Violet

Only if it is bottle lime juice, not fresh or frozen. Not sure what lime will taste like. Good in salsa, though. I like citric acid crystals in my tomatoes.

This is awful ! No incentive to keep working at a high stress job for minimum wage. They may as well work at Walmart or McDonalds or something for the same pay. This is just wrong !! You cannot live on minimum wage. I know money is tight everyplace. I don't think there is going to be enough unemployment money to go around. Better keep stocking things here.

Oh, goodness ! I got a happy feeling reading your post ! Violet is VERY proud of you ! Sounds as though you are really doing well with this.

You need to come over to the preserving forum.

NO ! Only banana jam, since it also has lots of sugar to help preserve it, along with lemon juice. Please, do not trust websites like that where there is no one who has food preservation training. They just make up things and figure they are safe.

Ohhh, there are some really fun ideas ! Thank you. I really like using the lids off the parmesan cheese containers. That is so clever. I also like how you put yarn or string in a jar.

The only safe way to can zucchin squash is with tomatoes in specific ratios or for pickles or relishes. Otherwise it should not be canned.

Banana jam, banana muffins, banana bread, smoothies, banana ice cream. Dried bananas. Dip in chocolate and freeze them.

So many people just don't get it !! They think food will always be plentiful. I keep telling my family, but they think I am nuts. They live this fancy lifestyle. Hmm, I would rather be able to eat. Sorry to hear you may lose your crop. Pray for rain !!! I hope things work out well for you. Think about all the millions of things they put corn syrup in. Plus, corn starch. Even modified food starch aka Clear Jel is corn based. Then , we have corn and soybean oil. I need to go buy more oil to store.

http://www.getitfree.us/Get-Cooking-In-Style-Free-Apron-From-Presto-S-Pizza--1950?utm_campaign=prestos-pizza&utm_medium=email&utm_source=-bronto&utm_content=free-apron You are supposed to be able to get a free apron !

NO BARLEY ! No rice, or pasta, either. Just meat and veggies. Follow the directions for soups on the Univ. Georgia website. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/soups.html

Actually, they can take a month or more to gel. Don't give up yet !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!! Hugs from Violet !!

GE are lousy !!! So are LG. You need a special canning element on any electric coil stove. Otherwise you will fry the wires and also the element can sag. I learned the hard way... on 2 stoves. I agree, get a self cleaning stove. Just no glass top or you may not be able to can on it at all. Nothing like a gas cooktop with the electric convection, self cleaning oven !! I got tired of junk, too, so I paid $4,500 for my last stove. Yes, I did !! It is not $450, but thousands. Worth it, too.

I hope you threw it away ! No more than 2 hours sitting out. The exterior will thaw, then bacteria grows very rapidly.

You can go to the hardware store and buy that vinyl window screen and cut it to fit. It works fine. The USDA says it is not hazardous.

You can use the citric acid just fine. I prefer it.

It will get soft, but my dd puts it in the oven and adds other things in the winter. They think it is good. If you want it not mushy, you can dehydrate it, then add to stews and things after reconstituting it a bit, or if it will cook long enough, just toss it in. Even slices seasoned with some seasoned salt are good for just snacking after dried.

If you will use the regular amount of bottled lemon juice, and then use dried jalapeno, it will be fine. If you add any low acid things in the raw state, then that makes the whole product low acid.

Ahhh, I feel the love ! Thanks, and I love you guys, too !! Most salsa recipes are done in the BWB canner still. With tons of added acid. I do have a pressure canning recipe I use. You can pressure can any BWB recipe for salsa, though, if you use the right processing time. Just use the same as the BWB time and it will be safe. I know, not that efficient, but if you are really concerened, you can do this.

I have not used the Pickle Crisp on tomatoes, just potatoes and pickles. Nice to see the end product ! Now, if I had tomatoes, I would want to make tomato strawberry jam ! It has cinnamon and spices. Just so delicious !

The commercial industry has not only multimillion dollar equipment compared to your little $100 or so pressure canner, they use chemical additives in their foods. Not something we can duplicate at home. Just bake the bread the usual way and freeze it. There is a great recipe for hobo bread that is similar to the canned boston brown bread. Idk about reports of botulism from sending the bread overseas, but they have arrived all moldy. However, the potential for botulism is there, still.

Twilight, this is why all tomatoes are acidified before canning with either bottled lemon juice or citric acid crystals. There are a few recipes that are pressure canned without adding acid, but they have also been highly tested in labs. They test when the product is canned, then months later on, too. They are run through all sorts of scientific tests in the labs before the recipes and methods are printed for the public. This won't happen if you make up your own recipe and can it. There are plenty of great recipes out there for use to use when home preserving our foods. There are still some recipes and guidelines for tomatoes in a boiling water bath canner, but plain tomatoes take 85 min. along with the added acid. Most feel now that pressure canning is the preferred method. Also in pressure canning the added acid is necessary.

Sorry, Twilight, but that is not safe to do !! You have no idea of the ph of your own sauce, nor the density. Both of these are major factors in home preserving. Even I don't make up my own recipes and can them and I have been instructing safe food preservation for years. I leave that to the scientists. I know what you do in your own kitchen may be one thing, but we need to instruct others to not take chances. Darlene only wants us to post what is USDA guidelines. You can check with her on this.

Either can it all or cook and then refreeze. Unless it is ground meats. Often they should be tossed. Way too many surface areas so bacteria grows in it rapidly. Only use the foods that has plenty of ice crystals in them. The foods would have had to have been under 40 degrees to be safe. Toss casseroles, too.