Annie, Our governor here in Washington just signed the Cottage Food Law in July, 2013. I checked the requirements for your state and they are, fortunately for you, much more lenient than ours. We have to pay $230 annually; have a limit of $15,000 income (you're at $20,000, and go up to $25,000 in five years); and I can NOT use my separate canning kitchen ... because it's not part of the same building as my home. Go figure! (The canning kitchen doesn't have home cooking, or animals, or children, and there's no co-mingling with anything else.) And don't you just love not being allowed to sell ICE? That just doesn't make sense to me either! However, at least we have this law here now, and that's helping many people. But for me it's fine, because I don't sell my items; I donate them to the church and gift them. It's just something that I enjoy doing for myself and for others. That's why my costs of $1.25 to $1.50 per jar is fine. I'm fortunate because I have so much fruit in my orchard; I'm great at finding sales; I enjoy the time I spend creating things and "prettying up" the jars, labels, etc. The time I spend doing this pleases me; the $300+ I spend on supplies is just another donation or gift to St. Luke's so they receive the full purchase prices; and, everything I make is appreciated by those who purchase and use the products. I had to freeze some fruit because I wasn't well enough to do anything right after my surgery 8 weeks ago -- so I have cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries in the deep freeze. I'm half-way through my goal of 20 dozen jars ... still have to make: Cherry preserves; Peach-Brown Sugar Jam; Blueberry Jam; Apple Butter; Apple Pie Jam; Dill Pickles; canned Italian Plums; Italian Plum Jam with Triple Sec; Pear Honey; Pear Chutney; Apple Chutney; Watermelon Pickles; Raspberry Jam; ... and anything else I decide I just MUST DO! I'm donating a dozen jars of each variety, and keeping several of each for my use and gifting. I've enjoyed reading all of your comments and appreciate your recipes. Just wish I could make and (legally) sell some of your Salsa! But at least I can enjoy it for myself and friends! Kathy

The trick is knowing how much citric acid to add so that the coconut jam is sufficiently acidified for home processing. My guess is it isn't going to happen because commercial processors have access to labs and also preserving equipment we can't match. For the home processor I doubt sufficient citric acid could be added without impairing taste and a pressure canner would probably break the mixture. Curdled coconut milk definitely doesn't sound appealing. Not to mention none of us have any clue as to the time or pressure. The other option, as I mentioned, would be to take coconut milk, sugar (hard to imagine it'd need more), add acid to taste and then jell with Pomona's or whatever and refrigerate rather than can. Not only does coconut milk have a low pH but it's tremendously fatty, so you have two issues going there. Regarding the fattiness, as a spread you might prefer the Light coconut milk. Oh, and I forgot. For the best flavor Asian markets usually have pure fresh frozen coconut milk. Check the freezer case. Now that would have a killer flavor, if you can keep the processing time short. Here's another possibility. It won't be the same but it could be very intriguing and good. Go to an Asian market. Find a tropical juice of some sort, something "exotic" that you taste and like. Passionfruit? Guava? Mango? Maybe pineapple? Then add coconut flavor. I recommend a company like Bickford. Their flavors and oils are natural and have no alcohol. Both are highly concentrated, so it wouldn't take much for a definite coconut burst. Taste-test. Be careful to start with just a little. Even their flavors are more potent than what you buy in the store and if you use too much you may detect a bitter aftertaste. Then jell using either a standard pectin recipe for juices (those will allow for the sugar already in the juice) or use Pomona's, which will jell anything. The coconut powder you mention is pure dessicated coconut ground to a fine consistency. It is designed for cooks who need just a little coconut milk; that way they can reconstitute what they need rather than opening an entire can. (Also more environmentally friendly packaging in concentrated form.) These are just some miscellaneous thoughts. Good luck. Let us know what you come up with. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Bickford Flavors and Oils

I was joking - people would think the quilted ones were fancier so I could ask more. Ball does more for the jars (haven't checked this year - last year was about $12/dozen compared to $8 for plain - and I just picked up 2 unopened older BOXES of quilted from Goodwill for $8/doz). Jars just keep going up each year. It was just 2-3 years ago I could get a dozen plain jars for $6.77 at WM, now it's at least $7.97 - maybe more this year. And I need lids too. Used my last box of RM lids, had to open a box of new lids& bands (I got a couple of those on clearance at grocery store last year). Still reusing jars (after we empty them I wash old lids & bands and store jars with those on top so can just pop jars in canner to heat and not have to wash again - just wash and heat new lids). Oh, and by the time I got the last jar filled the pan had set 5 minutes (I'm slow when I have to skim) and still floating a little. But I think part of it is that this is a syrup, not a setting type jelly/jam. Didn't cook it long enough (or have enough natural pectin) for that. Popped in a couple of replacement cherry toms today (broken stems) but holding off on more since it supposed to be 45 tonight (!) and I have to prep for market. Ones I planted 2 days ago look good, others are starting to look better now that it's dried out a *little* (only 1" of rain in the past 6 days), I'll fertilize tomorrow. Did you get a chance to look at my post on the Tomato thread? Do you think N only (bloodmeal) or light balanced fertilizer (Neptune's Harvest is liquid, can use that, maybe as a foliar feed, with only 30% chance of rain this weekend I guess, it's a 2-3-1, don't know if I need the P&K though since soil was pretty good, figured just N washed out?)? Time to go pick strawberries, clean the wet hay of the truck bed and start packing it for market. With all the tomato plants and the jams, fresh strawberries, I have to see if there's room on the table for some herbs (sprigs of oregano, I just got some tarragon from a friend last night to plant, and my cousin's mint)? Maybe some kale?

I love Katiec's cheesecake, as does all of my family. The thumbprints are actually a Rick Rodgers recipe, given to me by Readinglady. I use my homemade habanero gold in place of the jalapeno jelly. I did find it easier to use a spoon to fill the indentations in the cookies/crackers instead of trying to squeeze the stuff out of a bag. Savory Cheddar and Jalapeno Jelly Cookies from Rick Rodgers Makes about 4 1/2 dozen 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 1/2 cups) 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup jalapeno jelly, or sub apple butter or chutney Place cheese and butter in a food processor (could be creamed by hand or mixer); add flour and process until the mixture forms a soft dough. Gather up the dough and divide into two flat disks. Wrap in wax paper and freeze until chilled, about 45 minutes. Position two racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or use nonstick sheets. Using 1 teaspoon dough for each, roll the dough into small balls and place 1 inch apart on the sheets. Bake 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or 1/2-inch-thick dowel, poke an indentation in each cookie. Place the jelly in a small plastic bag and force it down into one corner. Snip off the corner of the bag to make a small hole. Pipe the jelly into the indentations. Return to the oven and bake, switching the positions of the sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking, until the tops are very lightly browned, about 10 minutes. (Cookies will continue to crisp as they cool.) Transfer to racks and cool completely. Can be baked up to two days ahead. Store at room temperature in an airtight container and separate layers with wax paper. Annie