I make the Zesty Salsa from the BBB, but I replace half (or more) of the vinegar with lemon juice, so it doesn't taste as pickley. I also cook it down until it's thickened slightly - the 10 minutes the BBB calls for doesn't seem like quite enough, and I don't like watery salsa. It's a nice salsa, with has garlic and cilantro and not quite so many peppers. Maybe you could add a bit of cumin, and add a little extra acid. I might have to do that this year - cumin is yummy! I know, Annie's is probably way better... Wow, the recipe came up in Google. Gotta love the internet. Zesty Salsa 10 cups chopped, seeded, peeled, cored tomatoes (about 6 pounds) 5 cups chopped and seeded green bell peppers (about 2 pounds) 5 cups chopped onions (about 1 1/2 pounds) 2 1/2 cups chopped and seeded hot peppers (about 1 pound) 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced 3 teaspoons canning salt 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional) Warning: When cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to prevent hands from burning. Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot, adding hot pepper sauce, if desired. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 20 minutes in a boiling bath canner. Source: Ball Blue Book - Guide to Home Canning, Freezing and Dehydration

Both products make baked goods rise...produce gas within and make the cake or whatever rise...theya re leavening agents. Baking soda is bicarbonate of soda and will produce gas in the presence of an acid, like brown sugar, molasses, honey, chocolate, sour cream, butter milk, lemon juice etc. Baking powder is bicarbonate of soda and alnother chemical like sodium aluminum sulfate, and a calcium salt, that produces gas in the presence of a liquid and again when heated. When mixed with a liquid, the acid of the sulfate combines with the sodium bi carb and produces a rise...and the other ingredient reacts with heat and produces another rise. That's why baking powder loses it's ability to leaven when exposed to moisture... Linda C

Jo, It's amazing how the minute you cross the state line prices jump across the board no matter what the purchase. On one of our trips to White Flower Farm we stopped at a grocery store to see if the western part of the state was any different. Nope, the Litchfield Hills are, if anything, higher. Yeah, I'm sure Guilford has to be pretty similar to Mystic; maybe, even higher since you're closer to the City. Cloud swift, I just checked the Costco website to see if they perhaps had a new store but, alas, there's no store within 50 miles of Mystic. :( It's a zoning thang...Mystic doesn't even allow fast food restaurants except the one McDs at the entrance to I-95 & that's because of the large numbers of tourists visiting the Seaport & aquarium (McDs is basically right across the street from the aquarium). Walmart tried to get a store in...holy cow, you'd have thought it was a adult toy store the way voters responded! So, even our closest Wally World is a good ten miles away...over in the inland part of Groton. Doesn't really matter 'cause DH & I don't shop there anyway...personal protest thing. New England zoning laws discourage competition from large national stores...it interfers with the Norman Rockwell'ness of the area. There was a fire in downtown Mystic about six years ago & we lost an entire building. An out-of-state developer purchased the shell with the intent of rebuilding with the first floor retail & the upper floors high-end condos. Every plan they've submitted has been shot down by either the voters or the Historical Committee. I 'almost' feel sorry for the developers...they seriously underestimated the power of the New England Town Meeting! :) The whole issue revolves around windows. The developer wants to put large windows in the back of the building that overlooks Mystic River & the Seaport. They say buyers want large windows. The Historical Commitee & the voters say, "We don't care what your buyers want. Large windows are NOT appropriate to a first quarter 19th century New England building. They must be small." (So small...you can't meet fire code!) So, the building sits boarded up. I understand there's another "plan" to be presented sometime next spring. We'll see... It's not just groceries or gas or housing costs...once you get the flour home then the electricity rates to bake the bread are the 3rd highest in the nation behind only Hawaii & our dear neighbors Rhode Island. All of New England has a high cost of living. We used to ask about it when we first moved here but were always met with a blank stare & a response of, "Yeah, and your point is???" So, we don't ask anymore. We've just adjusted. When I look at these electric rates it's almost funny how much cheaper they are outside New England. All that said, I love living in New England & I wouldn't leave easily. So, maybe after living here for twenty years I finally understand all of those blank stares about the cost of living followed by the, "And your point is???" /tricia

Were the milk or eggs cold (and the butter room temp)? That would make the mix look curdled. ETA: Seems to me the milk should be added after or along with the dry ingredients or you'd have a slurry that would make incorporating the fat into the dry ingredients difficult.