I got mine today too, and just in time! I'm leaving at some strange hour of morning on tuesday, and this is the last day they could have arrived that I would've had a chance to do something with them :) I wasn't expecting them, I was so surprised! in a looong stretch of inconvenient days, they arrived on the ONE convenient day possible. I love it when that happens, it's usually the opposite. lol. they're extremely wilted and I don't blame them, LOL. the more hardwood part seems pretty firm but the thick green stems are a little rubbery. the growing tip on the coral pink appears to have just given up, but the ecuador has some decent sized leaves and they seem to be perking back up again :) so, someone needs to tell me when I get back who to send the moneys to! :) omg, and I think I still owe theresa money for the lotus tubers! if I owe anyone money please let me know. lol. things have been so crazy lately! thanks again, lindas and gloria and everyone on here that made this possible. you guys are absolute dolls. Ria

Yes, as it would throw off the processing time, plus take a lot longer to reach the proper prtessure. Add ice cubes to boiling water and you have no boiling water anymore. Because pork exudes juices it may also be wise to precook it before canning, so its not all shrunken and liquid. I never grind meats if they are partially frozen, as it can stall a meat grinder. A partially frozen meat is easy to cut very thin slices, as it holds up a bit firmer for that purpose.

I was more careless (or less paranoid) when I was young. Maybe because almost everything we ate except flour or sugar we raised or grew, so from barn or field to table it was entirely under our control. But now I'm older and cooking meat I buy in a store. I have DH with health problems and there's been lots of illness in the older generation, so I've become very aware of the increased risk with compromised immune systems. It's made me pay more attention. I just figured it was time to develop better habits. You've got to break in that canner sometime! What a perfect opportunity. As far as coming home to frozen meat, ahem . . . if it's canned, no problem. OK, I've hit that enough. Usually at such times I go for ground beef and just cook it in the pan frozen, breaking it apart as it thaws. Then I use it for casserole, spaghetti sauce, etc. The time's about equal. I also keep minestrone, stuffed green peppers, spaghetti sauce, etc. in the freezer. They can be thawed while heating stovetop or while baking. Carol

Well, they're not hung but the wiring is in place for 4 out of the 5. Since it's on separate switch we put one centered in front of door/steps. They're a bit forward of center so won't show with the dropped beam in place. Got the dimmer. I'd hang them but he didn't box out for them so everything's going in Sunday, cans, plywood, beam, and vinyl ceiling. Won't have much time to look at them and decide if 5 is too many b4 ceiling goes up, and it will be in AM. If we only put 3, with 1 centered in front of door, the other 2 would be 12ft away from the center one (it's 47'8" long porch from garage to inside of last column so 12', 24', 36' starting from garage end would be spacing). That seems too far apart to me. Right now we've got them marked in the middle of each bay (bays vary slightly but roughly 9.25-9.5ft apart). I do have the dimmer if too bright (don't want it like my kitchen, but there no dimmer and lights are 3ft apart in my work aisle, the 2 over the barstools are 10.5ft apart and while we have 3 others on same switch on other side of the island, the area behind the stools didn't seem too bright at all when I took the bulbs out of the other 3, of course those are CFLs).