I made them. They were definitely not as light and fluffy as the other make-ahead mashed potatoes I have made for years, but everyone liked them, including my kids. However, I think I prefer the ones I usually make with sour cream and cottage cheese (lumps removed) - they have a lot more flavor. My kids won't eat them b/c of the sour cream but I think in the future, I'll stick with those and just make my kids regular mashed potatoes with butter and milk. Regular mashed reheat well enough for my kids to eat them and easy enough to put some aside for them w/o adding the sour cream, etc. Question for those that use a crock to keep their mashed potatoes warm, have you ever experienced an issue with the texture changing? Years ago, my mom made mashed potatoes in the morning and put them in her crockpot to keep warm. I wasn't there that year, but she told me that they kind of liquified and they had to toss them out. SHe couldn't figure out why, but ever since, she (or I, if we are together) use the recipe that my MIL gave me - the ones with sour cream and cottage cheese and just bake them while the turkey is roasting.

I love stew. I think there are a few essential things to do,then the rest is up to you and what you like - like leaving out parsnips if you don't like them! 1) make sure you trim the meat well. I hate finding nasty bits of fat or gristle on the meat. 2)toss the meat in a little flour and brown well in some oil, then soften the onion. Do you like garlic? If so, add that now to the onion. 3) do you like wine in your stew? You can add wine, water or stock. 4) decide on which herbs you like. Bay, thyme, parsley...... 5) you can continue to add veggies at stage 2 like celery or carrots. 6) you can fry off som bacon chunks and mushrooms and add them to the stew half an hour before the end of cooking. Have fun inventing your "stew style"!

Here's the recipe...Her website no longer exists. It was one of my favorite recipe sites. BEEF BURGUNDY . This is a delicious recipe inspired from one of my "great-Chef- loopie-buddies", Cheryl, on AOL. This aromatic dish will have you drooling during cooking time! . 2 pounds round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 tbsp. vegetable oil 1/4 cup flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 cup beef broth 3/4 cup Burgundy wine 1 tsp. beef bouillon granules 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt 1/4 tsp. marjoram 1/4 tsp. thyme 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp. water . 1. Combine flour, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper; coat beef in flour mixture. 2. Heat oil in large skillet; brown beef on all sides, working in batches if necessary. Drain beef. 3. In crock pot, combine beef, beef broth, wine, bouillon and seasonings. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours, until meat is tender. 4. Turn control to high and stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook for 15 minutes. Serve over rice, pasta or mashed potatoes. Yield: 4 servings. . Steph's Country Kitchen Goodness www.stephskitchen.com Here's her Beef Stew Recipe BEEF STEW . This comforting stew recipe comes from Dons Aunt Mary (with just a couple of touch-ups by me), and has been thankfully passed around his family. Not many dinners come easier than this, since you throw all of the ingredients into a pan, bake and forget about it until it's time to eat. I serve this with fresh bread and butter for dipping. This dish signals Fall to me, my favorite season. . 1 pound lean beef stew meat 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced 2 stalks celery, sliced 1 small onion, cut into small chunks 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce 2 cups beef broth, red wine, or water (or a combo of the three) 3 tsp. dry tapioca Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup frozen peas . 1. Combine all ingredients except peas in a small roasting pan and cover with lid. Cook at 350º for 3 hours. Stir in peas the last 15 minutes of cooking time. Yield: 4 to 6 servings. . Steph's Country Kitchen Goodness www.stephskitchen.com Here's another one I've made a few times. FRENCH RAGOUT . This dish is similar to beef stew, only cooked on the stove and much quicker. I always serve this with piping hot bread for dipping. Reminds me of Halloween as this is the perfect warm dish to serve the eager trick-or-treaters before their eve of fun. . 1 lb. beef stew meat 2 tbsp. cooking oil 1 medium onion, sliced 3 tbsp. butter 1 beef bouillon cube 1-1/2 cups water 1 cup beef gravy 1 lemon slice 2 cups diced potatoes 1 cup sliced carrots 3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 tbsp. cornstarch .. 1. In a large skillet, brown beef in hot oil. Drain and set aside. 2. In same skillet, cook onion in butter until just tender. Add beef, bouillon, water, gravy, lemon, potatoes, carrots, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer 25 minutes. 3. In a small bowl, blend 1/4 cup cold water with the cornstarch. Stir into beef mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring contstantly. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove lemon slice. Yield: 4 servings.

You can always reduce or leave out any low-acid ingredient (like the potatoes) as it only improves the safety (raises the acidity level and reduces the density) as long as the amounts of the other ingredients remains the same. The safety issues arise when you try substitutions or increases of the other ingredients because both can negatively affect both the pH and the density. So in your specific instance: "So if I cut the potatoes to 6 cups each, add 2 cups cut green beans, drop the carrots and celery to 2 cups each, divide this equally between 7 quart jars and fill with liquid from boiling or tomato juice would I be in danger of not having a properly processed jar? " No problem except you couldn't add the beans. The only problem would be if you tried to increase any of the other ingredients. Dave