Hey treebird101 i can give you all the info on the "LOCK" shellbark if it is one that you got from Fredblankenship or Tyler Halvin i am a friend of the man that has the tree in his yard. Tree is in zone 6A in Southeast, KS rcurtis24 This nut was weighed yesterday from my samples I havn't talked to Dick this year to see if it had nuts will call him today if you want samples of the nut email me at rcurtis@wavewls.com with your address.

As to canning peppers with no water bath, I have successfully done that for a few years now. I like the small, tender pepperoncini peppers and use a full strength vinegar and salt as a pickling brine. First, I wash and cut off all the stem and part of the crown. Each pepper then gets pierced with a skewer to allow air out and brine in, and is placed in the largest Food Saver canister with the vinear and salt brine. Instead of the Foodsaver vacuum, I use a more powerful pump, and pull a vacuum on them to force the brine inside the peppers. The vacuuum is left on for several minutes, as I also have a gauge to monitor its vacuum. Once I see no bubbling anymore, I remove the peppers into quart canning jars and make a fresh batch of vinegar salt brine. Each jar gets about half filled with the brine, then I pull a vacuum on them again, which makes a lot more bubbles and gets them to swell up a bit. I partially refill each jar several times, until I see very little of the bubbles. Then, I fill the jars with the brine to the headspace level, and also add a few more peppers due to them settling a little, then I add the lid. This is the final step for the vacuum and it will actually pull some of the vinegar brine out of the jars, and through the vacuum line. I have a large moisture trap that catches the liquid before the pump can see any of it. I pull the line off the top of the FS adaptor, which forces the canning lid into/onto the jar to make the strong vacuum seal. Then I remove the adaptor and rinse each jar under hot water to rinse off any liquid on the outside. Each jar gets a band screwed on, and the canning is done. This is the ONLY item I can using the vacuum method, as I do feel confident that the full strength vinegar and salt, will prevent any possibility of contamination, botulism, or listeria problems. The peppers do stay quite firm for about a year, and then start to soften a little. The last batch were milder peppers for some reason, either that, or I am getting used to the mild heat they exhibit after being pickled. Right off the plants, they are very mild and you would never think they had any heat. It only shows up after they get pickled. Next time, I plan to do a big batc of sweet cherry peppers, which are also one of my favorites. As mentioned, they are the highest acidic food that I use the vacuum pump to can.

I didn't get the chance to take any pre-party photos since I had several family members helping me set up and felt rather silly taking photos of the setup. However, the flowers are holding up great in the mason jars 5-days later--SIL thinks it may be due to the citrus in the water. I sent DS to choose flowers and he did a great job, keeping it simple. Here is one of the mason jars (5-days post party): DH has my camera with memory stick at the moment so when he gets back home I will look and see if there are any more pics there I can share.

For several years my mother bought a brand of instant coffee that came in tall, square glass jars. She saved them and shared with me, and I also kept the ones she had. I keep all my pasta, dried beans and peas, rice, sugar, flour, nuts, popcorn and so forth in those jars ( and smaller quantities of such things are in pint glass canning jars). Because they are square they fit efficiently into storage space. I've changed many of the lids from the original plastic to tighter sealing ones. I don't go through flour quickly at all so those jars stay in the freezer. The dried legumes and any excess pasta, sugar, nuts stay in the cool, dry basement, where a dehumidifier runs much of the year, until I've used up the current jar in the kitchen. I haven't had a mouse in the house for a few years, but have in the past, so instead of keeping boxed mixes in the kitchen I have a clean plastic lidded cat litter bin that I store them in, also in the basement even though with my kitchen remodel I now have room to keep them upstairs.