Funny - I was just thinking about this over the weekend - planning what and how much we should can this year. I made some elderberry-port wine jelly and it makes a great sauce for meat. Melt some, add some broth, thicken and serve with grilled steaks or filets (we eat a lot of venison and this flavor goes wonderfully with that). It would be good on pork, too. I've started putting up most things "plain" - beets, tomatoes, peaches, cherries, etc. so I can tweak them however I want when I open the jar. Instead of jam, I make fruit chutneys instead. Rhubarb, gooseberry, cranberry and plum so far. DH loves them with meat or on a sandwich, and if I get my once-in-a-blue-moon craving for a PB&J, I just use one of the sweeter chutneys. They work for both sweet and savory. Great with a fruit and cheese plate, too, which we have for dessert a lot in the summer. I still make some jellies and jams, but mostly for gifts, so I make small 4 oz. jars, which everyone loves for Christmas. I finally used up the applesauce from last year. We don't eat it by itself, so I use it in quick breads (any that call for a cup of vegetable oil, I substitute 1/2 cup of applesauce for 1/2 of the oil).

Wow! I'm surprised that this post popped up again after all these years - but it's timely and I'll tell you why. Last week, one of my cousins included me on a post that was going around that had some of Grandma's recipes. One of them was for her lebkuchen (actually her daughter's recipe) and I'm almost certain that these are the cookies I remember. One cousin said that they were always kind of dry and I said it was probably because Grandma let them dry out overnight. (Or maybe she didn't.) Anyway, I was just thrilled to have it. I'm going to make them this weekend and will report back on whether or not they're what I remember. (There weren't any directions, so you just have to use your basic cookie-making judgment.) Lebkuchen 1 lb. brown sugar (3 cups) 1/2 lb. of shortening (1 cup) 2 eggs 3/4 c. molasses 3/4 c. sour milk 1/2 teaspoons. each cinnamon, cloves, allspice & ginger 2 teaspoons baking soda 7 to 8 cups flour 1 cup of raisins 1/2 lb. nuts (2 cups) 1 box of citron

I've never had much luck with growing good tasting eggplant Rachel, but I am going to keep trying! I am in charge of a children's garden and one of the beds is a "Farm Animals" theme. I have chickens and hens and cockscomb planted in it, and eggplant. Last year I grew an Italian variety and i got ONE eggplant from my plant. Next year I am going to try growing the little white ones, for the looks. But I might be able to sneak some long ones into the rainbow bed in the indigo row! Melissa I LOVE spinach pie. I make a version called "Albanian Spinach Pie" that I got from someone on CF. I think it was from Linda in Tennessee but that was way back in the day before I was fastidious about writing down the source. I don't make it too often though, since spinach pie gets soggy languishing in the fridge and with just me it would take forever to eat it up. I sometimes make it for parties if I have the time. My SO loves spinach pie which is a plus for him! OK, here's the molasses cookie recipe. There are two versions. One is mine which cuts the quantity down by a third, and the other is the original from Grandma. Pretty sure she used Crisco for the cookies but I use a mix of butter and margarine or all butter. Tillie Grieve's Molasses Cookies Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 2 eggs 1 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup dark molasses 2 tsp. vinegar 2/3 tsp. ginger. My notes say you can add 3/4 if you want them spicier. 1/2 - 2/3 tsp. salt 2 tsp. baking soda in 1 cup flour Add gradually 2 1/3 more cups flour Chill and roll into balls. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. No notes on how many this makes. I also have instructions for making MORE, which may be the authentic recipe and the other is my cutting it down. 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups shortening 2 1/4 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups dark molasses 1 TBLSP vinegar 1 tsp. ginger 1 tsp. salt 1 TBLSP soda in 2 cups flour Add gradually 3 more cups flour. Follow directions above.

roselin: Great idea. Our local county FoodBank will have it but I'm hoping that they'll share it with food banks throughout the country. Joe