Ann, please don't think I'm attacking, I'm not. But there has been a lot written about Judith Regan and little of it flattering (and that includes her flammable relationships with men, her own husbands and husbands other than her own). Many people in the publishing world see her differently than she sees herself...I've seen her quoted as having said 'it's trash the American public wants, so I'll publish trash" long before this book was even an idea. And as for me hoping book sales would flat line, I heard on the news today that pre-release purchases have brought it into the top three best sellers at Amazon.

Bubbles?? Odd. Unless the liquid was very thick, I have never had any problems with pickled beets. As mentioned before, I leave an inch of the stems attached to the beets as well as some of the thin root. They get boiled in water until they are just tender enough so a fork can go in about half an inch or so. They get cooled, and peeled, and the ends are trimmed off. If they are bigger than about an 1.5 inches in diameter, they get sliced into jars, along with some slices of onion. If they are smaller than the 1.5 inches they get packed whole. The pickle juice is sweetened, as well as salt added, and the spices used are a little dill, celery seed, and mustard seed. I use full 5% strength white vinegar, or a bit of cider vinegar if I want a mellower taste. The brine is brought to a boil and poured over the beet filled jars. They never seem to have any bubbles anywhere, unless the beets are really packed very tight and crammed into every single space (not good!). In any case, they get into the canner soon after and are processed without any problems. I usually make pints, but if I have a lot of beets, a few quarts too. I have no recipe to go by, but after doing these so many times before, I usually end up with plenty of the brine juice. One time, I packed a quart jar with just onion slices and added the same brine, along with a single beet slice. It gave me a nice, pink, pickled jar of pickled onion slices.

James, Here in Love County, our snowstorm was a joke....maybe a half-inch of very fine, powdery snow but lots of very cold air and very strong winds. Howling winds and a pretty cold wind chill are mostly what we received here. Oddly, the interstate and especially its bridges turned into a skating rink and our emergency personnel were dispatched to a rash of accidents (DH said his work involved at least 12 vehicles that either crashed, rolled over or slid off the highway in about a 1-hour period) last night, and it has already started up again this morning, with a truck wrecking out on the I-35 Red River Bridge. Our roadways are dry here near our house and not bad at all, but there must be something frozen on the bridges. Even though the snow amounted to virtually nothing here, I'm still glad I covered up all my cool-season crops and early, emerging perennials and herbs, because the cold wind alone has been enough to dessicate and damage foliage of young plants. I think I'll leave them covered until tomorrow because the wind chill and winds are still brutal. All of you who have lots of snow be careful and stay warm today. I'll be playing in the dirt inside, starting more seeds and might even venture out to a store later today. It depends on how messed up the roads remain.... Dawn

Seriously? I just did a quick search of your name and it looks like for most of your posts, you've gotten anywhere from 12 to 49 responses. Your most recent post, from what I can tell, is the one about woodworking and you didn't get much response... I think it is because the "title" of your post is sort of confusing and doesn't tell us what you're actually looking for. I have heard someone else say this before and I think it's true -- if your title is specific, you will get more responses. Anyway, just my two cents. Now I'll go read your woodworking question and see if I have any answers!