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I always soak the cornmeal either in milk or whatever your recipe calls for, because it seems to soften it somewhat. I sometimes use a can of creamed corn. It makes it creamier than fresh corn.

Go browns, but then again where's the booze? Bloody mary to start, now just shots of vodka and beer to chase.

The salt draws the flavor out, so definitely a necessity. I use quite a bit of fresh herbs (think Simon and Garfunkel!), and a couple whole cloves, and a couple of garlic cloves. I wrap the herbs in a coffee filter and tie with butcher twine. I use the tops of the celery, and wrap those too. It just makes it easier to strain. Carrots and onion, of course. The cooking time is usually four hours, but then I let it cool to room temp so I'm sure it just keeps on cookin'. I always use the whole bird, especially when the all natural is on sale for 99 cents a pound. Cheaper than buying boxed stock.
My problem is getting good bones for beef stock. I have never had a successful beef stock.

I just made a great iced tea with asam and rosemary and sage. yum. In the summer I also add fresh flowers when steeping, and of course mint. One of my favorites hot or cold is lavender. Tarragon is good. Sweet cicely is nice for a mild anise. I like fruit or ginger with green tea.

The possibilities are endless, you just combine a tea you like with any other flavors you like.

And I haven't canned a cow, but I have canned a deer!

I guess I am lucky in that we raise our own meat. I buy fresh eggs and chickens from the neighbor (because I refuse to deal with them). I only keep things 3-4 days, and then I freeze, but I give most of the frozen crap to elderly family members who no longer cook for themselves. My husband also does not eat left overs!. The dog eats very well once a week before garbage pickup, but, once again, I guess I'm lucky.

Instead of cupcakes, (I'm not a baker), I like to make mini cheesecakes. You can do them in foil cupcake liners, and you can cheat on the crust- a vanilla wafer or ginger snap works great. I personally like the ginger snap. Chill them, and they will hold up pretty well, and instead of a strawberry type topping, just throw some fresh blueberries (tis the season!) on top of each. Very easy to make, transport, and a coolpack on the bottom of the cooler keeps them fresh.

I just freeze blueberries.

My mom canned peaches according to the recipe in BH&G cookbook. I am not a big peach fan; never done it.

I always use Ball Freezer Jam pectin for raspberry jam, as well as strawberry. That pectin recipe uses less sugar, and is easy, and seems to keep the taste of fresh picked. As a note, I freeze in glass jars, the kind you buy artichokes in, because the pints are too precious for canning.

At the local such and such fest, they do apple butter open kettle, but I have had apple stuff go bad that way. I always water bath the apple butter after cooking it down in the crock pot.

As far as the salt, as long as it isn't iodized, use it for canning. That is my understanding anyway.

For crispiness, I use the poisonous alum. I haven't perfected a recipe for jalapenos, so maybe I will post a question about that when my peppers are ready. Grape leaves supposedly do the same thing naturally, but I haven't experimented with that enough yet.

My best resource for canning is the local estension office, and every state has one.

Have fun.

Hello, my name is Cecilia, and I love salad. The lettuce variety, that is. If I stopped eating salad, my system would probable shut down. My co-workers make fun of me, "what did you bring for lunch today, SALAD?" . Salad can mean anything to any culture, but to me it means put anything that's in the fridge on a bed of lettuce with some sort of dressing and eat it up!!!

My solution is cook at home. I am married to someone fron the the south, and bacon grease is a staple in my fridge, so it's a big enough challenge to keep meals low fat at home, let alone when I go out to eat.

I'm half Russian, and I say if it molds, pick it off like cheese and it is still good. My mother (the non-russian half) calls it Russian ice cream because my father and I eat it off the spoon. Yum Yum. It is already "sour" for pete's sake, a little mold can't hurt, but mine rarely ever molds, so correct me if I'm wrong. And if I'm wrong, it hasn't made me sick yet...

My mother in law is from West Virginia, and I guess slaw is a big thing down there. Her absolute favorite dressing for it is Marzetti's slaw dressing. It's a company from Columbus, Ohio, and all of their stuff is good. I have no idea if it is available outside of Ohio, but if it is, their HM dressing is excellent. My only problem with it is it is pricey.

I use one head of cabbage, grated on the grater on the taco cheese size holes(the food processor is way too messy, and the cabbage is too finely grated). Don't bother coring it, b.c. it's easier to hold onto if you grate it around the core. After I put it in a bowl, I salt and sugar the cabbage. That seems to bring the cabbage juice out (I use about 2 T sugar) and then I pour over 3 T cider vinegar. On top of that I grate one large carrot on the next smallest holes of the grater. While that is stewing, so to speak, I mix together 1/3 c mayo and 1/3c salad dressing (the Miracle variety), a swirl or two of prepared mustard, onion powder, white pepper, chopped parsley, and I think that's it. Oh, chives if I have them. Stir and taste. I usually have my mother in law taste, because she is the pro. Obviously Marzetti's is much easier.

MY favorite recipe is more of a Yankee version, with a lot more veggies, and a warm vinaigrette, but the southern thing works better on hot dogs or with fried fish.

Curious, is Marzetti's available outside of Ohio?