Oh Steve, no relation to the Ducommun Steel people, they lived close where I lived, but in the high-end part of that area. The name Ducommun has a history, it was taken by a group of people who settled in the Switzerland, in the French speaking part. They were Hugenots, Protestants, fleeing from persecution by the Catholic majority in France. They are not all related, it's more like a Clan, Du commun means "the commoners", so even that Francois of the clock may not be an ancestor of the Ducommun family.

Dave, can you give some examples? Examples of types of recipes? Yeah, what Carol said. If someone has a specific recipe from an old book that they just have to have for some reason then that recipe has to be evaluated on its own merits, not the date of the book. That was my point. Some of the old recipes that aren't in the later editions of the BBB were left out not because they were now unsafe but because they were low-demand/low-interest and room was needed to add new recipes. Some of them are still fine but it takes experience and a good knowledge base of canning guidelines to evaluate them. Someone new to canning would need help doing that and if the post the recipe we can do that. Dave

There is a treasure trove of information on OGRs on google, specifically google books. It's harder to get into now than it used to be, but the info is there. East coasters and southern rose growers need to (at least) know that Mary C. Rion's Ladies' Southern Florist has excellent chapters on growing roses. Ladies Southern Florist has been in my library since 2008 (a second copy arrived as a Christmas gift from a good friend that winter). Amazon has them used; I willingly paid full price and would again.

Nancy Farmer is a contemporary YA author who writes a book that you just cannot put down. I recommend "House of the Scorpion" and "The Sea of Trolls." Diana Wynne Jones is another must-stop-everything-and-read author. For her age I recommend "Dogsbody," "The Homeward Bounders," and "Fire and Hemlock." We also loved "City of the Plague God," by Sarwat Chadda and the Aru Shah series, starting with "Aru Shah and The End of Time." If she into dystopia, then "Unwind," by Neil Shusterman. If she is artistic then I recommend "The Journey is the Destination." These are the photocollage journals of Dan Eldon, a brilliant artist of many adventures who tragically died young. Did I mention that he looked like a member of a boy band?