I just got mine (2011 version from Publications International, edited by Linda Z) today, literally just finished it and came to post. It really does just repeat what the NCHFP site says, I'm not sure all of the recipes are there but the basics are (no soups or meats, just fruit and veggies) but it is very clear and easy to follow, I like the spiral binding. I also like that it's half the price of So Easy, and that I don't have to refer to website or Ball book (not a spiral binding). Very good for beginner - I was going to give it to my sister, but she's moving to Japan so I may have to hang onto it for a while ;-) - or she may find it very handy there, the problem might be finding jars, though new guidance is that you can reuse commercial jars as long as standard rings and flats fit. I can send her some flats and she can reuse rings over and over. Though I think they tend to use a lot of plastic packaging over there, not glass jars.

Newer version of Annie's Salsa - BWB only Annie's Salsa 8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained 2 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper 3 to 5 chopped jalapenos (for milder leave out seeds and ribs) 6 cloves minced garlic 2 tsp cumin (optional) 2 tsp pepper 1/8 cup canning salt 1/4 c fresh cilantro (optional) 1/3 c sugar (optional) 1 cup cider vinegar (see note on subbing lemon or lime juice option) 16 oz canned tomato sauce (to adjust density) 8-16 oz canned tomato paste (to adjust density) Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars, process pints for 15 minutes in BWB. Makes 6 pints. _________ A lot of changes have been made to this recipe over the years. Some people like lemon or lime juice in place of some or all of the vinegar, that's fine. (Note from Sheila - I like half lemon half lime.) Some people leave out the cilantro, that's fine too. Do not increase! Some people add more hot peppers or fewer onions, fine as long as you keep the same total measurements. (Note this is what NCHFP does in their new Choice Salsa recipe.) Some people leave out the sugar, that's fine. You can scoop out the goo in the middle of the tomatoes with your thumbs when I'm peeling and chopping for a less seedy version, so it's 8 cups of chopped tomatoes without the seeds and goo. Most who make it regularly as well as Annie recommend using a variety of different slicing tomatoes, not paste types, for best flavor and consistency. (Note: use the tomato sauce and paste to adjust the consistency of the final product to a "sloshy" consistency.) According to Annie "My salsa is not as thick as Heinz catsup but it's thicker than taco sauce. If you don't like it quite as thick or sweet, cut down the amount of paste. I would add some, then taste. Reducing that ingredient shouldn't affect the safety of the recipe. I use equal amounts of sauce and paste. You can pull it off the heat at any point and adjust for flavor. Before I cook it I check for salt, sugar, check the consistency. Add more pepper or cumin if I want. When I first started making this salsa, tomato sauce and paste came in 8 and 16 ounce cans. Like everything else, they've now been downsized, so now I have to use partial cans." Does anybody have good versions of the other recipes that have weird symbols in them for measurements?

I have a stereo in the kitchen, but it's mostly for listening to Christmas music while I'm doing the Christmas baking. Kat, I bought that Andrea Bocelli CD for the boss for Christmas, she loves it. You might find me listening to darned near anything, depending on my mood. Right now I have five CDs in the stereo: The Beach Boys Charo (thanks, beanthere, I still like that CD!) Norah Jones "The Fall" Ravel's "Four Seasons" The London Symphony Orchesta and Beverly Sills "the Barber of Seville" OK, so the last one is Elery's, he grew up listening to opera in the Italian grocery where he worked as a kid and he loves it. Tomorrow it might be The Everly Brothers, Kenny G, Willie Nelson, Journey and Beethoven, you never know. Neither do I.... I listen to nearly anything except rap or really loud "headbanging" stuff, that gives me a headache. Oh, and Lady Gaga's latest thing, Ashley loves it, I can't stand it. Annie

Virtually all of the books I have read in the last few years have been recommended here. Just a few stand-outs, ones I certainly would not have discovered on my own: The Far Pavillions - M.M. Kaye Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner Cloud Atlas - I had tried to read it, put it down as inpenetrable, tried again for a discussion here and now it one of my all-time favorites Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - like many people, I was not going to read it because of the hopelessly twee title. Have read it twice and am busy looking up the many literary references in this beautiful work. Harry Potter series - another work I wouldn't have read if RP hadn't liked it. Just about everything by George MacDonald Fraser, particularly his MacAuslan stories PG Wodehouse - his work needs no commentary from me! A great deal of poetry that has been posted over the years Paul Gallico - I would not have run across his work on my own. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of great stuff. It's fun to think back and remember.