Carol, Re your peach example. You are talking about mixing the leftover peaches in with the next batch then canning all together right? NOT taking the leftover full jar from the fridge and just processing with the next batch. NOT going from fridge straight to canner, rather go from fridge to mix with the new stuff to canner. Going down in size... for gifts or something, is ok then? It's only up that may cause problems. I do hate to waste as well. For the dilly beans, I put the parts I cut to make them fit in the jar in a seperate jar. It doesn't look nearly as pretty, but I think it will pickle fine and taste the same, you'll just have to pick them out with a fork. =0) Teenage boys do not seem to mind things like that! *LOL* When you are canning, does it seem like you are making an awful lot of stuff and there's no way you're going to use it up in the next year? Like right now I have 6-7 jars of 5 different kinds of jam and while making them didn't seem like a lot, looking at them all in one place does. Then when I consider that those are only the strawberry recipes..... Do ya'll keep a notebook or something that tells you how much of what you canned this year, so you can make adjustments next year? I'm thinking I want some kind of way to keep track of that. Maybe with the recipe or page number on it. The books I already have are the Big Ball Book, the Blue Ball Book, Small Batch preserving (NOT exactally what I thought it was) and Blue Ribbon Preserves. Then there are the recipies copied from here. =0) Right now, any that I look for online, I'm running against the basic recipes in those books to see if there is a great difference in acid (Does the TYPE matter? Vinegar vs: Lemon or Lime juice?) or amounts of fresh products. I'm kind of using this year as my "learning year". As in I'm not going to get too upset over something that doesn't work for us, and I'm trying lots of new stuff.... like chutney. =0) Learning things like yes, you DO want to take the seeds out of the peppers if you like your tonsils, even if the recipe does not specify. Peppers get hotter the longer they are in, and Chutney taste terrible if you forget to add the sugar. And I did not make nearly enough Strawberry Lemonade. Anyhow, thank you for your answers and taking the time out of your day. =0) It's a little frustrating to hear "I don't know" from my mom, and what I know to be unsafe things from the other ladies I asked about it. And since I only know a little, it's kinda scary. Can I ask about a specific recipe or should I do another post? The recipe is Strawberry Lemonade. It calls for half fruit (6c hulled, which turns out to be about 4c pureed), half lemon juice (4c), and half sugar (6c). It it canned in pints, and I'd like to do quarts. I'd also like to change the lemon juice to lime juice.... and maybe decrease the sugar by a cup or two. You heat it to 190 degrees, then put in pint jars and BWB for 15 minutes. (Pg 192 in the Big Ball Book) I'm thinking that there shouldn't be a problem with changing the lemon and lime juice as they would both serve as the acid, and I'm not looking to change the amounts. Other than sweetening, not sure what the "preserving" quality of the sugar is. And of course going from pints to quarts. Thanks again. Mil

Thanks for the review on this recipe. I like to hear feedback from people on what is really good, and those not so good, too. Here it is in the high 90's to low 100's. Burning hot. I do not like this !! My pimentos do, though, and so do my tomatoes. Still none ripe,but should be soon. Had to buy a new fridge and new freezer this week ! One expensive week. My freeze has things icy, but not frozen hard. I get the new one tomorrow. The old fridge was freezing my tea, water, and milk. But, it would not make ice in the ice maker. Got disgusted with the problems so went and just spent a ton of money and got them !! Love the new fridge. French doors on top. Really easy to get things in and out of. Just lovely. Ice and water in the door.

First...thank you for the offer Zabby :) I just don't know where I'd plant more next year ;) My husband wants to try some cherry type next year so I'm going to track down the "Fox Cherry" for him (a semi-rare heirloom type)...well he dosn't care what's out there, he just wants to eat it when it's ready ;) I'm going to sacrifice one of the MONSTER brandywine in it's place I noticed the first Roma that formed is starting to get color!!! Must be time for the bird net :-\ We had a nesting pair of falcons in the area about a month ago...wish they'd come back to keep the birds out of the garden As for the BER...it's really weird...it was only one plant and only 3 or 4 tomatoes on that plant...they were all on the same branch though. I did some checking on all my plants after that to make sure. So far so good :) Right now I'm drowning in cukes. I went out yesterday after work and all the little babies that I saw last week were big fat monster cukes. I thought I was going to need a basket to carry them all inside! My husband is starting to drool thinking about the "bread and butter" and "sweet dill" pickles his mom used to make...which I now have the recipe for :D

There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to peel, or do ANYTHING ELSE to tomatoes if they are run through a food strainer. I only cut in halves, as most wont easily fit the hopper whole. I dig out seeds and the watery liquid only. The food strainer removes ALL skins and any seeds left. Peeling tomatoes before putting into the food strainer is simply extra work that is not necessary. NEVER add cheese to any home canned tomato sauces! Add it after you open, reheat and serve. Unless you doing just a couple of cups of tomatoes, a Foley, or Chinois is nearly worthless for high output with no excessive labor involved. I canned 52 quarts one year. I couldn't see myself putting all those in a Foley or Chinois or even a regular screened kitchen strainer. I also use mine to extract all the juices and pulp from red raspberries, by using the finer holed berry screen. Well worth the cost and will give you a LOT more from tomatoes with a lot less effort. Here is a link that might be useful: Villaware/Roma food strainers