First, I'm going to point out that the question was asked 16 years ago, so the original poster probably doesn't care any more. The most recent post before this particular exchange was 8 years ago, and I dislike the way Houzz drives old posts back to current time like it happened yesterday. Like Lucille, I don't pay attention to conspiracy theories. That doesn't address whether canning dairy products is safe. The Amish community I know does many things I don't care to do, such as doing without electricity, driving horses instead of cars and holding clothing together with pins in lieu of zippers. Oh, and they don't post on the internet either. Frankly, it may be safe or it may not be, but since it hasn't been tested I can't say one way or another. I have been known to take some risks, after evaluating them, but I want to know what the risks are, and not just from anecdotal "evidence". Putting babies in the back seat in a basket used to be done all the time, and they didn't all die, (including me) but I still put my kids in car seats because sometimes it's actually a good thing to catch up with modern inventions and modern knowledge. Because there is no law or requirement that you should avoid such activity, if you want to can dairy products, go ahead. I think the quality would suffer as it reaches higher temperatures, but that is also conjecture. I do have a couple of recipes that I can and add dairy to when I heat the product for consumption. It takes no extra time, since I'm heating the product anyway. Annie

I have great results with this tart (from "Once Upon a Tart") - I cheat and use the pre-made Pilsbury pie dough. Provencal Tart with Gruyere Herbs de Provence In preparation for a picnic, make this tart the day before. After the completed tart cools on the counter, cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to pack your basket. The tart crust recipe yields two 9-inch crusts. I par-bake (see below) the extra shell, let it cool, pop it in a heavy-duty plastic bag and freeze it. The next time you go to make a tart, your pulse will jump with excitement when you realize you have a homemade shell ready to be filled - on the next sunny day your second tart will come together in a flash. For the Tart: 12-15 plum tomatoes (2 1/2 pounds), cored and cut into 1/4- inch-thick rounds 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 par-baked 9-inch Crunchy Savory Tart Crust 1 cup coarsely grated Gruyere cheese 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence 2 large eggs 1/4 cup light cream 1 teaspoon salt A few turns of freshly ground black pepper For the Crust: 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons semolina flour 1 teaspoon salt 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes 3 tablespoons cold solid vegetable shortening A glass of ice water 9" tart pan with removable bottom. To Prepare the Crust: 1. Position oven racks so that one is in the center and preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Put the flours and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and pulse a couple of times just to integrate the flours and salt. 3. Add the butter and shortening all at once and pulse quite a few times, until the mixture forms little balls, like moist crumbs, and no chunks of butter or shortening remain. You have to pulse, not run, the food processor. The worst thing that can happen at this stage of the crust-making game is for the flours and fats to come together into a paste. 4. Remove the blade from the food processor and dump the dough crumbs into a big bowl. Fill a tablespoon with ice water and sprinkle over the surface of the dough. Repeat with 3 more tablespoons. 5. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to bring the dough together into a ball, adding more water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should be just past crumbly, but holding together. You don't want it to be so wet that it sticks together or turns white in color. 6. Cut the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Press each half with the palm of your hand to form a disk. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling out. 7. Roll out 1 disk of dough to 1/4 inch thick. Fit it into your tart pan and chill for 30 minutes. Then use the tines of a fork to prick holes over the bottom of the tart. Line the dough with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and weigh down with pie weights or dried beans. 8. Place the tart shell on the center rack in the oven, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and weights from the pan. Return it to the oven, and bake until the crust is golden brown and toasted all over, 5-10 more minutes for a par-baked tart shell. For a fully baked tart shell, bake for another 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until it's golden brown all over. 9. Remove the tart shell from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool. Can be prepared a day in advance. Cover and keep at room temperature. To prepare the tart: 1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 2. Put the tomato slices in a colander, and place it in the sink. Let the tomatoes sit for 15 minutes to drain off any excess liquid. 3. Spread the mustard evenly over the tart shell with a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the cheese over the mustard, and sprinkle the herbes de Provence over the cheese. 4. Working from the outside in, lay the drained tomato slices in overlapping concentric circles, making sure the crust is covered entirely. 5. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl, or a large measuring cup with a spout, to break up the egg yolks. Whisk in the cream, salt, and pepper. This is your custard. Pour the custard evenly over the tomatoes until it comes to about 1/4 inch from the top edge of the crust. (If you have extra, don't worry about it; if you don't have enough, pour a little cream on top.) 6. Place the tart on the center rack in the oven, and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the custard is set. Set custard won't jiggle when you shake the pan and will be firm when you touch it. (The custard will also be hot, so touch it lightly.) The tomatoes in this tart may give off a lot of liquid; don't confuse this with uncooked eggs and accidentally overcook your tart. The liquid will evaporate as the tart cools. 7. Remove the tart from the oven and set it on a wire rack. Allow the tart to cool slightly. 8. To remove the tart from the pan, rest it on a big can. Make sure the tart is steady and balanced. Slide the outside ring of the pan down off the tart. Then place the tart on your work surface, and slide it off the bottom of the pan and onto a rim- less serving dish or a cutting board. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes one 9-inch tart.

Well thanks ya'll. I just dug up this thread when ysop was looking for senate bean soup recipe. Glad you and your family enjoyed it Judi. Smiles. I eat soup for breakfast and lunch generally until I'm done with the curernt batch that is unfrozen. I just finished my first gallon of lentil soup, so tonight I am going to brine the beans for this bean soup. I just started brining the beans in the past six months or so and can't believe the difference. The skins are so much more tender and it takes a lot less time to cook the whole soup. The outcome is that you can cook it till the beans are tender without having all the skins come off and floating around. I had just bought a ham to use mostly for soups and froze quart bags of meat and skins to use, but also have the big bone, soooo.. this time I'm making 4 lbs at a time so I can use the big bone. Ah... happy camper. Time to start some artisan bread to go with.

I would clean the leeks (2 small...about 1 inch around) by washing well, cutting in half length wise and washing. Then cut them into 1/4 inch chunks aross the leek. only thwe white part and the very pale green.. You ahould have about 1 1/4 cups... Cut up about 3 stalks of celery the same way...to equal about 1;/2 a cup. Sautee leeks and celery in half a stick of butter until soft....when almost done add 3 cloves of minced garlic ( don't use powder or garlic salt) When the veggies are soft add the tomatoes from a 32 oz can of diced tomatoes ( SAVE THE JUICE!!) Stir and continut sauteeing for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often....then add the tomato juice from the can and a can of chicken broth and 1/4 cup of a dry red wine ( not port!) like a shiraz, merlot or a burgundy or cabernet... simmer another 15 minutes or so and add a generous teaspoon of chopped fresh basil. When I do it I also add about 1/2 cup of roasted red peppers. If you are using your own...that would be 1 large pepper, roasted peeled and sliced...or a 6 oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained if you are buying. If you do it in tomato juice, your broth will be cloudy...like tomato juice. This will be mostly a clear broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Linda C