Violet

Neither one...... You never can your own spaghetti sauce. Only safe, tested recipes should be used. There are some on the University of Georgia website and in Ball Blue books.

NO WAY !!! You can get botulism. Only take a couple days for botulism to grow in an amount to kill you. Some birthday gift ! Send them a dry mix for a cake in a mug instead. It is cute and tastes good. No botulism involved.

Nope, no pork needed !

Otherwise the cream style is too dense to be safely canned without the water. The heat will not penetrate the center of the jars to kill all the botulism spores. Please, add the water as said to do. Also, corn takes that long to process for the same reasons, the density and the ph level. There are no safe shortcuts ! You must add water to insure you do not get botulism. Takes 85 min. to process pints in the pressure canner. No safe way to can quarts.

The ones with molasses sauce are better than the tomato sauce ones, in my opinion. The tomato ones are too tomato in flavor. Please, do not use her recipe. No way to know the ph level, etc. Plus, dried beans MUST be rehydrated and cooked before canning. They cannot be safely canned dry or just soaked. Too much of the processing time would be spent on cooking and heating the beans that they would be underprocessed. Why not can the chili recipe, since that seems to be more of what you are describing. You must use the proper amounts of added low acid things like the onions, garlic, etc. No, I don't know of any safe videos to suggest other than jams or something. Unless you want to order the DVD series from University of Georgia.

Oh, their tip was just about leveling the sugar off when you measure it. Yes, use bottled lemon juice. It is actually safer to use anyway, since it is normally stronger in acid than the fresh lemons.

I have friends that got LG and they say NEVER AGAIN ! I know of 2 families that say they just break down and the repairs are so costly. I have Whirlpool. No problems, but I am not sure I like the front loader. They stink, too. Cannot seem to keep the smell out of it. Tried everything we can think of. My daughter has a Kenmore top loader and it is amazing. Holds tons of clothes, it works so well.

Daylily, yes, go for it ! That class really could make a difference in people's lives. One word of advice, be sure to give current guidelines on making jerky. We don't want people to get ecoli or anything from jerky. Yogurt drops are a fun thing to add to the class. Most kids really like them. Just 8 oz. vanilla yogurt and 3 oz. sugar free gelatin. Drop onto the sheets, spread a bit with a spoon, and let dry.

This is frightening to me, thinking of the diabetics. Not having enough carbs to eat can be life threatening. So sad to think of them trying to live like that.

This is why I am so passionate about teaching food preservation. It may help save some people. If they are able to grow something, at least they may be able to know how to save what little precious food they have. May not seem like a huge "gift" to give someone, but if it saves one life or one family from starvation, then I feel it will have been worth it. I could be home enjoying more of my life here, but I feel strongly that people need to be taught these skills while there is time. I would rather stay home and sew and quilt, but for now I am pouring my heart into teaching while I am able. The other day I got a call from a lady up north, where I teach a series of classes each year. Tuesday I start the series again for 6 weeks. Well, she said she had taken some classes 2 years ago up there. I asked her where they were held, etc. She told me, and I replied that it was I that had taught her. Made me feel good to know I had made a difference in at least one persons life ! She is really thinking through some of her canning practices and it hit home that she is feeding those foods to her grandkids. From now on she will not take shortcuts, but preserve her foods by the book. So, if you can do just a little to help people learn something to help sustain themselves not only now, but for the future, then please do it ! Share what you know NOW. I don't understand why so many people are burying their heads in the sand and just assuming life will always be like they have it now. I am sorry, but I don't feel that way ! I think this famine will hit us, too. Then, I have gotten extra vitamins stocked, as at least this should help with some nutrients, even if food is scarce. I am trying to think things through without panic, but just being wise. I am going to try to lose some weight. Hopefully to get off the insulin, at least. Just one more thing to not have to worry about finding to sustain myself. No idea how to get metformin, but at least every little step should help me. I like the thread about "what have you done today to prepare ". May not have the title right here, but you know what I mean. Everyone hang in there. Pray for those in the other places, like Greece.

Perhaps now that you have all the bills figured out, it may be time to give it to a 3rd party. I know they do that with people on welfare at times. Those people do this as a profession, so they are used to dealing with people and the manner in which they react. I say let go and let a 3rd party do this. I cannot imagine the mental and emotional strain this puts upon you and your dh. How can your dad even drive if he is in this sort of mental state? Is this one of the issues the court will be deciding ? They seem so young to act so foolishly. This situation is mind boggling, to say the least !

Follow this link : http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/pineapple.html

I am canning pineapples. They were $2 each, so I got 10 of them. Waiting for the canner to boil. Once you eat this, you really notice store canned in the cans taste metallic. We don't really have much here yet. Just asparagus and the strawberries will be next. Is there a safe, tested recipe for chocolate banana ? I am not familiar with that one.

Yes, it is fine, but I would add more strawberries to equal the amount called for in the recipe.

Boric acid mixed up for the eyes as an eye wash.

Yes, and also during processing to make small adjustments at a time. Plus, you also need the additional 10 min. wait at the end. You let the pressure to drop naturally, then only remove the weight or counterweight. Do not open the canner yet. Set time for another 10 min. Then, you slowly remove lid and the jars. That also helps with liquid loss or siphoning from the jars.

