In an introduction canning class I took, we made grape jelly from grape juice and sugar w. powdered pectin. It was easier for the class and the instructor. It basically gave the class a knowledge of the tools, timing the bath, handling the jars and we each got to take a jar home. She previewed the various books that were out there, and had them on hand, gave the class a BALL BLUE BOOK, gave reference material for the NCHFP and their website. Granted, the book was part of the fee. Here's the recipe: Quick Grape Jelly Yield about 5 half pints 3 cups bottle grape juice, unsweetened 1 pkg powdered pectin 4 1/2 C sugar Combine grape juice and powdered pectin in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes ina boiling-water bath canner. THE BOOKS that were referenced: -Canning and Preserving without sugar, 4th edition by Normal MacRae. -So easy to Preserve, 5 edition, University of Georgia -USDA Complete Guide to Home CAnning -How to Dry Foods Gave a reference to stores in the area that may sell canning supplies. Then there was a list of various web sites. Ball Blue Book NCHFP Mrs. Wages website Kraft Foods Jarden Home Brands website Home canning-pure and simple website She discussed the topic of pressure-canning, but that can be another session for you. It was basic, but gave everyone a very good overview with some hands on and a lot of references. I would include this website as well! This one lasted 3 hours. There was also a few door prizes! One of them was donated jars!! Hope this helps! June Lynn

It felt as dangerous as it looks Kathy! How big is your uncle's tree? I loved seeing trees and large shrubs that won't survive winter here. I have a yard full of eastern cedars and live oaks and while I like them, I really enjoy seeing their more tropical cousins. I saw bouganvilla that were as tall as the house all over down there...and tropical hibiscus shrubs that were easily 8 feet high! Nirvana ⺠I am a closet tropical lover with no greenhouse for the winter. We can't have houseguests all winter because the spare room is full! Pam

I have a copy of, "the NEW Fannie Farmer-Boston Cooking-School COOK BOOK", 1953. My father, in his retirement, took on the care of several Summer homes in Southern Maine. He would check on them during the winter, board up windows against storms, uncover rose gardens when the time was right, deal with emergencies...that kind of thing. During the Summer, when people were in residence, he was sort of a general, all around handyman. His largest client was old money...there was a beach named after the family, a road named after the family, and a huge home, loaded with antiques that had been the original furnishings. An elderly Black woman came up every summer from South Carolina to be their cook for the season. Little bittie thing, set in her ways and stubborn as heck, but since she'd been cooking for the family for decades, she knew what they liked and how to manage them. I had been separated from my father at age 5, and when I found him again in my early 30's, I went out to stay with him and my stepmother for a year to get to know them. He took me down to meet Marguerite. She was a kick, and we got along...several years later, when she knew that she wouldn't be able to make it up again the next season (or ever), she gave my father her Fannie Farmer for me. It still has a bunch of book marks in it, some with shopping lists, some with her name, some with cryptic notes I can't decipher, all in the same, slanted hand. I actually use the book quite a bit, but I don't disturb the bookmarks. I sometimes puzzle over the marked pages, wondering which recipe she had marked... I also have my mother's copy of "The Complete American-Jewish Cookbook",1952. It has a separate section of Passover recipes. There are no pork recipes, naturally. Generally, the cookies and bread recipes are good. As for unique...I have an Ethiopian cookbook...the only one I've been able to find. "Exotic Ethiopian Cooking-Society, Culture, Hospitality, & Traditions. I've only made a couple of dishes out of it. I love Ethiopian food, and when I found out how much Nit'ir Qibe (purified herb & spice butter) is used in most of the dishes I love, I realized why I love them. For example, in dishes made from 1 pound of ground beef, it is not unusual that they contain a cup of butter. A typical lentil dish pairs 2 cups of lentils with 2 cups of butter. No wonder I love it!

The internet is a wonderful tool for a cook. I use it frequently, much the same way as I use cookbooks, for ideas mostly. I get itchy just following a recipe, though I will if it is a dish I've never tasted or one using ingredients I'm totally unfamiliar with. I prefer my cookbooks, because I can take them into any room of the house, including the kitchen, without having to print out recipes. Plus, you get to know a cookbook. You know which ones mesh with your cooking style and your taste. You get to know which ones you can trust too. However, sometimes I want a recipe I don't have in any book, or one I know I have but I can't remember in which...I have lots of cookbooks! Or, I get on a roll with something and want more recipes for it than I have. I do this when I'm teaching myself unfamiliar dishes from other cuisines. I want to capture the essence of a dish, and learn to just make it, the way I just make the American foods I grew up with. So I will cook the same dish many times using many different recipes, and eventually I end up feeling comfortable just winging it. For a kid going away to college, I have to agree, they probably won't be bothering too much about cooking. For one, if they're living in dorms, their ability to cook is generally pretty limited. If they live off campus, sharing an apartment or house with friends, they may cook sometimes for parties etc, but most will not break out the cookbook to cook an omelet for breakfast, they'll just grab something out of the microwave or eat a slice of last night's pizza. But, on the occasion they DO decide to cook, a tried and true, basic cookbook (my pic is Fannie Farmer's) with simple, easy to follow recipes is something they'll likely use from time to time and then keep for the rest of their life. I still use my FF, when I can't remember how many minutes to cook this or that at what temperature or want to refresh my memory about some basic dish I don't often make...like meatloaf. I don't make it often, and when I do I'll check on the proportions of meat, bread & egg, as well as oven temp & cooking time. What the heck temp need I cook this meat to? How long for a baked potato? Things like that. Anyhow, maybe buying the kid a cookbook might just start something, who knows?