Hi Reyna I'm also new to this whole mint collecting thing. But that's what I love about gardenweb. Newbies can help each other out! I don't have much to offer, but I do have peppermint, spearmint, and lemon balm (not technically a mint, but it looks like a mint and it smells wonderful. Edible as well.). In exchange for some of your apple mint and orange mint, I'd be happy to send you some of my mints. Please send me an e-mail at someguy00273952@yahoo.com. Thanks Marty

Carol, this is one reason I want to take it to the party Saturday, I'll get to taste it and determine if it is good enough for gifting....LOL. Annie, I agree, not enough desserts for Thanksgiving is almost un-American. Of course, we did not have turkey either, but this is because nobody likes it that much. More desserts would have been well received though. To me this forum is more about food preservation than harvesting. If I have something tricky to harvest I am more likely to ask at the veggies forum, or at least double post. I ask food preservation questions here though. Sometimes I find myself preserving food I did not harvest. Sometimes this non-harvested food comes in HUGE quantities, like the 3 boxes of bananas that were 'harvested' from my sweeties employer, or the 80 lbs of cheese.....(he works on food commercials and there is often lost of food left, good food too...). Answer on the bananas: peel and freeze. Answer on the cheese: don't take it! run away from it! OK, if you must take it, it will freeze pretty well. The candy linked by ruthie looks very good indeed. The ingredients listed are not part of my harvest though. Lately I got 11 lbs of good quality belgian chocolate (melting type, yum....), 3 to 4 lbs hazelnuts, and some caramel sauce (all "harvested" by the food commercials....and free to me!). I see some hazelnut chocolate cookies materializing soon, right on time for Christmas. I'll post the recipe if they work out.

Glenda ,Can you post Reindeer droppings? We have lots of real deer around here so that would be fun to make! lol Here is some I make & love: Chunky Peanut Brittle 1 t. plus 1 ½ c. butter (no substitutes), divided 2 c. peanut butter chips, divided 1 ¾ c. sugar 3 T. light corn syrup 3 T. water 1 ½ c. salted peanuts, coarsely chopped ½ c. semisweet chocolate chips Butter the bottom and sides of a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with 1 ½ t. butter. Sprinkle with 1 c. peanut butter chips; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup, water and remaining butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until butter is melted. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300 degrees (hard crack stage). Remove from heat; stir in peanuts. Quickly pour onto prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter chips. With a knife, gently swirl softened chips over top of brittle. Cool before breaking into pieces. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2 ½ lb. ~~Fudge Krispies~~~~~These are sooo good~~~ Taste like a Nestle Crunch ! 1pkg (2c.) milk chocolate chips( not semi -sweet ) 1/2c. marg. 1/2c.light corn syrup 2 tsp.vanilla extract 1c.sifted confectioners sugar (powered sugar) 4c.Rice Krispies cereal Combine choc.,marg & corn syrup in med. saucepan . Stir over low heat until melted & smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and sugar. Add cereal Mixing lightly until well coated. Spread evenly in 13x9x2 inch pan. Chill until firm. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares. Store in refr. 48 squares. ~*~Toffee Cookies~*~ 1 sleeve saltine crackers 1 cup brown sugar, packed 2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips 1 c.Butter 1c. finely chopped nuts Preheat oven to 400*. Cover a small cookie sheet with sides with foil; spray with Pam. Melt butter & brown sugar in a med. saucepan and cook approximately 3 minutes, stirring often. Place all crackers on foil. Pour sugar mixture on crackers and spread evenly. Bake 5 minutes. Mixture should boil but not burn. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly on top. Set a bread board over pan and let set 3 min.Remove bread board .Spread choc.chips with spatula as frosting a cake. Sprinkle Nuts on top ,press slightly.Place in refrg. About 1 hour.Break into pieces.Store in refrg. **People can't Believe that this is crackers! I have also tried Butterscotch chips & peanuts.Semi-sweet chocolate & peppermint candies crushed.(that one is really good!) This is a must in my house to make :-) ~~~MOUND BARS ~~~ This taste like that famous candy bar.ItÂs so good & easy! 2 c. crushed graham crackers 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. butter, melted Mix together and bake in 9x13 inch pan in 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes. Mix 2 cups coconut with 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Spread on top of baked crust. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Melt 1 (12 oz.) package chocolate chips . Spread on top.Cool then cut into bars. ~~Twix Bars~~ this is very good! almost better than the real thing. 35 unwrapped kraft caramels 1/4 cup water 1 box Lorna Doone shortbread cookies (40) 2 bags milk-chocolate chips 12oz ea. 1. combine caramels with water in small pan, melt over low heat. 2. place the cookies side by side on ungreased cookie sheet. 3. spoon a dab of caramel onto each cookie, then place all the cookies in the refrigerator until the caramel firms up. 4. in the meantime, melt chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave heating 1 min on high, stir, then 1 more min. 5. remove the cookies from frig. resting each cookie on a fork, dip into chocolate. tap the fork on side to knock away excess chocolate. place on wax paper and cool at room temp. this will take several hours but the bars will set the best this way. putting in the refrigerator for 30 min will speed up the process. ~~KIT KAT BARS~~ (very rich,cut into small pieces) Ritz crackers (I used 3 sleeves) 1 1/2 c. graham crackers, crushed 3/4 c. brown sugar, packed 1 c. white sugar 3/4 c. butter (must be real) 1/3 c. milk 1 c. butterscotch chips 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips 3/4 c. peanut butter Put graham crackers, brown sugar, white sugar, butter and milk into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Spray a 9x13? pan with butter flavored cooking spray. Put a layer of crackers (I used one sleeve) in bottom of pan and pout 1/2 of the mixture over it. Put another layer of crackers and pour the remaining mixture. Add one last row of cracker. In microwave melt butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and peanut butter together I stirred every 1 (one) minute til nice and smooth. When melted, spread evenly over the top. After it has cooled a bit, score the bars. Then let cool completely. I put in the refrigerator. After set up, cut into bars and store in an airtight container. I store in the refrigerator. Hope this helps! ____________________________________________________

