Hey, guys! Long time no post. I didn't have a very good year for tomatoes, which form the backbone of my canning season, so I've been feeling a bit bummed. By the time I realized I wasn't going to get enough to can all the tomato stuff I wanted for the year, it was too late to buy a bunch at a decent price. I did buy a few late ones at an exhorbitant price just to be sure I could put up some of everything, but I also caved and BOUGHT six jars of Classico sauce when it was on a great sale last week. Felt like I had to look both ways to be sure nobody spotted me, LOL! I did put up lots an lots of applesauce. I usually do some, but this year our usual local orchard was hit by hail in August, with the result that they had fewer first-quality apples and lots and lots of seconds at $5 for a half-bushel, so I'm on my second half-bushel of mixed seconds for sauce. HOWEVER, I've done more freezing of veggies than ever before---this is my first full harvest season since I got my FoodSaver vacuum sealer! I didn't count it all, but I put up - strawberries (some plain and some with a little local honey) - corn---LOTS! - sweet peppers---I bought a 3/4 bushel and roasted about half, sliced & froze the other half in raw strips - squash---winter squash is practically free around here by November, and we got three ENORMOUS ones a few weeks ago; these I just processed this weekend, so I can tell you that I froze - 12 cups of puree (two more cups in the fridge to use this week) - 12 cups of raw cubes - 4 cups of partially cooked cubes (I found different opinions on whether it should be cooked partially first, including on threads here, so I did some of each and will see what I think). Boy, there was a lot of orange in my kitchen by the end of the session! I also didn't have any zucchini/summer squash this year---usually I'm freezing oodles of zucchini bread for winter breakfasts---so now I'm working on filling what room is left in the freezer with other fruit quick breads. So far I've found a banana muffin recipe I really like, and am experimenting with various apple breads, coffee cakes, and muffins. I made some squash muffins, and they're not bad, but I think I can do better. That's all. Just wanted to pop in and say hi and tell y'all what I've been up to! Happy harvesting, Zabby P.S. Dumbear, that green onion relish sounds excellent! I'll try it next year!

One other item that I have found extremely useful - a pot hanger on the wall over my butcher block table. As my kitchen is so small, there isn't room for an island table with a pot hanger, but the wall opposite my working area serves the purpose of the lack of extra storage cupboards. It has 12 hooks to serve a variety of pots, fry pans, sieves, hand mixer, oft-used utensils, etc. On top - a shelf catches other seldom used utensils. This allows more room in my tiny kitchen cupboards for the rest of my usual baking dishes. As Linda Lou mentioned in her post, having mats on the floor where most of the work is being done, helps tremendously also. I bought 4 heavy-duty rubber mats decorative - from Home Depot) to lay end-to-end on this area, and it saves a lot of wear and tear on the feet and legs during heavy canning times. Also easy to pick up, clean with the hose, and they are ready to go again. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

I do have some concerns with providing links. First, links are unreliable. Websites are re-organized or documents are dropped; there's nothing more frustrating for the reader of an FAQ than a dead link. Secondly, I doubt the value of providing links to Extension agencies, as most of the documents on those sites duplicate what's already at the NCHFP. So we'd just be gumming up the FAQ with unnecessary information. I do think there's merit in providing some links, though again I wish it were possible to pin that information as a post at the top of the page - more obvious and accessible and easy to "unpin" or delete by site administrators when material is out-of-date. One major failing of the NCHFP is that its search mechanism for Extensions requires you to select a state. You can't search by topic unless you go to Google or other external search engine. So if I were providing links, I wouldn't provide links to state Extensions, I would provide links to "specialty documents," as many Extension agecies have done research on topics of particular local interest and offer information not provided at the NCHFP site. UC Davis, for example, offers documents on acidified dried tomatoes for storage in oil, safe preservation of cantaloupe, garlic, olives. North Carolina has very readable documents on food safety -listeria, basic microbiology, irradiation, cooling hot foods, serving to large groups. Oregon is seafood - canning both fresh and smoked fish - as well as documents on Asian pears and maraschino cherries and a process for canning nuts for those who lack vacuum sealers. Wisconsin has those excellent pdf documents on pickling and making of sauerkraut as well as documents on processing game. Alaska, for good reason, has some of the best information on botulism. New Mexico and Colorado offer numerous documents on preserving peppers, even such topics as making ristras. A few worthwhile links: Clickable Map of Extension Agencies Nationwide. Find Your Elevation. Cornell 2010 Recommended Food Preservation Resources. Recommended Salsa Resources. Carol

I have the 24" Liebherr. I have never owned a Sub Zero. I have never done a side-by side experiment, so I can't say definitively that it keeps food fresh longer. Subjectively, I think it might, but that might just be because I just like the fridge a lot! I wouldn't order the larger fridge just to get it, if that's also a consideration. I can tell you that in the 24 inch, it cost less than half the Sub Zero and uses a LOT less energy. And it's not another (yawn) Sub Zero. But I think the larger sizes it evens out a bit. Also, my cabinet maker said he was not happy with the way the recent Sub Zeros that took panels fitted (he said there was a gap he didn't like), and he was looking at new options. I have no idea if the Liebherrs that take panels work any better, but that might be a question people would want to ask. The 24" doesn't take panels, it was something that came up in conversation. I can tell you, every contractor, carpenter, etc, who came in LOVED the Liebherr and asked a lot of questions about it. It is so quiet they worried it was broken when they plugged it in! I didn't even notice the freezer didn't have a light until you mentioned it. Just as Circuspeanut said, because you open the drawers and pull them out into a lighted room, it's never been an issue for me. I too ordered the one without ice or water. But they give you tiny ice trays that make cubes shaped like jewels. I have had mine for about 7-8 months and I'm very happy with it.