Edie, it is hard for many. Our society doesn't tend to give us enough contact with the complete process of animal husbandry. But if one is going to raise chickens, eventually, practicality will call for killing one; that is, unless they are pets. If one has to kill, it is better not to waste. That's the how and why I learned to produce my own meat. This is a bit off topic, but for anyone who butchers an older bird: remember to cook it LOW and SLOW. Even the oldest bird can be tender and succulent if cooked right. I just finished reading this book straight through, which is the last thing I usually do when "reading" a book like this. The last chapter, on corn, is worth the price of the entire book. Actually, the recipes in this book are worth the price of the entire book. Carol Deppe has the most unique recipes, things like how to make a sandwich bread using only corn flour, or what corns make the best polenta and how to use polenta in place of rice or noodles, in various dishes. Carol discusses strategies for maintaining pure corn seed, even if there are other corn growers around you. And, she discusses how to know that your seed is not contaminated with GMO germplasm. She has the most in depth, yet practical discussion of corn genetics which I've seed, even telling how one can grow sister varieties in an environment with some cross pollination and yet still keep them practically pure. Carol has experimented widely with the flavors of corns and how they flavors are affected by the pigmentation of the different parts of the kernel. For instance, I never knew that different colors of corn make for distinct flavors of meal or flour. Finally (for me, at the moment, anyway) Carol discusses the production and consumption of true parched corn. I didn't realize that true parched corn is made from only flour corn. What I've learned, just about parched corn, will probably have a major impact on our lives, as I'm sure my wife and I will want to produce and consume the stuff. It is supposed to be delicious and usable as a staple food item. Now for me, the problem is, how am I going to raise any more corn? Happy reading/gardening George Here is a link that might be useful: Corn for Meal & Grits 2

GGG ~ I'm sorry I got everyone to thinking you broke your toe. I knew you broke something. If you are a spaz, then so am I. (I haven't heard that word in years.) I slipped off a step from our front patio around 2000 and landed on one ankle then the other (as I landed on the sides of both feet with ankles on the underside if you get the picture.) and sprained both of them terribly. They still ache to this day, especially with chilly weather. I try to slow down and not be in such a hurry and to watch where I am going these days, but it is easier said than done. We live in an un-incorporated area, and developers are building condos, etc. In our county there are many, many mcMansions going up even out west of town. Some have horrible, pretentious entries. Some places no one is buying especially with the way the market is right now. Our neighborhood used to be mostly Finnish people, very quiet people. Now it is more of an ethnic mix and I don't really mind that at all. I enjoy hearing different music, games of vollyball, soccer, etc, in different languages, as long as it's not so loud you can't think or your body shakes with the vibrations late at night but the crime stinks. Gangs mark fences with their signs, etc. We have hedges with flowering plants out front, so they have not spraypainted us. Shootings have happened, a murder happened in the apt. complex to the east of us a month or so back. It can get scarey at times, but for the most part things are relatively quiet. We are lost in the crowd and that's the way we like it. What we really have a hard time with is the traffic noise out front. Hopefully they won't imminent domain our property like we've read about. They already did that with a depth of 15' across the front of our property when they widened the road from two lanes to five. Towns and developers can make life changes without batting an eye. For now, we'll live as peaceably as we can, where we are. Goodness, you have a full plate with all that's happening with you and yours. I hope your Mom feels better soon. Hope your DH's pinched nerve loosens up, and hope your DH's grandmother comes through her surgery well. Have a lovely Christmas ~ FlowerLady

I didn't extrapolate - I just had already added onions to the ice water bath, and you can always omit spices (didn't have tumeric and didn't want hot peppers) so decided to follow that one rather than making it with full cup of sugar I usually put in fridge pickles, and processing for 5 min as in the Cross-cut recipe. Bread and Butters My Way, page 89 (though I think I would like to double her sugar). I thought you could always change salt (except in brined pickles) and sugar amounts, as well as dried herbs, to taste. I dumped the pickles - decided to open the jars in the fridge, but saw they were mushy. The unprocessed ones in the Classico jar aren't, but don't taste like much except tangy (vinegar and/or onion) yet, so I added a bit more water to those - may add more sugar too. But those should be OK since they're not sealed tight (PB lid doesn't fit well). Just for future reference, if I suspect something doesn't have enough acid, I know I can reprocess within 24 hours, but for something you don't want to reprocess (like pickles), you would *open* the jar and stick it in the fridge, right? What is the safe time limit for that (again, assuming that it's something like pickles and you're not going to cook them)? NCHFP course just has a test question about 5 days tomatoes with no acid (dump them jars and all), doesn't say what to do if you discover it sooner (other than reprocess w/i 24 hrs). Thanks, I'm still trying to learn.

Made some lemon sauce using Clear Jel which was canned. After a year or so, it started to seperate, with the thicker part settling to the bottom. Even though Clear Jel is more stable than regular corn starch, in this application it didn't do as good as I expected. I looked into it further and found out that if the ietm your thickening is very acidic, it tends to break down the Clear Jel. Some months ago, I went to the American Starch company and looked at several formulations of modifie food starch. I was surprized at the fact that there are quite a few varieties. Some of made specifically for high acid foods, while others are made to hold up to freeze thaw cycles. In these cases, I had requested some of these specialty strach products and found that they do work better than the more general purpose Clear Jel. Only problem is, these specialty starches are hard to find in small quantities, so my free samples were all I could get. Looking further into thickeners, I found Freezer Flow, rice gluten, and a few other thickeners which are supposed to be suitable for home canning. Today, I made turkey pies from the left over turkey. I used Freezer Flow as the thickener for the gravy/sauce. I also added some partially cooked diced potatoes, cut carrots, frozen peas, limas, string beans, and corn. Made the pies in throw away aluminium Au Gratin pans, and lined the pans with pie dough, as well as a top crust after each was filled.