I usually post on The Diet Chat, but since these aren't diet-friendly LOL, I am posting them here. They are quick and easy and look good. PECAN CARAMEL BROWNIE CUPS 18-22 individually wrapped choc. covered caramels (Milky Way Chocolate Covered Caramels work best!) Mini-fluted foil or paper baking cup liners ½ C butter (1 stick) 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I use the pre-melted NestléÂs*) 1 C sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 2 large eggs ½ C flour ¼ tsp. salt Pecan halves 1 bar (1.55 oz.) milk chocolate (optional) 1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Unwrap caramels and cut each in half with sharp knife. Line mini muffin tins with paper or foil liners. (Make sure to use liners in muffin cups; brownies will stick to pan, even if well greased.) 2. In large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter with unsweetened chocolate in microwave oven on High 1 minute; stir until smooth. (*30 sec. On high if using the pre-melted choc.) 3. With wire whisk, beat sugar, vanilla and eggs into melted chocolate mixture until blended. Whisk in flour and salt until smooth. Spoon batter by rounded measuring teaspoons into prepared muffin-pan cups. Top each with a caramel half and a pecan half (or quarter), lightly pressing caramel into the batter. 4. Bake brownie cups 10-12 minutes or until brownies are firm when lightly pressed. Do not over cook or they will be dry. Cool brownies in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. 5. In microwave-safe cup, melt milk chocolate in microwave oven on High 45 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Place brownies on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Pour milk chocolate into small self-sealing plastic bag. Snip 1 corner to make a 1/16-inch opening and drizzle chocolate over brownies. Refrigerate brownies 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store brownies in tightly covered container, with waxed paper between layers, at room temperature up to 1 week, or in freezer up to 3 months. Makes 36  44 mini brownie cups. You could melt white chocolate to drizzle over the top to give them a different look. Or tint the white chocolate green or red for a festive look.