Deanna: I wondered about oven drying. I use Peter Greweling's method from Chocolates & Confections and he only mentions air drying. Since the fruit is now completely sugar saturated I am somewhat worried about caramelization with exposure to even low heat. I wish I had a dehydrator. Carol: I never thought of the freezer! I will be using this in centers for molded chocolates later so I do need to dry it, but stashing it in the freezer in the meantime is brilliant. Since the syrup is now at 78 brix I was worried about crystallization - I am seeing some already. Thanks to you both! Elaina

Carol, I think Quadra is an exceptional climbing rose. The bloom form is wonderful and the blooms last for a long time. The red is very vibrant. It blooms in nice clusters and the leaves are glossy and more importantly, very healthy. I have not had any disease whatsoever on my Quadra. It is also quite hardy and there aren't too many hardy climbers that repeat here. Phyl, thanks for the compliments...you can come to my gardens anytime...er, well when there's something to see..LOL. Right now things look pretty pathetic, all brown and bare. Jen, I am glad you like Pink Rosette (Valerie, too)... it is such a charming rose and blooms its head off. It has large clusters of the cutest little rosettes you've ever seen...they are so perfect they don't look real. And the blooms last FOREVER....if you cut one of the big clusters, it will last over a week in a vase and still look fresh. The bush stays compact so its great for the front of a border or bed. Believe it or not, I STILL have a cluster of Pink Rosette on the bush out there right now! Valerie...you have to try this one! I'm going to post more pics of it tonight on a new post, along with Quadra, for you guys. Thanks,Kathy...I appreciate your kind words. Celeste

Sorry, I have had a bad case of "Dud" fever. I have actually been looking, but just no energy to post. I walk when I play golf and with the heat, by the time I get home, I have been too zapped to do much. Also, July 4 is my oldest DD's birthday and July 5 is DH's b-day, so busy getting ready for those celebrations. Then DH scheduled window washers for last Sat. and I had to get everything moved out of the way and the cobwebs vacuumed to prepare....I tried to talk him out of that day as it was predicted to rain, but his response was it is always going to rain sometime. Sure enough, it started to pour before they even finished the outside!! So the inside is clean, but the outside was water spotted within an hour of them starting! Men!!! Can't live with em, can't kill em! I'm still returning eveything to its proper place. I did some patriotic decorating and will post pictures in a different post. So, still checking in, and I actually thought I had responded on some of the posts, but guess I just had good intentions, but no action. I do enjoy everybody's posts even if I haven't responded yet. Summer is just such a busy time and I love being outside so I get busy and fall short of responding here. TTFN, Candy

I can tell you what my aunt, who was locally famous for these (even appeared on TV with a marzipan making demo) used to do. She would make decorative tree centerpieces with them. Get a small Styrofoam cone from a craft store. Green is good if they have them: she would spray paint hers gold. Set in into a decorative base. You can use something you have around, like a small candy dish, or even a small new clay flowerpot. I think she adhered the cone to the base with floral adhesive. Maybe trimming the cone at the bottom to fit closely inside the base. Then just stick the small fruits in with toothpicks, arranging so the Styrofoam surfaced is completely covered. If there were gaps she would put in tiny craft store picks with silk leaves on them. It takes more fruit then you think to cover a cone, so dont buy a large one. The fruits that look best for this purpose are uniform sizes; like citrus fruits, apples, and pears. Not bananas or potatoes. Makes a very pretty centerpiece for Christmas. You can have your guests help themselves to the candy fruit after dinner, or keep it indefinitely. The fruit will dry out eventually and become very hard. You can also make a wreath or candle ring with a Styrofoam wreath form.