Thanks for the Great advice on Freezing without doing the Pectin sugar syrup way. Also I read back in a book about 10 years ago.. our forefathers and mothers use to take barrels or Brandy and Preserved their peaches that way. Modern times would be is take 24 oz mason jars- Peel and Pit your Peaches cut in 1/2 -Sterilize Mason Jars after sterilized jars set up- Stick a cinnamon stick a the innards of a vanilla Bean (of course both are optional but it's to give it more flavor- fill Jar with peach leaving at least 1in from top-..Warm a Med expensive Brandy (plain Unflavored- Not the cheapest not the most expensive) Or you can even do it w/ Southern comfort- ( make sure you get enough Brandy ( it's not as cheap now as it was back then) warm brandy on medium heat ( do not boil but make sure it's Hot- Take off Heat- and fill up jars- Put on lids and screw on tops . Put in canner and do a hot bath for 10 Min. let it cool down for 24 hours to make sure tops have set and sealed.. Label and set date.. Alcohol is a Natural Preservative.. No sugar or Pectin needed- Can last for probably 3= years- ,, so what do you do with the peaches-?.. Peach Pie.. Peach Jam it with have the flavors of the Brandy and spices but the alcohol will Burn off-- What do with Brandy? well now you have All Natural Flavored Vanilla Cinnamon Peach Brandy-- This could be used as a sipping brandy for special occasions.. Holidays etc.. I Make Rum, Bourbon and Brandy Balls around the Holidays-Make a Brandy Cake (Instead of rum or Bourbon) Marinade a Duck, Turkey Pheasant, or Chicken In a Baking Bag and Let it Cook in a Baking Bag- You will have the most succulent tender bird.. and the alcohol cooks off.. Save enough put it in a Gravy pitcher.. Light it on fire and pour over your Bird.. for a flare of elegance.. (it burns Off)

> DD is almost 8 and wants to be a vegetarian b/c she feels sorry for the animals. We explained that you have to eat vegetables to be a vegetarian. Man cannot live on bread alone but my DD sure would like to try! Bless her heart! I know the feeling. Yesterday, after releasing a possum (trapped in my garden) at a lake 10 miles away, I was warned by a MO Dept of Conservation agent to not do it again unless I kill them first. Ditto the raccoons I catch. I have no problem with setting out mousetraps, but do have a problem killing larger animals and even some insects. I was raised to respect animals & that if you shoot something while sport hunting you eat it. Best not let her read Peter Tompkins's "The Secret Life of Plants" LOL! Since reading "The China Study" a year ago, I've cut way back on meat in my diet. > So this morning I ask little girl if she would like pasta bake for lunch. She looks at me and says "Ick. I don't like pasta bake." Oh the joys of 6 years old. Been there... LOL!

I also dehydrate foods in my old Harvest Maid. I love it, it has a fan and a temperature setting, 9 large trays and it's great for making yogurt too. I get my dehydrating information from the Ball Blue Book and from Michigan State University's web site, Preserving Food Safely. I do freeze eggs, but I beat up two, put them into a separate container and use them for baking. I don't freeze milk because of that change in texture mentioned above. I like some things frozen and some things canned. I always blanch and freeze asparagus, then I thaw it, put it on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast it, just like fresh asparagus. It's pretty darned good (although not as good as fresh, LOL). I also freeze corn, but I can carrots and beans. I freeze celery and peppers, usually already chopped and measured, to use in salsa, Habanero Gold jam, chili, etc. I don't care for stuffed peppers but my stepmom tops and cores them and stacks them, one inside another, for stuffed peppers. She takes them out frozen, stuffs them and bakes them. I freeze french fries by the tens of pounds, and I've chopped and frozen onions but even double bagging them the whole darned freezer smelled like onion. I would think shallots would be the same, but maybe if you have a foodsaver it would help with the aroma. I dehydrate onions and shallots since Craftyrn sent me a jar of dehydrated onions and I found how handy they were! I freeze swiss chard and collard greens, just steam them and freeze them in ziplock bags. I even freeze sliced green tomatoes to fry in the winter and I grate extra zucchini and pack that into ziplock bags for zucchini bread in January. Oh, and welcome to the Cooking Forum. You might try checking at Harvest too, lots of canning/freezing/drying/sausage making going on over there! Annie

NCHFP website says to water blanch broccoli and cauliflower for 3 minutes which I find too long for broccoli but OK for cauliflower. I blanch broccoli for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes and then ice water bath for about 5 minutes. Drain, pat dry, flash freeze on cookie sheets, and then vacuum pack with a food saver using the gentle setting. I've only ever frozen the tough ends of asparagus so far to use in Cream of Asparagus soup. I blanch that for about 2-3 minutes. NCHFP guidelines say 2-4 minutes for gus depending on thickness of the spears. Since CoG soups requires boiling the gus for 15 minutes is really doesn't matter much if they are mushy after blanching.