneath it stung me or bit my finger. It hurt worse than anything (except possibly childbirth) I've ever experienced and I was petrified it might have been a snake. When I finally stopped jumping up and down and screaming "Ow Ow Ow", I looked at my finger and there were no fang marks. In the meantime, Tim was using a stick to lift mulch and stuff and see if he could find the culprit. My finger and hand started swelling and turning red so I ran inside and took children's liquid benadryl (to get it into my system ASAP). The redness and minor swelling persisted for a couple of days, and my finger and hand hurt for almost a week. I guarantee you that after that occurred I was once again very, very careful about picking up anything. I think it likely that a scorpion got me, or perhaps one of those big yellow-and-black hornets. Both have stung me in the past and the pain was similar. It was a good lesson to me to watch where I put my hands in the garden and one I will not soon forget. You can discourage spiders in your shed by spraying with a Spider Web Eliminator product. There's also a product called Spider Not that you might liket. I used to have to order them online, but now I see them in some local stores. I'll link one below to show you what I'm talking about. I spray the garage, sheds and back porch (formerly a screened-in porch and now a sunporch) with a spider web eliminator a couple of times a year. In general, I don't worry about spiders at all except for the venomous ones like Black Widows and Brown Recluses. We have about a million spiders an acre here and I appreciate all the non-venomous ones because they help control pest insects. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Spider Not and Spider Web Eliminator

Morning all! Fran, I put in a bit more postage than what it was for me to mail my package to you. I don't think that I'll get back what I sent because we have a lot of veggie growers here, BUT if by chanace you dont have enough postage I'd be happy to send more if you need it to get my package back to me. I'm so glad that I bought the veggie seeds, I could almost hear how excited people were when I offered them up for grabs! Thank you to anyone who sent flowers in for me, I assure you that every single seed will find a good home. Lisa

* Posted by ruthanna (My Page) on Tue, Jan 19, 10 at 10:22 Another spinach lover here. We most often cook it the way Althetrainer mentioned, sauteed with garlic. I often buy the spinach pies at our Middle Eastern bakery but have never made them at home. Since I rarely buy tomatoes out of season, we eat a lot of spinach salads during the winter. I’ve posted this one before. It’s on the lighter side and a good complement to heavy dishes like lasagne. LEMON SPINACH SALAD 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms 1 lb. young spinach leaves, washed and stemmed 6 Tbs. olive oil 2 Tbs. lemon juice 1/4 tsp. salt 1 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese 1 clove garlic, slivered Finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon 1 hard cooked egg Freshly ground black pepper Wash mushrooms and combine with spinach. Chill. Mix oil, lemon juice, salt, cheese and garlic. Chop up egg and sprinkle over salad. Add lemon rind to salad and grind pepper on top. Pour dressing over salad right before serving and toss. Note: Best if dressing is made about an hour ahead of time and garlic pieces removed before pouring on salad. Crumbled bacon pieces can be added if desired. ------------ Vegetable timbales have always been one of our family favorites for meatless meals. It’s common to find recipes for them in early 20th century cookbooks. Photobucket SPINACH TIMBALES 2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped spinach 4 eggs 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice Cheese or hollandaise sauce, if desired Cook spinach according to package directions; drain thoroughly. In small mixer bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Stir in cooked spinach and remaining ingredients except sauce. Divide mixture between 5 greased 6 oz. custard cups. Place cups on a rack in a 10" pot or deep skillet. Fill skillet with hot (not boiling) water to 1/2". Put a loose piece of foil over the cups, shaped so that the steam drips back into the pot instead of on the custard cups. Cover with lid and cook over medium heat for 18 to 22 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Loosen edges with knife; unmold. If desired, serve with sauce. Makes 5 (1/2 cup) servings. o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by annie1992 (My Page) on Tue, Jan 19, 10 at 11:33 Elery and I even made AND ate spinach this weekend, we did individual spinach and swiss cheese quiches for the "appetizer tasting". They were fast and easy and we did them without crust in mini muffin pans. Annie o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by bob_cville (My Page) on Tue, Jan 19, 10 at 14:46 beanthere_dunthat, The mint chutney that I usually use is a dark green runny paste. If you have a Coconut-mint chutney that you like then I'd substitute that for both the mango chutney and the mint chutney. A more