It is safe to use.

The potatoes probably do have starch in the bottom. I rinse my potatoes before I use them. I only like white, red, or Yukon gold potatoes canned. I also use Pickle crisp in the jars. Plain russet type potatoes are not good tasting or texture wise to me. The beans are fine. Use those jars up first. Then, next time I suggest filling the jars only 1/2 full of the hot cooked, beans, then the rest of the jar with fresh hot water. That way they will be covered with water and it will not be so starchy as if you try to can the cooking liquid with them. I am also going to start using Pickle Crisp in the beans, too. The top part of the jars of beans may discolor, but you can still use them up.

I don't use any fabric softeners, so that is not the problem with my front loader.

My front loader Whirlpool stinks !! I have used OxiClean, since that is the same ingredient in the special washing machine cleaner you can buy. It still reeks ! I will try the dishwasher soap and see how it works. Never thought to try that. I have used bleach, but it still smells from plain bleach. What else do any of you use ?

Glad it helped and that you like the syrup !

Yes, peach jam,, peach syrup, or peach butter. I like the pectin added to the syrup. I use this all the time with great results. Syrups made from blackberries, huckleberries, raspberries, boysenberries,loganberries, sour cherries, and Island Belle grapes as well as mixtures ofberries are of good flavor, color, and consistency (thin like maple syrup,medium thick like corn syrup, or slightly jelled). Syrups can be made with orwithout pectin and lemon juice. Lemon juice may improve color. Use of pectinwill vary consistency. To Prepare Fruit Puree: Sort, stem, and wash ripe fruit or thaw frozen unsweetened fruit; crush fruitthoroughly; measure crushed fruit. Add 1 cup boiling water to each 4 cupscrushed fruit and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer to soften--about 5for soft fruits...about 10 minutes for firm fruits like cherries and grapes.Press through sieve. SYRUPS MADE WITH PUREE 4 cups puree 4 cups sugar 1/2 package or less powdered pectin (if desired) 3 or 4 Tbsp lemon juice (if desired) 1. Mix puree, sugar, pectin and lemon juice. 2. Bring to boil and stir for 2 minutes (boil till jelly thermometer reaches218F). 3. Remove from heat, skim off foam, and pour into 1/2 pint or 1 pint jars towithin 1/2 inch of top. 4. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. 5. Remove from canner and cool. 6. Check lids, label, and store in cool, dry place. To Prepare Fruit Juice: Sort, stem and wash ripe fruit or thaw frozen, unsweetened fruit; crush fruitthoroughly. Place crushed fruit in dampened jelly bag and drain. For clearestjuice, do not press bag to extract juice. For firm fruits, heat is needed tostart flow of juice. Add about 1/2 cup water to each 3 cups crushed fruit.Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Place hot fruit in dampenedjelly bag; drain. SYRUPS MADE WITH JUICE 4 cups juice 4 cups sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice (if desired) 1/2 package or less powdered pectin (if desired) 1. Mix juice, sugar, lemon juice and pectin. 2. Bring to boil and boil 2 minutes. 3. Remove from heat, skim off foam, and pour into 1/2 pint or 1 pint canningjars to within 1/2 inch of top. 4. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. 5. Remove from canner and let cool.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;">

You bet it will be worth it ! The more skils you have the better. Have fun !! Post pics of what you make, too.

Quilt !!! I machine quilt, not hand quilt. That takes way too much time. Go for it !

Please, no turkey fryers. Presto has a big warning against using them for canning. I am too tired to think of the limit of BTU's you can safely use... They are too hot, can warp the canner, can even fuse the metal to the burners, heat up to fast and thus we consider the food underprocessed.The heating up time and cool down part are factored into the safe processing time. If you do either too quickly we consider them underprocessed. Here is a document I wrote for our office : CANNING ON PROPANE STOVES While using a propane stoveor burner with a boiling water bath canner may not be as a challenge as using apressure canner on one, there are still things to consider. First, is the size of the propane burner. Is it large enough in diameter tosupport a canner ? Is it sturdy enough ? It needs to be powerful enough to bring a large pot ofwater, filled with jars, to a boil and maintain a boil for the entireprocessing time. You will need to consider thewind and if you have a way to protect the flame from going out. Also, the wind or cooler airtemperature may cause the jars to breakas a result of a rapid temperature change. It is necessary to have a wayto adjust the flame in a safe manner. The recommendation is to have a hose with a regulator away from theflame. If you desire to pressurecan, the recommendation is to not use anything with a BTU higher than 15,000BTU’s. Otherwise the canner can warpfrom the intense heat. Also, it will heat up the canner too fast , causing theprocessing time to be inaccurate. The time it takes for a pressure canner toheat up and cool down is all part of the safe processing time and is factoredinto the processing times. There is an insert in thePresto pressure canners showing a propane turkey fryer with a big red X throughit, saying do not use a turkey fryer to pressure can on using one of theircanners. At this time, ourrecommendation is to do so at your own risk on any outdoor type of cooker or burner.