I just noted that I wrote I wasnt putting a essential oil recipe in there for cleaning wooden floors, but there is one in there. Note though, that I havent ever used that recipe as I dont have wood floors, so I cant 100% say it wont take the shine off. If you want to try it, just do a test spot in a hidden area. Also, I dont know if I can give people my e-mail address if they want a printable version of this? Or my environmental group on myspace? Can I? Will someone please tell me so that I can put this info down if someone wants me to send them out a printable copy? Oh, and sorry it took me so long to get this up online sylviatexas! Thanks, sammie

Thanks Lin and Dig; I suspect my recipe may be OK, but the finishing method is not. Here goes: 2 1/2 Cup Vinegar 2 1/2 Cug Water 2 1/2 Teaspoon Salt 2 Tablespoon Sugar Dash each, Nutmeg, Tumeric, Dill seed. (I substituted these for pickling spice, I didn't have any) Several cloves Garlic Whole Black Peppercorns This makes enough for 3-4 pints. The recipe says to blanch gus for 1 minute and plunge into cold water. Pack into jars with a garlic clove, peppercorn and some red pepper flakes. BWB for 10 mins, wait at least 3 weeks and enjoy. The pepper flakes are dried from my garden. I would like to add sliced onion or other ingredients (hot peppers) as they are available. This is really quite good, but I am afraid to supply to anyone. HELP! Can I safely substitute the pickling spices, I find the mixtures available here to be too strong. And I can buy pepper flakes, but would rather use my own. That way I can regulate the heat of the pickles. Do I need to wait longer than 3 weeks, or do I need to wait that long at all? Since asparagus grows so quickly I put in just stems to fill a jar. It tastes just as good, but is not as pretty, is that OK? Thanks for all the tips, Rock.

Thank you Olya. But probably you or Michael have a real deal recipe. :o) Anyway, here it goes. Sorry Bill Potato, Beet and Pickle Salad 5 or 6 medium-size beets, tops discarded and scrubbed 3 cups bite-size red-skinned potato chunks salt 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 1/2 cups diced dill pickles 1 rib celery, finely chopped 1/4 to 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion, to your taste 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup sour cream 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves freshly ground black pepper to taste 1. Put the beets in a large saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, then continue to boil until the beets are tender at the center, 30 to 45 minutes; test with a paring knife or cake tester. Drain, When cool enough to handle, rub off the skins and cut the beets into a 1/2-inch dice. Transfer to a large bowl. 2. While the beets cook, put the potatoes in a medium-size saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until just tender, 8 to 12 minutes. Drain, then spread in a shallow casserole and splash with the vinegar. Let cool to room temperature. 3. Add the pickles, celery, onion, and cooled potatoes (with any loose vinegar) to the beets. In a small bowl, blend together the remaining ingredients and pour this dressing over the vegetables. Toss well to coat evenly, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate if not serving right away. I hope you like it, I have eaten a variation of this salad in a lot of countries. :o) Silvia

I make tartar sauce similar to Country Sunshine's, but I put chopped stuffed green olives in mine. Here is my recipe for Shrimp Gumbo. I don't measure anything, but this is the basics. 2 ribs celery 1 bell pepper 1 onion Chop and set aside. In heavy skillet or stock pot, make roux of approximately equal parts flour and oil. Bacon grease is actually best...so if you have that...use that. I'd say about 1/3 cup each or a little more. Stir without stopping over medium heat until roux is very brown, but do not burn. Don't stop stirring either. Add chopped celery, onion and bell pepper. Stir it in and turn off the heat. Transfer if using a skillet to pot or if using a stock pot, add 3 to 4 cans chicken broth. Stir until the roux is dissolved, and on low heat, add a small can of tomato sauce. You can add more or chopped tomatoes. I don't like tomato pieces in mine....so I go with the sauce. I just want it to color the gumbo. The gumbo will not have a pretty color at this stage, but will as you finish it. Bring to a boil and when the celery, onion, bell peppers are cooked done, add a bag of frozen, chopped okra. When the okra is done, add shrimp. I use a lot of shrimp...and if I have crabmeat, I put that in too. You can put in any kind of seafood. Some people put in sausage, but I don't because it over powers the flavor of the gumbo. When I don't have seafood, I use chicken. Season to taste. I use Tony Chachere's creole seasoning and thyme. Tony's is flavored salt, and I use it like salt when cooking. Do not over cook the shrimp. As soon as it turns pink, or the liquid starts to boil, turn it off. Sprinkle a liberal amount of gumbo file and stir in well. That will also change the color a little bit. Stir it well so it doesn't kind of make strings in the liquid. A handful of minced green onions is good to add now too...or parsley. Serve over hot, cooked rice. (When you make the rice, put a big lump of butter in it to give it richer flavor.) My husband shrimped for 45 years...we still have couple of shrimp boats. I have cooked hundreds of pots of gumbo and this is recipe that I have worked on over the years. You could make stock from the shrimp shells, but I have found that chicken broth gives it more flavor. It doesn't taste like chicken...so no worry there. A lot of people don't like okra because they think it is slimy. Frozen okra has been blanched...so it isn't slimy. You can use fresh okra too, and it won't be slimy but I doubt any one who doesn't eat okra would believe me...so I say use frozen.