Okay, I finally did it. My husband brought home some more catfish yesterday. Per the instructions, the fish were gutted and bled within 2 hours of being caught (actually was done immediately). They were stored on ice until he got them home. He filleted them and handed them over to me. I washed them again and drained them. I pressure canned them per NCHFP instructions for pint jars. The fish are canned raw pack into hot jars. I filled the jars with fish cut into approximately 3-1/2" strips. I left 1" of head space. No liquid was added. I added approximately 1/8 tsp of salt per jar, much less than the listed amount, which is optional anyway. The processing time was 100 minutes. I processed only 4 pints because I didn't know if I would like the catfish pressure canned. After processing was complete and jars removed, I had one jar with a seal failure, which I know was related to the lid itself. It was the only one left from an old batch I uncovered in the pantry and it just didn't take. I refrigerated that jar as soon as I discovered it this morning, approximately 9 hours after being removed from the canner. I cooked it up in a recipe for lunch today. I used a recipe for fish patties that was labeled "if you like crab cakes, you'll love this recipe." It was only for "inspiration" and what I did was mix the entire jar of fish (drained of the liquid) with about a cup (maybe a little more) of cracker crumbs, a squirt of mustard, mayo, some lime juice, about 1/3cup each of minced bell pepper and onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 egg, cajun seasoning, and some freshly picked and chopped cilantro. I formed patties and cooked over medium heat in about 1-2 TBS of oil in a large skillet. When they were golden brown on each side and thoroughly cooked, I removed from the skillet. They are actually quite good. I would repeat this recipe. Now, for the negatives: I was forewarned by several official extension agency publications that the texture of the fish might not be satisfactory after canning this type of fish. The catfish did not come out flaky. In the jar, it looks like it remains in the cut slabs, but it is extremely mushy, and becomes almost paste-like as soon as you start stirring it up. This texture did not affect the recipe I used at all, but I can't see it working for most other recipes. I thought it might be usable for casseroles (like a tuna-like casserole), but I don't think I would like it. I will try it for a tuna-like salad sandwich spread, but I don't know how that will turn out yet. I'm not sure what other recipes this might work for. I thought if all the recipes were failures at the taste-test, I would use it for cat food. However, my vet has recommended that I not feed fish-flavored cat food to my cat due to a bladder ailment. He says fish cat food is processed with the fish bones, which provides too many minerals which form crystals in his bladder (similar to kidney stones in people). I will ask if that is still a problem if the fish is processed without bones, but for now, I'll avoid canning it for cat food. All in all, I think it will work just fine for fish patties and I would probably do it again. It is very, very, very easy. It was easier than bagging up in individual bags for the freezer. The only thing time-consuming about it was monitoring the canner processing time. The only other thing that occurred is that the jars are not full. I did not have any siphoning. I probably did not put enough fish in the jars. I just dropped pieces of fish in until it came up to the 1" head space. I didn't try to push them down or fit any more in. When processing was over, the self-made liquid covers the fish, but the jars are a little less than 2/3 full. Jill in Texas

~~Ruth did in her post above and now below~~ RE: Can I freeze rice pudding? Posted by: ruth (mcguirer@bcc.orst.edu) on Fri, Jun 29, 01 at 20:09 I love rice pudding too and my picky kids won't touch it!??? So I did try freezing it...once....it was pretty gross....very mushy and the texture was really wierd afterwards...the flavor was the same but it was watery and the rice was grainy and mushy. Maybe freezing it BEFORE it's cooked would work...just have to be sure it gets cold quickly for food safety reasons....and then just defrost overnight in the fridge and cook as usual the next day. Folks, ~~I've decided to freeze the rice plain after cooking in measured portions for the rice pudding and for meals. Now I'll make 2 lg. pots of rice, 1 white, 1 brown at the same time. And freeze when cooled. This has helped me in cutting done the prep time before starting the rice pudding in the crockpot. I sometimes cook the rice pudding on low for 4 to 5 hrs. instead of High.

I found this in a search: Adding a packet of dry instant pudding mix to cake batter increases the moisture of the cake itself after it has baked. You'll find several recipes at sites such as CakeMixDoctor.com that improve upon store bought cake mixes by adding instant pudding mixes. On the Other: Different Ingredients Cook and serve pudding mixes differ in ingredients from instant pudding mixes. Because cook and serve pudding mixes contain cornstarch as a thickening agent, substituting a cook and serve pudding mix for an instant pudding mix can affect the overall texture of your finished cake, making the cake denser. Bottom Line You should not substitute a cook and serve pudding mix for an instant pudding mix because cook and serve pudding mixes contain cornstarch which will adversely affect your finished cake. Source: The Food Timeline: Mixes Recipe Zaar I used to make the triple chocolate cake and always used sour cream for the heavy cream. Loved that cake. Here's one I do now: Chocolate sour cream cake 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 3 tablespoons baking cocoa 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup sour cream 1 egg Instructions 1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. 2.In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; beat until smooth. Pour batter into baking dish. 3.Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool, then cut into squares. Top with whipped cream, frosting of choice, or dust with confectionate sugar. Yummy with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream

Really depends on your type of canner - weights or gauge. If you have both then the weights are still most accurate unless you have your gauge checked each year so using the weights time of 20-15-10 min. is really just a personal choice unless you are at high altitude. I'd never use 15# unless I had to for some reason (even if I could find that other 5# weight ;) so I always just use the 10# time as it is what I do everything else at and so easiest for me with my canner. Dave