I don't know how you resolved your citric acid vs. no citric acid dilemma, but my suggestion is to just buy some and keep it dry in a jar, and use it whenever you are canning tomatoes or tomato juice because it has no taste when added in small quantities. It does provide a margin of safety, is really cheap, will last a long time if you buy 8 ounces or a pound, and it has no shelf life if you keep it dry. Also, if you have some over-ripe fruit to can or over-ripe fruit for jam making, you can add a little citric acid to give the fruit a little "bite". It is what they used in children's Gummy Bears and all such sweet sour candies to give them that tart taste. Del Monte even adds citric acid to canned grapefruit sections - a fruit you may not think could benefit from citric acid. Certain cheese calls for citric acid to acidify milk products. So it does have multiple uses. Just my thoughts, Jim in So Calif

One of the coolest things I learned from CF this year was more of a technique than a recipe. Jacques Pepin has a recipe for crispy chicken thighs with a sauce, and it's fine; but what's really slick is the technique of cooking the chicken thighs. Take some skin-on chicken thighs, put them skin side down on a cutting board and cut a slash about 1/2 inch deep in the flesh parallel to the bone, about 1/2 inch from the bone. (This allows the thigh to flatten out somewhat.) Season with salt & pepper. Put them in a cold nonstick skillet and put it on high. When it starts to sizzle, cut the heat down to med-high to medium, check that the skin isn't sticking, then cover the skillet. Cook for 16-18 inches, checking every now and then to make sure the skin isn't browning too quickly. If after 18 minutes the flesh side doesn't look quite done, it's okay to flip the thighs and cook them uncovered for a minute or two. An ENORMOUS amount of fat comes out of the skin. (From a food geek standpoint, you're frying the skin in its own rendered fat, while the flesh side is steaming in the vapors.) At this point Pepin tells you to drain most of the fat and make a sauce, but I usually don't bother. It makes some nice 'fried' chicken with much less fat than 'real' fried chicken, but it still has some of the mouth-feel of fried chicken. The link is to Pepin's recipe. If you want to make the whole shebang with the sauce, go ahead, it's really tasty; but even if you're just cooking some chicken thighs, this frying technique by itself is worth adding to your repertoire. Here is a link that might be useful: Jacque Pepin crusty chicken thighs

CRAB QUICHE 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced 2 TBL butter 4 eggs 1 cup sour cream 1 cup small curd cottage cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 1/4 cup flour 1 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp salt 4 drops Tabasco 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese 6 oz crab meat Saute mushrooms in butter until tender. Remove from heat & drain. In a blender or processor, combine eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, Parmesan, flour, onion powder, salt & Tabasco. Blend until smooth. Spray a 9" deep-dish pie plate or a 10" quiche dish with Pam. Pour mixture into pan. Fold in cheese, crab & mushrooms. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 45 minutes. Let stand about 5-10 minutes before serving.~~ LONE STAR QUICHE Two 4 oz cans chopped green chilies, drained 1 1/2 lbs grated Monterey Jack 6 eggs 1/2 cup + 2 TBL milk Salt & pepper to taste 1/2 tsp cumin Salsa, sliced black olives, cilantro or avocado for garnish Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13" pan. Spread chopped chilies in the bottom of the pan; sprinkle cheese over chilies. Beat eggs with milk, salt, pepper & cumin. Pour egg mixture over cheese. Bake 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting & serving. Top with your choice of Garnish.~~Bountiful Arbor This one's really good, too: CRUSTLESS QUICHE 1 cup Swiss cheese, grated 8-10 slices bacon, crisply cooked & crumbled 1/4 cup onion, minced 4 eggs 13-14 oz small curd cottage cheese 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, cook with 1 tsp salt, then drained 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper 1 tsp Worcestershire 3 dashes Tabasco sprinkle cheese, bacon & onion in that order in a 10" greased pie plate. Beat remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour over bacon mixture. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 35-40 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before cutting.~~ Cookin' Wise NOTE: may be baked in greased regular muffin tins to make about 14. Bake approximately 25 minutes.~~

PLEASE IGNORE THIS ONE FOR OBVIOUS TYPING ERROR :O)