So far I've canned 12 pts and 4 qts of B&B pickles all from *one* volunteer cucumber plant growing just outside a flower bed and running across the lawn. It has about 8 runners loaded with flowers and small cukes. They sprout as fast as I pick them. The ground there is packed hard and has never been fertilized or amended in any way. All veggies should be like that cuke plant. :) Our limestone soil here is loaded with calcium so no one sprays their plants with it. There's so much it binds the iron so iron must be added to the soil for good crops (when you're over limestone as we are.) Some people water the plants with an iron solution. I also use some sulfur to bring the PH down a little and make iron more available. I'm out of compost. We can't make as much as we need. No organic based ferts here either. Our gardens are too large. We buy the 10-10-10 in large bags at Lowe's, and till in all the compost we can make each spring. Most of our compost consists of chopped leaves mixed with whatever kitchen waste we have. No one on the road has livestock anymore so I can't get manures.

It's a busy time of year. Here's a recipe for shrimp that might provide some inspiration. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work equally well for chicken or pork: Marmalade Shrimp Makes 2 main-dish servings Sauce: Ingredients �2 cloves garlic, pressed �1/3 cup orange marmalade �3 tablespoons soy sauce �1 tablespoon dark sesame oil �1 teaspoon rice vinegar �2 tablespoons sherry or cooking wine �1/2 teaspoon cornstarch Shrimp: �3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil (divided) �1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined �4 green onions, sliced on the diagonal into 1/2-inch lengths �1 1/2-inch knob ginger, peeled and julienned �6 dried red chiles or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste) �Hot cooked rice Instructions To make sauce: Mix together all the sauce ingredients (an empty jam jar works great for shaking this up). Taste, adjust seasoning and set aside. To make shrimp: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and stir-fry the shrimp just until they are almost, but not entirely, opaque. Remove the shrimp from the skillet and set aside. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet and add the green onions, ginger and chiles. Stir-fry for a few minutes, until the aromatics are just beginning to color. Take the sauce, give it another shake to combine and add to the pan. Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens. Add the shrimp back to the pan, cooking an additional minute while stirring to coat. Serve with hot rice. From Deena Prichep Here's an all-purpose glaze useful for many jams: All-purpose Savory Jam Glaze Makes enough for 4 pounds of meat Erin Meeker suggests the following meat/jam combinations: Pork -- fig, peach, plum, cherry, blueberry or blackberry; salmon -- peach, cherry, blackberry or blueberry; chicken -- peach, cherry, blackberry, blueberry or raspberry. Note that because of the sugar in the jam, the glaze may burn if applied on meats too early or cooked at higher temperatures. Ingredients �2 teaspoons butter �1 shallot, diced �1 teaspoon salt �1/2 cup jam �1/4 cup red wine �1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar �1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard Instructions Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Saut� the shallot until translucent, then whisk in the salt, jam, wine, vinegar and mustard. Simmer until thickened to a glaze and brush on meat before roasting; for a deeper glaze, repeat application a second time during cooking. Erin Meeker Also add it to salad dressing or stir it into mustard for a very simple baste. Carol

I'm sorry, Laura! We've been having a lot of problems with spam that is a two sentence, non-specific post with a link, and yours looked so much like them! Peugeot has a very good reputation. I have the Atlas, which has been made in Greece for centuries. I bought it because it was well recommended and went so well with my kitchen, but now, having used it, I would have no other. The quality of the grind is exquisite, and the mechanism is incredibly smooth and easy to use. I ground pepper to use in the pepper shaker on the table using it because it's superior to the ground pepper one can buy.

Now I understand so many things. I know why these little bundles are a family affair on New Year's Day! Yes, Woodie, I'll say they're a lot of work...I need a Margarita. My recipe made 50, and I had some pork left over so it looks like I may be making burritos soon. (I'm not complaining.) I froze half of them without steaming, and will try freezing some of the steamed ones to see which is preferable. For some reason, I really want to add a big mess of carmelized onions to the pork mixture, but I thought I'd do it according to the recipe the first time. I did have to strain the chili sauce, so if you try these, add that as an extra step! The official taste test is tonight...