Didn't mean to start anything - all I want to say is that if you are canning and you have any questions consult and up-to-date Ball Blue Book.

Times have changed - recipes can be tweaked or just handed down and done the way they have always been done. Just the processing part needs attention.

I have a neighbor that has been canning the same way for years - non-sterilized jars, re-using the same caps - using the oven method she learned back in Poland. She keeps her jars in the basement year after year until they are eaten. NO WAY would I want to even sample any of her canning!

Some people you cannot change - and I firmly believe in checking the Ball Blue Book. It is not worth taking the teeniest chance. I don't care how Aunt Mable did it for years - or that your mom did this or your gram did that. That is not the way it is supposed to be done all the time.

Better safe than sorry.

You know my mother in law was telling me that when her cousin cans veggies they just throw the stuff into clean washed jars and dont do anything with a canner. Im shocked they havent gotten sick yet. I dont think I would want an invitation to those peoples house for dinner.

We humans dig cherries a lot. But did you know that Alaskan Grizzly Bears also love'em?

At Illinois Creek Gold Mine Camp a year ago, a hungry sow busted into the galley during the night and amid all the yummies available to her, she licked-up three things: dirty deep fryer grease, a bulk case of Lays Potato Chips, and a hotel pan of cherry crisp!

lol maybe those are the three basic food groups for bears.

I used some of the cherries I had frozen a few weeks ago to make Jons Dad a batch of that cherry sauce he likes so well. I just put it into clean jars and didnt bother with the canner. He keeps it in the fridge and it wont last long enough to worry about it.

Of course bears love fruit desserts!

We went through a couple summers of black bears being in the area - which never happens here.

So to catch them - it was apple pies, cherry pies, etc. all put out by people to lure them so they could catch them. Hell - what do you do with a black bear when you get him??

I'll make my fruit desserts for family and friends - let someone else bake for the bears!