Please, do not try canning coffee or tea jelly. There used to be some herbal tea jelly recipes, but I don't have them on file. They would not be the same as regular tea or coffee, that I can see. I would think herbal teas could be of a different ph level than the others. I do know canning regular tea is unsafe.

Good information, thanks everyone. I had no idea people were so creative with vinegars! The past couple of years I have had bumper crops of super hot peppers, several different varieties. So hot I couldn't find anyone who would take them and we just couldn't eat them. I should have made chili pepper vinegar. I'm still not sure if we would use it, or what I would use it for! Does the heat mellow over time? Since I don't know what I'll like, or what I will end up using, I will try small batches of different kinds and see how it goes. Thanks for the inspirations everyone. I did come across an vinegar recipe specifically for chokecherries. That's what I have in abundance right now. It is published by Yellowstone County, Montana State University, (http://www.msuextension.org/musselshell/PDF%20FILES/CHOKECHERRYRECIPES.pdf). The recipe states to mash chokecherries (not breaking pits) and cover with a weak vinegar solution that is half white wine vinegar and half water. Let stand 2 days, stir each day. On third day drain and add 1 cup sugar for each cup of juice. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and let it settle well. Bottle or put in jars. A couple of tablespoons mixed in a glass a water makes a refreshing drink. I couldnâÂÂt find a date on this pub and none of the other recipes IâÂÂve read use a diluted vinegar solution. Any thoughts on whether or not the 1:1 solution would be OK to use or should I stick with undiluted wwv? thanks!

Yuck! I'd take it back too. Since most of us do canning because we like the flavor of real food, using the best quality ingredients produces the best flavor, and "colored" vinegar isn't at all the same! I can't believe the "cost cutting" food manufacturers do these days. I was just at our state fair, and they were giving away "Crustables" samples (pre-made sandwiches without crusts, for kids) One flavor was peanut butter and honey, and I checked the ingredients. The "honey" was actually mostly corn syrup, with honey flavoring. When I asked them why there was corn syrup in it at all, they told me that it made the honey more "spreadable" when they were making the product. (You know, because honey is so difficult to spread in its pure form!) I am allergic to corn syrup, and so I passed on that free sample... Carla in Sac

I probably shouldn't tell you this...but I got so dang tired of cleaning the many bushels of lambs-quarters that I came up with a short-cut that you'll laugh at. The way I grew up doing it was get up before sunrise the morning or two after the first spring rain (in high desert Texas) and go look in ditches for the young tender lambs-quarter. Lambs-quarter later in the year is just too tough in Texas..but in Wa. State you can harvest them till hot weather if you like the lanky ones that grow up here. Take home and then pinch out each and every blasted growing tip (that's where bugs like to hide) then soak and wash...then take each and every plant and slap slap slap against your hand to dislodge the sand sticking to the underside of the leaves (lambs-quarter has a sticky tendency worse than spinach). Then soak and wash 2 more times. That is the way my Grandma and Mother taught me and I had the blistered hand every year to show for it. OR...clean your clothes washer out good...and put 2 bushels of lambs-quarter in and wash those suckers and spin them and pretend you don't know a thing about those few bugs that might have stuck to the growing points. (LOL) Protein is a good thing. The greens come out a little bruised but clean as a whistle and no sore fingers and blistered palms. My Grandmother thought I was touched in the head when she came over to can at my house for the first time. I usually helped her can whatever we happened to be picking that day...then went home and did mine the way I wanted to. LOL! Then I proceed with a hot pack for collards or mustard greens. Generally...I put whole plants (minus and roots you might have accidentally acquired) into large canner for precooking...then use a knife to "cut" tenderized greens into fairly large chunks. This takes care of the young stems. You don't want to chop them up like the stores do with frozen greens. I only pass a knife thru 5-6 times and call it good. Best part of lambs-quarter is the fact is you get more Qts per bushel as compared to other greens...or at least that is my experience. This was very helpful feeding our family because all the kids would eat lambs-quarter but not the other greens. Growing up..lambs-quarter was a necessity back when you just couldn't get much green produce in the winter due to transportation of produce back then. On good years...we would can 2 or 3 years worth...just in case the next year was a bad year for lambs-quarter. We kept it in our tornado shelter/root cellar so it was fine for years. My great grandmothers were Comanche and Cherokee so it was an event each year for 3-4 generations to gather lambs-quarter for our families. BTW...did you know that you can somewhat domesticate lambs-quarter to grow in your garden? My aunt did this and each year the greens got more and more purple tinged and they loved the extra love and produced well for us...plus they handle hail storms better than other greens.