Tova, here's the recipe I used for the toner, from Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs. "Start with either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. Add 1 cup of petals or leaves for each pint of vinegar and place on a sunny windowsill in a tightly sealed glass bottle. let the mixture steep for two or three weeks, shaking it vigorously every day. Strain and rebottle. If you like a more diluted lotion, add water." Naturally, you will want the plants you use to be clean and free of any pesticide. Make sure your containers are sterilized, like you do for canning or making jam. I used the lemon balm because it's supposed to be good for wrinkles, and calenula is good for oily skin, and is a soothing and healing herb. This is a really simple recipe, so it's one that you can try and have some fun with. Connie

My family recipe is below. It uses "only" 3-1/2 cubes of butter (not quite a full pound) to six cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and four eggs. Honestly, I don't think you can lessen the butter without compromising the texture. However, I have a family recipe for paximadia (similar to Italian biscotti) that calls for less butter and almost the same amount of flour. It's really easy to make and has a similar taste and texture as the koulouria. I make these more frequently just because they're a lot less labor intensive. They also freeze well. I just reheat them in a toaster oven to restore crispness. I've listed the recipe below too. Koulouria (Sesame Cookie Twists) Cookie: 1- cups butter (3 ½ cubes) 1-cup sugar 4 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 eggs, beaten 6 cups flour Topping: 1 ½ cups sesame seeds 1 egg yolk, beaten 2 teaspoons milk ½ teaspoon sugar ÂUsing electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. ÂMix dry ingredients in separate bowl. ÂAdd egg mixture to dry ingredients, blending well. Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time if dough is too dry. Dough should be pliable but very dense. ÂScoop out portions of dough about the size of a small lemon. ÂRoll into 8  10 inch thin, long ropes. Ropes should be no thicker than a pencil or a womanÂs "pinkie" finger. ÂShape into twists. ÂDip tops of twists in bowl of sesame seeds; shake off excess seeds. ÂPlace twists on greased cookie sheet. ÂCombine beaten egg yolk, 2 teaspoons milk, and ½ teaspoon sugar. ÂBrush/dab each twist with egg yolk mixture. ÂBake at 350° for 20  25 minutes; tops should be a light, toasty brown. Be careful not to over brown or burn the cookies. ÂCool thoroughly; store in airtight container. Paximadia (Greek Toast Cookies) 1 cup sugar 2 cubes sweet, unsalted butter (½ pound or 8 ounces) 3 eggs, beaten 3 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoons baking soda 1 tablespoon lemon or orange rind 1 teaspoon lemon or orange extract 1 tablespoon vanilla 5½ cups flour ¼ cup milk ÂUsing electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. ÂContinue mixing, adding eggs, vanilla, and lemon/orange extract. ÂMix dry ingredients in separate bowl. ÂAdd egg mixture to dry ingredients, blending well. Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time if dough is too dry. Dough should be pliable but very dense. ÂDivide dough into two approximately equal portions. ÂForm one portion of dough into a long, flattened roll, approximately 4 inches wide, on an unbuttered cookie sheet. Do the same with the other portion. ÂCut rolls in 3/4 inch slices; do NOT cut all the way through. ÂBake at 350° for 20  25 minutes. Rolls should be very, very light brown. Do NOT over bake; they should look under baked. ÂWhile still warm, slice the rolls, cutting all the way through the scored cuts. ÂLay each piece cut side up on cookie sheet. ÂBake at 350° until toasty, turning once (about 7 minutes per side). Be careful not to over brown or burn the cookies. ÂCool thoroughly; store in airtight container.

What is the ingredient list on the purchased box? (or is it a box). I'm not familiar with Marie. One odd thing i noticed is 5 dollops of whipped topping on the pie. Is that not hard to cut evenly? We don't have pie much and an inch slice is about our limit and only holiday time anywho...(can't cut across that first cut) It is standard practise with larger companies to use the actual product advertised and on the box photo...and in tv commercials. It is the law and any cheats would be so easily leaked by those working on the project. Styled food 'photos' do cheat sometimes in later touch-up but the original set-up is the actual food product. Hours with tweezers. I worked on so many years ago to fill in down time and then again during the writers strike for a short time. I'd rather stick pins in my eyes it is so boring. Smaller companies and most import products are not regulated at all. Why what you see on some package/can/jars is nothing like inside and why it is often impossible to re-create something after looking at the ingredient list with all the preservatives tweaks in a laboratory. One commercial for a checkerboard ice-cream that served up perfect slices had a half dozen chest freezers brought in with the actual boxes from the factory that one would buy in your local grocery. They sliced and sliced for three days to get the perfect one over and over. On a PizzaHut commercial they tractor trailered in the ovens used in their 'establishments', (fast food joints) lol. And large boxes of chilled bags of goop sauce with a dozen in-house cooks to prepare it just the way it is done by the food staff on site in your neighborhood. I think it was for their pasta offerings, not pizza. Besides all that, trying to re-create a good flavor combination at home with fresh ingredients is noble and i think important. Less processed and maybe not so pretty but much healthier. (really who cares with dessert) Actually with trial and error a pretty slice can happen...not likely in my house as some are often perfect and others are goopy but still taste good. A warm knife run under the sink then whipped dry helps with slicing cold pie. The entire history of food advertising and when the ball dropped is interesting. like GainsBurgers for dogs. Basically play-dough with zero food value and considered a real treat!

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet, or SCD for short. It's a very successful diet for Crohn's disease or Ulcerative Colitis. All of my jams and jellies are made with honey because there are approved recipes from Ball using the no/low sugar option. When I do go back and have regular jams, I cannot adjust to the sweetness. I had to have honey for so very long that it now tastes better to me. Most fruit spreads I don't sweeten at all, though, preferring the natural flavor. So back to peach pie fillings.... the apple pie filling I made with honey is 2 years old at this point and we had some this weekend. Delicious with no decline in color, texture or taste. So perhaps I will try with peaches that way. The only question is, where did I get that recipe? I am pretty sure I got it off from pickyourown.com on the internet and posted it here for approval, at which time I got the go ahead. I never use internet recipes without running them by the wizards here. So by extension, I posted the same for the peaches. The alternative would be to just can plain peaches I guess. Is that what you meant by unsweetened pie filling that you ad clear jel to after you open them? Just plain peaches? I've seen a recipe for honey syrup, but could also just use water.