It maybe a bit out of sequence (sorry utahs.f.) but I keep meaning to post my experiences this season with apple butter, which is highly popular around here. I used Roma apples - roughly chopped, wormy bits (few) removed, and enough to fill a 3 gal stock pot, stems, seeds, skin and all. Added a couple cups of water and simmered on low until soft, 2-3 hours. Let that cool overnight, then I ran it all through the tomato strainer, resulting in a thick applesauce, seeds, skin, and stems removed. I ladled all that out (approx two gallons)and used the dehydrator to make fruit leather. Started another batch of chopped apples in the stock pot. The next morning, the leather was done, the chopped apples cooked and cooled, so I made apple sauce from that, tore up the sheets of fruit leather, and added brown sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of lime juice and put the whole thing in the 2+ gal crock pot. Turned it on 'high' until it started to blurble, turned it on low. It was all done, deep brown and so thick a fork would stand up in it, that evening, 7 hours later. Yield was 13 pints. So, I dunno, I still used a lot of electricity, with simmering the stock pot twice for a total of 6 hours, 14 hours of food dehydrator, and another 7 hours of crock pot. Pretty good stuff, though. We did this twice, used about 2 bushels of apples, and ended up with 30 pints. It seemed to me that cooking the peels and all made for lots of pectin, which thickened it up. It was really easy to run it all through the strainer, only took a few minutes. Making fruit leather with half of it kept the intense apple flavor, which went back into the final result. I think we'll do this the next time as well.

Just canned up some apple butter today and love it. I used Annie's Grandma's Old Fashioned Apple Butter recipe which uses apple cider. Don't know if making it with cider made it better or not, but I know I really like the results and will continue using it since I still have about 2 pecks of apples to use up. Oh, and I did let it cook down in the oven like Annie does. Madonna

Good healthy skin starts inside and trying to solve skin problems by applying toxic creams and lotions isn't the answer. Almost all prepared skin care creams that do not claim to be natural (and some that do) contain harmful chemicals that are known to lead to disease. Your skin is the largest organ of your body and absorbs whatever you put on it directly into your blood stream. The link that flyingflower posted tells about some of those chemicals. Read the labels on your products to see which poisons are in them. I use organic coconut oil of a high grade (that can also be used in cooking) after a bath or shower as a protective layer for my skin and it's also good to remove makeup. I also use essential oils for skin care. Pay attention to what you eat, especially the oils. Your skin is a reflection of the general state of your health. EVOO, coconut oil, and butter are the healthiest oils to eat. Also lots of fresh vegetables are necessary for good health. I use only organic as I don't want all the noxious chemicals. I take Omega 3 supplements and occasionally flax oil altho I hate the taste. I also take a good multivitamin/mineral supplement to provide what my diet might miss.

Thank you for your helpful page! I am a first timer at at making body butter's & I am gathering supplies currently. Is 1 part liquid oil to 2 parts solid oils the approx. proportions for a basic recipe as mentioned by athena. Ingredients are costly & I would hate to waste them. This one question seems difficult to pin down, I want to make a larger batch to share & most recipes are all over the place with amounts. Also I have seen many recipes where they add cornstarch to make product less greasy, do you have any idea of how much to add, to say like 1/3 cup oil to 2/3 cup harder solids? Is there a really good book you could recommend? Also where to find a good lip gloss recipe? Much appreciation in advance? Thank you , Lola :)