Was really glad to see this post as just last week I was wondering the same thing. I'm fairly new to canning, only done tomatoes and strawberry jam in the past, and freezing which doesn't really count. So after discovering this forum and having a pretty good size garden this year(that's another story)I decided to do peaches. And this is how it went: Start BWB,start another pot to do rings and lids, sterilize jars,(find the right ones first) make fresh fruit bath for peaches, start another pot to blanch peaches(pour a glass of wine, hey I'm having fun now) disinfect sink, put ice and cold water to cool peaches (thinking I have a new 48 inch stove, how do you do this on a regular stove) okay now blanch peaches, first batch can't cut them and get the pit out without destroying them and definetly won't get 'halves' looks more like mush. no problem I'll put them in the fridge and do a cobbler tommrrow. Second batch. I decide to cut them into halve first, then blanch and peel, cool come out looking great (where did I put that glass of wine?)oh forgot to make syrup, get that going . BWB is getting low add some more water. Okay I think I'm ready to put into hot jars, but I think I'm doing a combo of a raw pack and a hot pack (if I have to I'll just put them into the fridge with all the other things I'm not sure of, still can't find the glass of wine, did I pour one?) put peaches in jars, pour hot syrup, check for bubbles, wipe rims, put on rings,(am I forgetting anything?)put jars into BWB set timer, pour another glass of wine and wait. Bingo timer goes off pull out jars, set on counter and hubby says 6 quarts? 5 hrs. How much per quart? I figure somewhere time included $26.00 per quart! But I sure did have fun!

I knew I got Flintknapper's name wrong! LOL Yes, Cindy you need to add bacon, ham, or fatback to your beans and peas if you want to be a Southerner! ;) I also like cowpeas better than any butter beans, but I was born and raised in SC. I have been experimenting with seasoning the BJBB's. 20 minutes does seem a little short on cooking time, but I usually use my crockpot for cooking them. Were they kinda hard in the middle? Did you salt them when you started cooking them? I have found out that the salt needs to be added towards the end of cooking or they will be kinda tough. The best ones I have had were in the crockpot. I put in a slice of bacon and two cloves of garlic, chopped fine and cooked on the low setting for 2 hours. Added salt and cooked another hour. The next best was with a chunk of sugar cured ham. I tried country ham too but the beans seemed tough from the salt,I should have washed the ham first, I guess. They don't break apart like regular lima beans do in a slow cooker and have a really good texture. I have only fixed one batch (or mess as we say in the south) on the stove because I'm too lazy! I need to go out and pick them now but it is 97 degrees in the shade outside and high humidity! Heat index about 110! I'll wait till sundown!

Almost any meaty cut of beef, sliced properly will make reasonable jerky. You don't want fat or connective tissue so eye of round will be fine. I just buy whatever is the least expensive for a small batch but in the fall a couple of us go in on some large cuts, our butcher gets them from diary cows destined for commercial burger so real cheap. We've been playing around with turning jerky into pemmican. Basically you make jerky without too much spice, grind it up and mix it with equal amounts of dehydrated fruit or berries and animal fat. Don't use pork. So 1 cup of ground jerky, 1 pound of ground dehydrated blueberries or cranberries or... and 1 pound of beef tallow, melted. It makes sort of a meat granola bar and is sure great camping or hiking. Pure concentrated protein and fun to make. Have fun with your dehydrator. Remember...you can eat your mistakes.

Walls. Oh, dear deity, walls. I can remember buying my first home--as a single person, I was looking at condos. My guess is that 99.999% of condos just plunk the kitchen in a corner of the living room, adding a counter/eating bar to create "separation." My agent had a hard time understanding that I wanted a kitchen that was a separate room. Open concept may be great for entertaining or if you have kids. But I am home alone a lot more than I entertain and I don't have kids. What I want is walls to contain the noise of the dishwasher and doors to keep cooking odors contained. The idea of having the kitchen in the living room and the smells and grease getting into my nice furniture is not appealing. And there's the dirty dishes issues, as expressed by lavender lass. There are mornings I don't have time to wash my cereal bowl before dashing out to work. There are days when I eat dinner and just want to collapse. So while the dishes get done promptly most days, some days they don't. And I don't want to curl up in the living room to relax and have those dirty dishes staring at me from across the room, reminding me that I'm being lazy.