Right now in my garden (starting 2 days ago)I have seed 2 Red Admirals, 1 Painted Lady, 1 Monarch, at least 50 Grass Skippers, 15-20 Long-Tailed Skippers, 1 Pipevine Swallowtail, 4 Southern Dogfaces, 2 Great Southern Whites, 1 White Peacock, 3 Large Orange Sulphurs, and I think 1 Yellow Angled Sulphur! With a lot of Milkweeds can you imagine all the butterflies I would see!? I have an acre backyard. I am also looking for Passifloras and Pipevines too.

Here is what I have come up with add or delete as you like (works great on beef & pork): 1 Cup Sugar 1 Cup Kosher Salt ¾ Cup Dark Brown Sugar ½ Cup Turbinado Sugar (sugar in the raw) 4 Tablespoons Hickory Smoke Salt 4 Tablespoons Chili Powder 4 Tablespoons Ancho Chili Powder 4 Tablespoons MSG 2 Tablespoons Sweet Smoked Paprika 2 Tablespoons Cumin 2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder 2 Tablespoons Onion Powder 1 Tablespoon Cayenne Pepper 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper freshly ground (important) 1 Tablespoon Jalapeno Powder 1 Tablespoon Dry Mustard 1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning Mix well in food processor / Store in airtight container.

To my knowlege there are no comercial "home" smokers that can do cold smoking reliably. I also beleive that it would require alot of effort and ingenuity to create your own system at home that would be capable of cold smoking in a reliable fashion. Cold smoking also reuires more care so that you don't grow alot of evil bacteria on your food as your smoking it. Methods I've seen for home made cold smoking involve building a fire in a pit bellow ground, and running the smoke thrugh ductwork that is also bellow ground... eventualy the smoke cools down, and then can be piped into a container where the food to be smoked is at. In the end your probably better off buying smoked food that is comercialy cold smoked...

I make a tomato soup, based on my own home made chicken broth....and posted here....that what you are thinking of? I sautee celery and onion and green peppers in olive oil. Let's say 1/3 cup each onions and celery and 1/4 of pepper. When its' soft, add a couple of cloves chopped garlic. Then add about 5 or so big fresh tomatoes, peeled but I don't seed them, cut into rough chunks and add to the pot. If you use canned tomatoes, buy them whole and with out "packed in puree"...just tomatoes, break them up with your hands, use 2 cans, juice and all. Add 2 cups of your chicken broth and a rounded teaspoon of smoked paprika or smokey ground chiles and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes... Taste....depending on your tomatoes and how sweet the paprika is, you may need to add a teaspoon of sugar or a T of red wine vinegar....salt...fresh ground black pepper.. Serve with a chiffonade of fresh basil. Linda C