Hello Lissa, Welcome to the forum. I think you'll like it here. I hope your family's pressure canner is usable. Most pressure canners have long, long lives. It's just a matter of checking and sometimes replacing an inexpensive part or two, as long as it's a common brand. I included a link to Bejay's earlier post. She was asking about citrus pectin, but I provided a comparison to apple pectin, which is more common. Certainly you can make your own. Apples are easily available and make excellent pectin stock. Some people make a strong stock; some make apple jelly, which can then be used as regular jelly or can be used with other fruits to help them jell. If you look around the forum you'll find lots of interesting threads. When you have a question, just ask away. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Using and Preserving Natural Pectin

Newer version of Annie's Salsa - BWB only Annie's Salsa 8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained 2 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper 3 to 5 chopped jalapenos (for milder leave out seeds and ribs) 6 cloves minced garlic 2 tsp cumin (optional) 2 tsp pepper 1/8 cup canning salt 1/4 c fresh cilantro (optional) 1/3 c sugar (optional) 1 cup cider vinegar (see note on subbing lemon or lime juice option) 16 oz canned tomato sauce (to adjust density) 8-16 oz canned tomato paste (to adjust density) Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars, process pints for 15 minutes in BWB. Makes 6 pints. _________ A lot of changes have been made to this recipe over the years. Some people like lemon or lime juice in place of some or all of the vinegar, that's fine. (Note from Sheila - I like half lemon half lime.) Some people leave out the cilantro, that's fine too. Do not increase! Some people add more hot peppers or fewer onions, fine as long as you keep the same total measurements. (Note this is what NCHFP does in their new Choice Salsa recipe.) Some people leave out the sugar, that's fine. You can scoop out the goo in the middle of the tomatoes with your thumbs when I'm peeling and chopping for a less seedy version, so it's 8 cups of chopped tomatoes without the seeds and goo. Most who make it regularly as well as Annie recommend using a variety of different slicing tomatoes, not paste types, for best flavor and consistency. (Note: use the tomato sauce and paste to adjust the consistency of the final product to a "sloshy" consistency.) According to Annie "My salsa is not as thick as Heinz catsup but it's thicker than taco sauce. If you don't like it quite as thick or sweet, cut down the amount of paste. I would add some, then taste. Reducing that ingredient shouldn't affect the safety of the recipe. I use equal amounts of sauce and paste. You can pull it off the heat at any point and adjust for flavor. Before I cook it I check for salt, sugar, check the consistency. Add more pepper or cumin if I want. When I first started making this salsa, tomato sauce and paste came in 8 and 16 ounce cans. Like everything else, they've now been downsized, so now I have to use partial cans." Does anybody have good versions of the other recipes that have weird symbols in them for measurements?

Wish Design: I'll bring you strawberries (we talked about this, no?) and I can bring you both chocolate mint (yes, smells like chocolate mint) and spearmint. let me know if you need both. Busyasabee: Find me. I'll have named and unnamed verigated hosta. Watergal, too cool! :) I live in waterless hell sometimes, but things do seem to winter well -- if the voles don't get them. I'm taking LynnT's suggest and buying wire mesh today to make cages for bulbs. I'm tired of watching foliage wilt before my very eyes. LynnT -- didn't you get my email about the bucket of Blackberry Lilies sitting next to your bucket of Jacob Klein on the cinder blocks by my pine tree? They're a'waiting you. Hosta Albo Margineta is potted, sitting on the ground in a plastic tray ready to go to the swap. It's not labeled yet, but if you don't have any... It's a nice, medium-sized upright. I'm ready. I want you to bring plastic bags to take home the stuff that sulks. Can't wait! C.

Mabelgeldine, Sooz, wintercat, mitchdesj, kitchendetective, sweetbetsy, sally2, rustyone, mustangs --> Wow! Thank you all for your nice compliments. You filled my bucket :) therustyone --> the effort was spread over two days. I started Saturday morning and my final piping was done and the cake carefully placed in boxes. Sunday around 3pm when I rushed off to shower and get ready for the party. Colleenz, cloud swift --> I did grease with crisco and used a parchment round for the bottom of the cake pan and then sprayed with baker's joy. Pretty much all the instructions in the cookbook. The bottom was OK. I think for one of the lemon cake layers, I should have let it cool some more. I think I will use parchment paper strips for the side as well next time. I am also thinking to make the jasdip better than pam coating to use intead of baker's joy as I did not like the spray as much. Cathy --The kids loved the cakes with many of them negotiating for a smaller slices of both as they wanted to try both. I was surprised how many 9-10 yr olds liked the lemon cake. Many of the moms loved the carrot cake and the lemon lovers loved the lemon cake. DH loved the carrot cake.. I do think the addition of 1TBSP of dutch cocoa makes this cake a lot better. DD loved the lemon cake the best. I must say I was very very pleased with the lemon curd.. I used to buy an occasional bottle to use with scones. Now that I have made it, I will make it instead of buying it. I must say I loved the precision and the clear writing from Rose Levy Berenbaum. My kind of cookbook. pink_warm_mama --> Here is the recipe from Marcella Hazan's Essential Italian Cookbook. It is not too sweet and tastes really good the next day too. Marcella called it a popular cake in Venice and said she made it for James Beard. Polenta Shortcake with Raisins, Dried Figs, and Pine Nuts Serves 6 to 8 (I got around 16 smaller slices out of a 9in round) 1 cup coarse cornmeal Salt 1 ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil Heaping ½ cup granulated sugar 1⁄3 cup seedless raisins 1 cup dried figs, cut into ¼ inch pieces 2 Tbsp butter plus more for greasing the pan 1 egg 2 Tbsp fennel seed 1 cup all-purpose flour A 9-inch round cake pan Fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs Procedure •Preheat oven to 400°F •Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Adjust heat to medium. •Add corn meal in a steady stream by grabbing handfuls and letting it run through your partially closed fist. With the other hand, stir constantly with a wooden spoon. If you add it too fast, the corn meal can clump. •Add salt and olive oil and continue to stir for about 15 seconds until the mush thickens and starts to pull away from the pan when stirred. •Remove from heat and add sugar, raisins, pine nuts, figs, butter, egg, and fennel seed. Mix thoroughly to combine. Add flour and mix to form a cake batter. •Smear cake pan with butter and dust with bread crumbs. Add cake batter and level with spatula. Bake 45 to 50 minutes. •When cake is still warm, loosen its sides with knife and shake to drop onto plate. Turn cake over again onto serving platter. Serve when it becomes completely cold.