Sherry: How do I work in those temps? Motivation--I have an Amish farmer for a partner with an wonderful tractor and winch who can only work in the woods in winter (it is best for the woods anyway), and the right layers of clothing. I have been working outside in the winter for years, experimenting with gloves inside other gloves, special boots and special socks, longjohns and double layers of trousers, and layers and layers under the "Big Smith" or "Carhart" duck cloth coats. I go out, literally, in winter "armor." Everytime I contemplate going out in such weather I feel a little reluctant, but once out and going, it is usually wonderful. But on those 5 degree days (and I am talking about the high temp for those days--I have often gone out in the morning when it was below zero), I had a bit of a struggle keeping my hands warm when using the chain saw (which limits the thickness of gloves I can wear) and handling the choker cables, which often means digging under snow to get them set. --Spruce

Hilde was a busy bee with my canner... Sunday she brought it back with V8 juice, ketchup, chili con carne, pizza sauce, etc! It even came back cleaner than when she took it! I still have a gallon of puree frozen at a friend's house, plus everything in the basement freezer still. Plus plants are still producing. Maybe next up will be the tomato garlic soup. I asked the puree volume question (also see this thread: Is this pizza sauce recipe for canning safe? to 2 different places, one was that edu canning site (Elizabeth Andress/National Center for HFP) and the other was Ball/Jarden. Since the one has a Confidentially Disclaimer, I'll post Ball's reply below; basically, I asked this: > question -> I processed in an electric tomato strainer (Spremy) an unknown amount of homegrown heirloom tomatoes. The Spremy removes the skin & seeds and delivers a puree-like juice.... I have 8 gallons of this, fresh and uncooked in any way, some refrigerated and some frozen. How would I adapt volume (gallons, quarts, etc) to your recipes which are often based on pounds or cups of tomatoes? I would like to make pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, V8 type juice, etc, but don't know how much of this puree/juice to use when your recipes call for pounds or bushels or cups of tomatoes. Ball's reply, to me, sounds like you prep/measure the puree based on the final yield. Here's their reply: Thank you for your message. For pizza and spaghetti sauce: puree tomatoes, cook pulp (puree) until it is reduced by one-half. Measure 7 quarts (or volume equal to recipe yield) and add other ingredients as instructed in recipe, process according to recipe. For juice: puree tomatoes, measure 7 quarts (or volume equal to recipe yield) and add other ingredients as instructed in recipe, process according to recipe. We hope this is helpful and appreciate you contacting us. Sincerely, Consumer Affairs Jarden Home Brands

Well, if you're talking about that Calorie Counter assessment, I really like it, but it is only a general guide, and probably based on a "one size fits all" function. However, I am coming in consistently very low on fiber which is odd since I always thought I ate a lot of fiber. I'm trying to fix that. Basically I think I'm coming in low in fiber because I'm just not eating that many calories. I'm also low in calcium but I knew that and have been taking calcium/magnesium supplements with a vit. C chaser for years. They make a huge difference in how well I sleep and help me avoid "restless leg syndrome." Other than that, I take a multi-vitamin and acidophilous every day. That's plenty IMHO. Most vitamins are not stored by the body, so you're just peeing away money by taking a lot of supplements. BF swears high dose B vitamins give him energy, but they just give me weird dreams. I'd rather take my fish oil in the form of fish. I guess I should do flax, but I don't at this point. The best thing is to freshly grind the seeds but I'm not organized enough to do that. I also come in low in iron, but the body stores iron so you don't have to have adequate intake every day. Too much iron is toxic, so I just have some iron pills which I take every once and a while, with a C chaster for absorption. Calcium blocks iron, and iron is absorbed best on an empty stomach, and my thyroid medicine blocks calcium too. So timing and absporption are important with taking vitamins. I take my calcium at night, my multi and acidophilous with lunch, and my eye vitamins and iron if I'm taking it, before breakfast. Oh yeah, I have macular degeneration so I take Lutein with some other antioxidants. Probably futile. My mom has it so it is probably genetic. I don't have the worst kind though.

Since I don't like "sweet" with my meat or fish, I only use maple syrup in traditionally sweet foods. Mostly desserts or . Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Maple Cream Fudge ================= 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup cream 1/3 cup of butter 1/4 cup of maple syrup pinch of salt vanilla . Add the two sugars, butter and cream maple syrup and salt into a sauce pan. Place over medium heat. Stir while bringing to a boil. Lower the heat and continue to stir slowly while the mixture cooks. After about 7 minutes, test by pouring a small amount into some cold water. You want it to form a soft ball. You might need to cook it for another minute or two. Remove from the heat, add a couple of teaspoons of vanilla and start stirring. It takes about 14 or 15 minutes for the fudge to cool and thicken. Pour into buttered dish. Option: Replace the cream and cup of white sugar with one can of Sweetened Condensed Milk and increase the maple syrup to 1 cup. 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 1/2 cup white 1/2 cup white corn syrup 1 cup butter 1 cup cream pinch of salt vanilla Cook to almost hard ball stage. Let cool slightly, stir and then pour into butter pan or mini muffin tins. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Maple Mousse With Walnut Praline ================================ Source: Marg (Friend) 1 Tablespoon Gelatin 1 1/4 cup cold water 2 eggs beaten 1 cup maple syrup 1 Cup whipping cream - whipped . Soak gelatin in cold water. Beat eggs and combined with maple syrup in top of a double boiler. cook stirring constantly over boiling water until it coats a spoon. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Strain if necessary. Refrigerate until thick. Whip cream until stiff. Whip gelatin mixture. Fold in whip cream until well combined. Pour into 3 1/2 cup mold and refrigerate until set. Praline 1 cup walnuts 1 cup white sugar 1/4 cup cold water toast walnuts at 350 for 10 minutes. Do not burn Add water to sugar in heavy sauce pan and stir until sugar has dissolved. Cook until sugar turns a golden brown. Add nuts and immediately pour on to a buttered cookie sheet. Let set for one hour. Chop coarsely. Sprinkle chopped praline over each serving. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Butter Tarts ============ 1/4 cup butter at room temperature 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 1 cup maple syrup 1 cup walnut halves Optional - 1/2 cup currants or raisins water Blend together the butter and brown sugar. Beat the eggs lightly and stir into the butter and brown sugar and add the corn syrup. (You can substitute Corn syrup for all or part of the Maple syrup.), add vanilla and raisins if using. Fill tart shells about two thirds full. Bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until pastry is golden. The filling in these tarts is runny. Do not over bake or the filling will firm up. Let tarts set in the tins for about 3 minutes. Remove carefully and cool on racks. Makes about twenty 3 inch tarts. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ==================== Source: Foodtv.ca Anna Olson Dough * 2 cups all purpose flour * 2 tbsp oats * 1/2 tsp baking powder * 1/2 tsp salt * 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled * 2 tbsp sour cream * 2 tbsp maple syrup Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter the texture of coarse meal. Stir sour cream and maple syrup and add to dough, Mixing until it just comes together. Chill dough for 15 minutes.