Since the link will disappear, I'm posting the article content. It would frustrating to come along in a few days and not know what all the fuss was about. Carol, I have to agree with you about the twee tone. I couldn't put my finger on what was bothering me, but you summed it up nicely. Leah Eskin A day in the country Four French friends make jam and mischief Published September 10, 2006 Christine Ferber calls Guy Untereiner her best friend. So when she mentions another best friend, Guy is heartbroken. Decu! Christine runs a patisserie in the unpronounceable French town of Niedermorschwihr. But today, in the Michigan sunlight, her new best friend is Herb Teichman. Herb grows fruit so sweet that Christine is moved to treasure these jewels not merely for a morning but forever-or as ever as fruit can get, which is to say as jam. "Elle est la fee de la confiture!" admires Guy. She is the fairy queen of jam. Indeed, her jam is so beautifully colored and richly flavored and endearingly packaged that it is famous far beyond Alsace. "They adore her in Japan!" swoons Guy. Christine caresses an apricot. "The colors do me good," she confides. "I could make more jam, I could make more money. But that is not what I want. I want a beautiful life." A life packed with good flavors and good friends like chef Jean Joho (of Everest and Brasserie Jo and Eiffel Tower fame), who has invited her and Guy and pastry chef Jacquy Pfeiffer for a day in the country. Christine strolls into the orchard with Herb. "Pas de betises!" teases Guy. No messing around! Herb is married. Has been for 52 years. But what is a walk among the peach trees if not an opportunity for juicy innuendo? Back in Joho's breezy Michigan kitchen, Christine sorts the cherries one by one, sliding the beauties into little faceted jars. She instructs Joho to prepare a brine from Alsatian honey vinegar and peppercorns and star anise. Guy gazes at the heap of glorious fruit. "Mais c'est chic!" he cries. Guy, who has a soft spot for Norman Rockwell and garden gnomes, designs table linens that are one part sentimental French country, one part water-resistant practicality. Guy knows chic. Joho fills the jars with the brine and twists on the tops, sealing in summer. "Sixty degrees," Christine commands. Jacquy flips open his phone and does the math: [60 x (9/5)] + 32 = 140 degrees. Celsius to Fahrenheit is nothing; he runs Chicago's French Pastry School. Joho slides the jars into the oven. Christine is already melting apricots into jam. "When I have things put up I feel rich, like a squirrel," Herb said, back in the orchard. The oven is packed with bounty enough to make the friends feel rich as squirrels. And clever as fairies. APRICOT AND VANILLA JAM Makes three to four 1-cup jars 2 1/2 pounds apricots 3 3/4 cups sugar 1 cup water 2 vanilla beans, split in half Juice of 1 small lemon 1. Pick: Only perfect and perfectly ripe apricots will do. 2. Array: Assemble your tools: Copper jam pan or other medium-sized heavy low stockpot, canner or large stock pot, ceramic bowl, skimmer, wooden spoon, ladle, sieve, jar-lifter, tongs, candy thermometer, timer, parchment paper, clean dish towel, 4 1-cup Mason jars plus new lids, bands and labels. 3. Macerate: Rinse apricots in cold water. Cut them in half; discard pits. Mix apricots, sugar, water, vanilla beans and lemon juice in the bowl. Cover with parchment paper, pressing gently so paper touches fruit. Refrigerate 1 hour. 4. Simmer: Scrape apricot mixture into the jam pan. Bring to a simmer. Pour back into bowl. Press on parchment paper and refrigerate overnight. 5. Sterilize: Next day, wash jars, bands and lids. Set aside bands. Put lids in a small saucepan. Simmer 5 minutes. Let lids sit in hot water. Set jars in a stockpot. Fill pot with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Let jars sit in hot water. 6. Boil: Set the sieve over the jam pan. Pour apricot mixture through the sieve. Remove and discard apricot skins; set aside apricot halves. Bring accumulated juices to a boil. Skim thoroughly and continue cooking on high heat until syrup reaches 220 degrees on the candy thermometer. Add the reserved apricot halves. Bring to a boil again and cook 5 minutes. Continue to skim carefully and stir gently. Remove the vanilla beans and cut into 2-inch lengths. 7. Fill: Use jar-lifter to grab 1 jar in its hot water bath. Tilt to empty, carefully. Ladle hot jam into hot jar, right up to the top. Add a length of vanilla bean. Wipe top edge with a clean damp cloth. Use tongs to set 1 hot lid on top. Screw on band. Turn jar upside down to seal and cool.* Fill the rest of jars in the same way, one at a time. 8. Store: When cool, check that the lids are concave, indicating a good seal. Label and store on a cool, dark shelf up to 1 year. -Adapted from "Mes Confitures" by Christine Ferber *The USDA considers inversion canning inferior to this boiling-water process: Follow the recipe above, leaving 1/4-inch headroom in jars. Wipe rim, set on lid, screw band finger-tight. Keep jars upright. Transfer to a canner and process 5 minutes. Lacking canner, set a round cooling rack or several inverted ring bands in the bottom of a stockpot. Fill pot with water. Bring to a boil. Using a jar-lifter, lower filled, sealed jars into the pot until submerged by 1 inch. Cover pot. When water returns to a boil, time 5 minutes. Lift out jars. Cool. Store up to 1 year. For details and high-altitude adjustments, see homefoodpreservation.com. LeahREskin@aol.com Btw, Her comment that she could make more money but she wants a beautiful life is just so French - not that there is anything wrong with that.

Please use latest post. Thank You Ron S

I saw a clip on the news earlier today and the guest, whose name I didn't catch, was a lady who evidently is well regarded in that field. She said this is nothing new, the old and the "new" charts have always existed, and that every so many years, someone brings it up as tho it has just been discovered that there are two charts. She said if you are a Cancer, which the interviewer said she is, then you are still a Cancer, and forget about all the talk of a change. So there! I am a Gemini-Cancer cusp. I'll continue to be one; works for me, although I really pay no attention to the horoscopes. Sue

Nice find Hobby!! Is that pot big enough for such a big tree?? Do you pot them in the 5-1-1 mix also? I am lucky mine are in the ground...I basically neglect them. In the beginning of the spring, I had my son spread what I took out of my chicken coop because I could not fit it in the compost bin. I know it's supposed to "cook" for a while, but it was mixed with shavings. They were fine. Other than that, I have done nothing. I figure they are in the ground....they get enough nutrition ;-)