Only tip I have is to remember to adjust for altitude :-). First jam I ever made was with a couple bags of mixed berries from the frozen food section, box of SureJell pectin and sugar using the recipe in the pectin package. With fresh peaches don't forget the fruit fresh (or vitamin C). I want to try the habanero gold jelly recipe.over on harvest and try canning peaches. I just need to coordinate my free time. Mary - Is it anything like this one from the Harvest forum Apricot-Pineapple Conserve 1 1/2 cups finely chopped dried apricots 1/2 cup golden raisins 1 1/4 cup strained fresh orange juice 2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice 1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (or more, to taste) 4 cups sugar 1/2 cup sliced almonds (I omitted) 1 (3 oz) pouch liquid pectin In stainless or enamel pan, mix apricots, raisins, orange juice, and lemon juice. Let stand 2 hours. Add undrained pineapple and orange zest. Stir in sugar. Heat stirring constantly till the sugar dissolves. Stir in almonds. Increase heat and bring to a full boil. Stir in pectin and return to a boil, stirring. Boil, 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim foam. Allow conserve to cool about 5 minutes to keep fruit from floating. Stir gently to distribute the fruit. Put into jars (makes 6 half pints.) Leave 1/4 inch headspace. Cover with hot lids and process half pints in bwb for 10 minutes, or 15 minutes for pints. Below is a link to Splenda's Jam recipes. Another option is to use Pomona's pectin (I haven't used it, but it will apparently gel anything and you can use as little sugar as you want or use a sugar substitute like Splenda) We need a canning party! jen Here is a link that might be useful: Splenda Jam recipes

You might want to try these one at a time to see what works. Reduce temperature first. Make sure muffins are in the middle of the oven, not on a lower rack (if you didn't already do that). Place muffin pan on a cookie sheet to insulate from the bottom if there's still excess darkening. If you're waiting till a skewer comes out clean to remove the muffins, back off a bit and remove when just a very few crumbs cling. They'll bake further from residual heat while resting and be a bit more moist. Waiting till there are no crumbs you risk dryness. You didn't mention tops browning excessively, but those could always be covered with foil part way into the baking process. If you find you really like this combo and are baking them regularly, at some future point you might think about switching out the milk for buttermilk or yogurt and adding some soda. Their keeping qualities will improve and I keep thinking it would be a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the other ingredients. Soda wouldn't hurt with the honey anyway. Good luck.

Well, I made some corn bread last night. 24 gem muffins and one mini-loaf. Kept mixing to an absolute minimum, there were plenty of lumps (like Mom always told me to leave alone) and the results were very tasty. Like I said before, good flavor and crumb, no tunnels. But still, I got the Sombrero look. Not as much as I have gotten with straight muffin recipes but there. The loaf had more of it than the gem muffins. The flour info is interesting. I knew different flours had different gluten levels (never could make a decent wheat loaf until I heard about adding a wee bit of gluten flour) but as I use the same flour from batch to batch, that in and of itself doesn't explain why this only happens sometimes! A couple of weeks ago, I made a pan of cornbread that looked beautiful...modestly and evenly domed. Sigh. Okay, promised Lemon Bread Recipe: Lemon Bread 1 c oil 2 c sugar 4 eggs 3 c flour 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1 c buttermilk 1 c chopped walnuts (see my notes) 2 T grated lemon peel Topping: 1 c sugar 1/2 c lemon juice Cream oil and sugar together; add eggs, slightly beaten. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat into mixture, alternately with buttermilk, until smooth. Stir in chopped nuts and lemon peel. Spoon into greased 9"x5" pans. Bake for 1 hour in a 350 F preheated oven. Cool Slightly. Remove from pans. Heat topping ingredients until sugar is melted. Place loaves on pieces of foil. Pour topping over bread. Cool, wrap and store in refrigerator or freezer. Makes 2 loaves. The above is the recipe as it appears in, "The Tastes Of California Wine Country Napa/Sonoma, written and compiled by Sonnie Imes. It is a cookbook I've had for years, featuring recipes from various Bed & Breakfasts in that area. The Lemon Bread recipe comes from a place called, "Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza" which, to my knowledge still exists, though whether they still serve this bread is anyone's guess. My Notes: This bread is fine made with your basic lemon. But I far prefer Meyer Lemons for their rich flavor. I do not add walnuts for two reasons,for one thing, I've never cared for nuts in quick breads. They lose any crispness, becoming mere chewy lumps as far as I'm concerned. For the second thing, walnuts give me mini blisters on my tongue. I sometimes do add dried cranberries, plumped slightly in some sort of fruit liqueur. Most often, I just let the lemon flavor stand alone. One can always serve the bread with a fruit puree on the side or a good, home made jam. The recipe calls for you to "pour topping over bread." I have found that direction to be inadequate. Place the loaf in a large baking dish or serving dish, something that has sides to catch the liquid topping and large enough for room to spoon it up as it pools so you can drizzle it back onto the loaf. The loaves should absorb every bit of the topping. Turn the loaves on their sides to soak up pooled topping as well. The top and sides of the loaf should be well inundated. Just before serving, I sprinkle the loaves with lemon flavored powdered sugar. I make this by whirring sugar, more lemon peel (I grate extra when I make the loaves and leave it out to dry a bit while they bake) and a few drops of lemon extract in a spice grinder. Plain powdered sugar would do, of course. This must be done just before serving because the sticky topping will soak into the sugar if given time to do so, leaving it icky looking. This is wonderful served as a "strawberry shortcake" in lieu of the shortcake.

I (and my family) have to say it again. These are the best muffins we have ever had. And that includes some "high end" gourmet ones that is sold here! I have made 4 batches in one week, and none lasted long enough to get completely cold. I have no problem with the topping, though I do press it into the muffin a bit before baking. I also cut the cinnamon down to a 1/2 teaspoon. I put paper muffin liners in my muffin pan, so no problem getting them out of the pan, and the fluted liners peel right off. Elisabeth