Crushed Tomatoes from the Ball complete book of Home Preserving. Ahh makes a big difference! ;) Yes that is a safe recipe and very different from Stewed Tomatoes. And the separation, the floating, you saw is common. You can gently shake the jar or just ignore it and they will settle all on their own with some time. So then in theses recipes i can only use dried spices not fresh and no veges, but i can use most dried spices and dried veges,dried mushrumes, dried etc or am i taking it over board to the next level? You can use dried spices, yes. They don't change the pH. Just do it carefully as the dried spices will intensify during storage. Too much can ruin the whole jar. Dried vegetables is another matter. They DO change the pH and they can also change the density. They have to be rehydrated before adding them and you need to rehydrate them in vinegar or bottled lemon juice, not in water, and they can be used only in very small amounts. Don't make assumptions about recipes without checking first. That can easily get you into trouble. ;) Dave

I agree about the dill being happiest during a short window of time in the Spring - fortunately a few plants will provide enough to last us through most of the down time. Since there is so much more than I can use fresh during the growing season, what I do is pick lots of sprigs & freeze them whole, packed pretty tightly into a wide mouth glass jar. The leaves & stems are simple to add to whatever I'm cooking; they crumble easily while frozen & the stems can be chopped up, if desired. Glass is better than plastic, IMO, because it's more airtight, so things don't get stale.

This thread is more about storage than bottles, but it shows lots of varieties. This is another interesting thread about spice containers. A follow up. But there was a great thread that was more about bottles that I can't find. Short summary, a lot of people like bottles from Specialty Bottle, and others like the squat bottles from Anchor Hocking. It seems my ideal spice jar is a Spice Islands jar. I like the size and shape, the opening, and the metal lid. Someone posted (after I broke one) that the Penzey's lids are plastic so they break if you drop the bottle, rather than the glass, but I've dropped plenty of glass spice bottles (onto concrete) and haven't broken them, and I like the metal lids with the plastic seals. Before we had a local Penzey's I bought a lot of Spice Islands, and have saved the jars for reuse with loose spices. I do buy Penzey's in the jar, however, because I'm not organized enough yet to store the overage of bulk packets, and have such a variety to choose from that I don't use them up fast enough for that to be a problem.

Lascatx's recommendation to grow bay laurel is an excellent tip for cooks living in climates where the shrub can overwinter in the ground. It's even worthwhile for cooks in zone 7-and-colder who use bay leaves often enough to make it worth being vigilant against scale for the half of the year that the potted plant is indoors. Nothing beats fresh or freshly dried herbs. As long as they're the real thing; that's another important advantage of growing your own that I just recently learned about. It seems that a lot of what is sold in markets as fresh bay leaves are from a different plant -- similar in looks, but with a much, much stronger and less pleasing taste. Seattle chef Jerry Traunfeld (of Herbfarm) spells it out: :: Bay laurel leaves come from the tree Laurus nobilis, known as Turkish bay or sweet bay. California bay leaves also come from a large tree, the totally unrelated Umbellularia californica. There is some similarity in the scent but California bay is ten times stronger than bay laurel, and if you substitute it in a recipe calling for bay laurel you will ruin the dish with its overpowering flavor. The shocking thing is that when you buy fresh bay leaves in the supermarket, nine times out of ten they are California bay, even though they don't say that on the label. ... When you tear or crush a bay laurel leaf you will smell a mild, sweet, nutmeglike scent, whereas a California bay leaf will smell powerfully of menthol and petroleum overtones :: p.79, The Herbal Kitchen (Wm. Morrow, 2005) The page includes a helpful photo of the leaves of the true bay and the imposter side by side. The bay laurel leaf edge curls a bit; while the California bay's edge is completely smooth; it's also just a bit narrower overall than a typical bay laurel leaf, and darker green. Now I realize why I've been so unhappy with the results of cooking with "fresh bay leaves" from a local greenhouse grower unless I use only a quarter leaf.