Well then, that must have been my problem because I did double the recipe!! I didn't realize you couldn't! I know you're not supposed to fool around with amounts in recipes so you keep the acid ratio correct, but where this was just strawberries and sugar and nothing else in the recipe I figured it was ok! I guess not! And I measured out 4 quarts of whole strawberries. The recipe was 2 quarts of strawberries and 6 cups of sugar. It didn't say to cut them or mash them before measuring - in fact (I'm remembering off the top of my head here as I don't have the book with me) it said to crush the strawberries one layer at a time and then to mix with the sugar, so it sounded to me like you measured the whole strawberries, then crushed them and that's what I did. I'm not going to fuss with what I already made - as I said, it won't go to waste as hubby will use it as pancake topping - we've even been known to plop a spoonful of jam in a bowl of oatmeal, so this stuff will work for that as well. But I'm glad I spoke up because for future adventures in jam, I wouldn't have known any of this and would probably have given up on it if I kept failing! And I thought it was weird that the jam recipe that used the pectin used an extra cup of sugar from the one without pectin. I've learned so much from just this thread - thanks so much guys! I want to take my next adventure into the realm of peaches! Peach jam sounds yummy and if I fail again, hubby does like peaches, so he'll have more pancake topping than he knows what to do with lol!! Lisa

I started using this crust recipe/technique this summer. It was part of a peach pandowdy recipe. I do it in the food processor and it turns out very flaky. I have it memorized by now! 1-1/4 cups flour pinch salt 1/2 teaspoon sugar 6 tablespoons cold butter, in small chunks 1-1/2 tablespoons cold shortening, in small chunks 3 tablespoons ice cold water Put flour, salt and sugar in food processor and pulse to sir. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until shortening is a little smaller than the size of peas. Add all of the water and pulse until dough just begins to stay together when you pick up a little bit. Turn out on a board or pastry surface (with no added flour) and gather the clumps together into a ball. Flatten slightly into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and flatten slightly more. Chill about 30 minutes and then roll out, or freeze for later.

Michael: Here is my new recipe for Cheese Cake. Like a Creamy NY. You can top it with any fruit Sauce mix. - - - - - - - - - - - - Lous - Creamy Italian Cheese Cake Ingredients: 15 Oz. Container of Sargentos Ricotta Cheese (Velvety Smooth ) 8 Oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese ( room temperature ) 6 X large eggs ( Separated ) 1 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream, Softened. 1/2 cup of Milk 1/2 cup of Orange juice 1 teaspoon of Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon of Vanilla 4 tablespoons of Softened Butter 1 cup of Sugar + 3 tablespoons 1 heaping teaspoon of Orange Zest 4 tablespoons of AP flour 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Beat egg whites, with 3 Tablespoons of sugar, until stiff peaks. Put aside until the batter is mixed. Place all the other ingredients , ( except the flour and cornstarch ) In a bowl large enough to hold beaten egg whites. Beat until smooth ( about 3 minutes ) Add the flour. Beat another minute. Add the Cornstarch beat 1 minute. Fold in the Beaten Egg Whites Pour into a 9 1/2 inch Spring Form Pan lined with a Graham Cracker Crust. Wrap the bottom of the pan and up the sides about 1 inch, with Aluminum Foil Bake on an upper oven shelf of a 350 Degree oven for about 1 hour, Or until the top is a Golden Tan. Leave it in the oven until it cools down. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Graham Cracker Crust: Put 14 Crackers in a one Quart Zip lock bag and crumble with a rolling pin, Place in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of Sugar and 5 Tblspns of melted Butter. Mix and place in the Bottom of the Spring Form and up the sides about 1 ¼ Inches Bake at 350 for about 15 to 20 minutes until firm. Springform Pan tip: Flip the bottom over so the recess in facing down. You will be able to get the Cake out easier.

Neely, the pavlova still looks fine to me, and those strawberries are lovely. Anglophilia, the pork sounds delicious. My husband says I'm boring, every morning I have one egg, over easy, some type of toast and a cup of coffee in my favorite little Jadite mug. It's the perfect size, I can actually drink it all before the coffee gets cold! Anyway, a dear friend gifted me with some Portuguese muffins, so I've been having half of one of those with breakfast. They are more dense than regular English Muffins and a little sweet, with raisins, very yummy: I've been hungry for beef barley soup, so I made some of that today: Yesterday I made a big salad with some of the turkey. I'm not crazy for salads, but Elery loves them, so occasionally I cave in and we have salad for supper. He had some homemade maple oatmeal bread with his, the salad alone was enough for me: We've been busy making other things too, like a batch of Habanero Gold jelly for Christmas savory cheesecake: A big batch of venison and cheddar sausage: Elery was packaging the sausage while I made cookies for the freezer. These were those flourless peanut butter cookies, all scooped out and the frozen lumps will be placed in a freezer bag until I want them, then they'll be thawed and baked: Somehow these four didn't make it onto the sheet pan and had to be baked. "Oh, darn", was Elery's reaction, LOL. Tomorrow Madi and Maci will be here while Ashley goes hunting, last day of deer season here for rifle hunters. I'm thinking pizza..... Annie