My mom is making a batch today and i almost have enough maters to make another this weekend! My dad was a skeptic because he knows i can't do spicy and my hub is a mild guy so he made fun saying it was going to be for babies. i proved him wrong it does have a kick and he ate the whole jar!! My mom will probably spice it up for him and add more hot peppers.

I slept late today ;-) Last night was a "rest" - after DD and I got home from parade, she changed and the whole family went to pick up our jars and ribbons, then we met my parents at pizza place for dinner, picked up a cake and ice cream and went back to their house to celebrate my birthday 2 weeks late (we've been so busy have had no time to go to dinner - and now anniversary is coming up, I've got no idea when/how we're going to celebrate that b/c rest of the month looks busy too, with DS's awards - see my brag post - my mom visiting my sister's family for niece's b-days, and then coming back right before my dad has surgery). Anyway, I haven't made the apple-jalapeno (or any pepper jellies except Gold) for a couple years, I can't find the recipe I used, it was mostly apple juice or homemade apple pectin not vinegar so I don't remember how many jalapenos I used, how much lemon juice. There are a few tomato jam recipes on this forum if you search, I've used the Food in Jars no-pectin recipe successfully with cherry tomatoes (lots of skin and not so much juice as heirlooms, don't try it with really juicy tomatoes). The red-ribbon winner was Orange Minsk tomatoes peeled and sugared per Joy of Jams Tomato-Pineapple preserves recipe, but instead of fresh pineapple I used 1C (drained) of canned crushed pineapple, since that has already been cooked it didn't have the enzyme that hinders the set. I peeled (raw, not blanched so lost a little flesh) 3 huge Orange Minsk tomatoes for 2.25 lbs. 2C of sugar, let stand all day, lots of liquid but very ripe tomatoes were falling apart once I started cooking them. Added 4 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp lime juice, 4 Tbsp OJ, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2tsp coriander and 1 Tbsp whole dried birdseye (Thai) peppers. Bring to a boil, add 1/2 a can (drained) crushed pineapple (about 1C). Boil until set. The next time I made this, I put the pineapple (not drained) in the pan first with the syrup from the sugared tomatoes, the lemon and lime juice (skipped the OJ), and brought that to a "hard simmer" and crushed the pineapple with a potato masher b/c I had bought 6 cans of pineapple chunks (in juice, not syrup) from BJ's and that's what DD used in her jam first. The pineapple chunks were a lot harder/bigger than the crushed - tidbits might work best, the crushed was really shredded and I was *trying* for a preserve with chunks of pineapple and whole yellow cherry tomatoes, but the tomatoes keep falling apart on me and I used the immersion blender on the whole pot, pulled out the skins. A food mill would have worked better. Same spices, skipped the hot peppers in that one. A 3rd batch used the Orange Minsk again, with crushed pineapple, same juices (incl. OJ) and spices, so it was jam consistency, but instead of whole birdseye peppers which were really spicy (to me and DS) when you bit into one, I added 1Tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes. But that hadn't set up as well by the time of the fair so I didn't enter that. I'll let you know how that goes. I've still got to work out the tomato preserves, but I think I need to use really firm just-ripe cherry tomatoes and it's the end of the season, I don't have any more. I've also been working on a savory "just tomato" spread using no-sugar pectin but am having a hard time getting a set with the juicy heirlooms I've tried this year.

Knock on wood - my blueberries (2 Blue Crop, 1 Elliott) are doing fine, with buds, about 2-3' tall. I need to do a bit of pruning of crossing branches, but that's about it. They are planted in straight peat. They, too, will be 3rd year plants, and I will remove most all berries this year in hopes of getting a nice crop next year. As soon as they start to leaf out a bit, I am going to fertlize them with Espoma Holly Tone for acid-loving plants. I purchased my 2-year old plants last year at Walmart (Blue Crop) and Lowe's (Elliott) for $10 each, so doesn't appear the price has gone up, Scott. They grew nicely last year and I did remove all of the berries as suggested. Wish me luck, and I hope you're right about them being easily grown. I think the key issue is soil and maybe water comes in second. They do tend to give you an indication when they need water - the leaves lose their shiny appearance. I know when I see it, but try to water them regularly. They are shallow rooted like azaleas, and I have to do something about that this year because they are in large containers, with more depth than surface area. I want to try to find some plastic pots similar to azalea pots that are wider than they are tall because I think they would work better for blueberries. I could just find some plastic tubs for them and they would probably be less expensive. Lots of thoughts; much less experience, but experimentation is at least one of the mothers of invention, right? Susan

Must be a good year for Blueberries. Plenty available and good prices. After you make the BBCrisp and want to try something else, make this: BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE *** * 1 cup all-purpose flour * 1/2 teaspoon baking powder * 1/2 teaspoon baking soda * 1/4 teaspoon salt * 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened * 2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided * 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract * 1 large egg * 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk * 1 cup fresh blueberries (about 5 oz) Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. * Or 9inch square pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter berries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate. ***I changed the name to BB Breakfast Cake because I found it makes a tasty quick breakfast. After baking I slice it and keep in a Tupperware container in the fridge. Give a slice a couple seconds in the MW and it is gooood. I'm going to try Marygailey's BB Crisp. I still have a lot of BB's. Note to Self: put Mayo on shopping list, almost out; put VANILLA IC on same list. Sue