authentic version of this recipe I came across started with making your own cheese. Yeah I'll get right on that. I found a mexican farmer's cheese at one local grocery store that was more like the "paneer" that is typically used, but to me the Feta cheese is pretty similar in in texture and "bite" in the dish, and although the Feta is much more strongly flavored than then usual "paneer", there are enough other strong flavors in the dish that you really don't notice it, and it is much easier to find feta than "paneer" or mexican farmers cheese. o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by denise8101214 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 23, 10 at 15:49 I got this from a friend who got it from epicurious. I have made it MANY times and everyone loves it. It is nice to make for a big family breakfast as a savory casserole in addition to the french toast type ones. Spinach and Cheese Strata, epicurious * 1 (10-oz) package frozen spinach, thawed (fresh works great too) * 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion (1 large) * 3 tablespoons unsalted butter * 1 teaspoon salt * 1/2 teaspoon black pepper * 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg * 8 cups cubed (1 inch) French or Italian bread (1/2 lb) * 6 oz coarsely grated Gruyère (2 cups) * 2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup) * 2 3/4 cups milk * 9 large eggs * 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard Squeeze handfuls of spinach to remove as much liquid as possible, then finely chop. Cook onion in butter in a large heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in spinach, then remove from heat. Spread one third of bread cubes in a buttered 3-quart gratin dish or other shallow ceramic baking dish and top evenly with one third of spinach mixture. Sprinkle with one third of each cheese. Repeat layering twice (ending with cheeses). Whisk together milk, eggs, mustard, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl and pour evenly over strata. Chill strata, covered with plastic wrap, at least 8 hours (for bread to absorb custard). Preheat oven to 350°F. Let strata stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake strata, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Strata can be chilled up to 1 day. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before baking. Here is a link that might be useful: Spinach and Cheese Strata o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Sun, Jan 24, 10 at 19:45 There's some pretty tasty recipes here! I don't do spinach, so I couldn't help much. Maybe I'll give it a try again....in the next 7 years. Then again.... I just drew a name for the next Cookalong... Caliloo (Alexa) hope you can pick something fast, so I can get it started, I have to leave town for a few days tomorrow. Nancy o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Sun, Jan 24, 10 at 22:00 Caliloo?? o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Jan 25, 10 at 7:22 TTT o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by caliloo (My Page) on Mon, Jan 25, 10 at 7:46 Here I am! I actually already got to pick something (corn last time) so if I can have a second shot I will choose...... BROCCOLI! However, if you want to give someone else a turn to pick, I will certainly withdraw my suggestion :-) Alexa o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Jan 25, 10 at 9:07 Alexa, I drew your name fair and square so you are on! **********Broccoli*************** Nancy Here is a link that might be useful: Cookalong #20-----BROCCOLI o RE: Cookalong #19-------SPINACH clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Mon, Jan 25, 10 at 10:02 Well, I almost didn't do spinach last night, because I've been eating spinach almost every day, and want to branch out into other veggies. But I decided to just try something different than what I usually do, which is spinach salad, or throwing a handful or two of spinach into whatever soup I'm heating up. So, I made spinach pesto. I used a basic basil pesto recipe as a template, but changed the ingredients quite a bit, keeping with the general idea of pesto. It turned out quite good, and even DH liked it. He says he doesn't like garlic with spinach (go figure) so I wasn't sure if he'd like this, but he loved it. I used 2 cloves of garlic, but I think one fat one would have been better - it was a bit strong. I'll write out the recipe as I made it, though. My recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's recipe for Pesto, from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Spinach and Goat Cheese Pesto 1 or 2 plump garlic cloves salt 3 tablespoons (or small handfuls) of walnuts 3 big handfuls (or cups, loosely packed) of fresh spinach 1 4 oz. package goat cheese 2 tablespoons pecorino Romano (optional, to taste) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 squeeze, aprox. 1 teaspoon lemon juice pinch cayenne pinch freshly ground nutmeg In a food processor, process the garlic, salt and walnuts until fairly finely chopped, then add the spinach and olive oil. When smooth, add the goat cheese, lemon juice, cayenne and nutmeg, and process to combine. Sally