Oops made a mistake should not use peat moss in the mix as acidic and floats.

I've been experimenting with lasagna gardens this year and have some success...and some almost failures. The tomatoes are huge..but mostly greenery and the fruit is wrinkled so I guess I should have watered more even though the lasagna stayed moist. Picked the first ripe ones yesterday. The acorn squash have taken over the bed and are climbing the fence now and are setting squash. I planted a row of corn in a brand new lasagna bed and it is doing well. It was nothing but grass clippings and shredded paper with a small amount of compost. I thought it would get a foot high and then keel over. Not so, it just keeps growing and even though I planted late, is starting to tassle. Another last minute bed is woodchips and grass clippings (obviously the grass is growing this cool summer) with only enough compost to plant seeds in. Last week, I seeded this one with parsnip seeds and last night it looked like every one had germinated! This in my experience is very unusual. They usually take ages to germinate and then are spotty. There are so many coming up I thought they were weeds! Meanwhile the beans are producing well and one of the best veggies this year has been the peas. With all of the cool weather they are still producing. It's been quite fun trying this type of gardening.

I vote for PP Cooking Across America also! Here are some of my family's fav.s. **Monkey Bread 3 cans buttermilk biscuits 1 c. ice cream, vanilla 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 stick butter 1 c. brown sugar Tear biscuits into bite size pieces. Place in a bundt-type pan. Melt together the remaining ingredients and pour over the biscuits in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or when golden brown on top. Tip out onto a serving plate. **Best Barbecues 3 lbs hamburger, browned, drained salt & pepper to taste 1 tsp onion powder 1/2 c. catsup 1 can tomato soup 1 can chicken gumbo soup 1 tsp chili powder 2 tbsp vinegar 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp mustard Simmer all ingredients for 2 hours. Works best in crock pot. **Easy and sooo good Hot Dip 1 can chili without beans 1 pkg. cream cheese 1 lb Velveeta Heat all ingredients and mix well. Serve with tortilla chips. Works great if you cube the velveeta and put all in a crock pot. **Easy Lasagna 16 oz. can tomatos 12 oz. can V8 Juice 6 oz. can tomato juice 1 tsp. Basil 1 pkg. dry spaghetti mix 1 1/2 lb. Hamburger 1 small container Cottage Cheese 1 pkg. mozzerella cheese 8 oz. uncooked lasagne noodles Parmesan cheese Mix tomatoes, v8 juice, tomato juice, basil and dry spaghetti mix. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Mix cooked and drained hamburger and sauce. In a 9 x 13 inch pan, layer, starting with hamburger mix, then noodles, cottage cheese, nooodles and end with meat mixture. Top with Mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Let stand 20 minutes before serving. Can be frozen after baked. **Cocktail Meatballs 1 lb. raw hamburger 1/3 c. minced onion 1 egg beaten 1 tsp. salt 1/2 c. dried bread crumbs 1/4 c. milk 1 T. parsley flakes 1/8 tsp. pepper 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce SAUCE 1 10 oz. jar grape jelly 1 8 oz. jar chile sauce Make bite size meatballs. Brown. Place in sauce. Heat together until jelly melts. Simmer for 30 minutes or use crock pot. **Scalloped Potatoes and Ham 6 med. potatoes 3 tbsp butter 1 sm onion, finely chopped 3 tbsp all-purpose flour 1 1/2 c. cubed cooked ham 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 2 1/2 c milk 1 tbsp butter Heat oven to 350. Grease 2qt casserole. Thinly slice potatoes to measure 4 cups. Heat 3 tbsp butter in 2 qt. saucepan over med. heat. Cook onion in butter about 2 min.s, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly, remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Spread potatoes and ham in casserole, cover with with sauce. Dot with 1 tbsp butter. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 60-70 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 5-10 min. **Potato Salad 6 med. potatoes 1 1/2 c. mayo 1 tbsp. vinegar 1 tbsp. mustard 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 2 med stalks celery, chopped 1 med onion, chopped 4 hard cooked eggs, chopped Boil potatoes until soft (30-35 min.) Cool slightly and cut into cubes. Mix mayo, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in large glass or plastic bowl. Add potatoes, celery and onion, toss. Stir in eggs. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. **Taco Salad 1 head lettuce, shredded 1 lb. hamburger, cook & drain 8 oz. Shredded cheddar cheese 1 can Kidney Beans 4 tomatoes, diced 1/3 c. sugar Taco Flavored Chips (Doritos) Taco Seasoning (1 pkg.) 8 oz. bottle Thousand Island Dressing 1 tbsp Taco Sauce Brown hamburger, add taco seasoning (saving 1 tbsp.) Layer lettuce, Kidney Beans, Hamburger, Cheese, Tomatoes, and end with chips on top. Mix Thousand Island Dressing, 1/3. cup sugar, 1 tbsp taco seasoning, and one tbsp taco sauce. Add this mixture RIGHT before serving and toss to coat. **Easy Chocolate Dessert 1 c. flour 1/2. c chopped pecans 1/2 c. melted butter 1 8 oz. softened cream cheese 1 c. powdered sugar 1 9 oz. carton Cool Whip 2 pkg. intant choc. pudding 3 c. milk 1/2 tsp. vanilla Crust: Blend flour, nuts, melted butter. Pat in 9 x 13" pan. Bake 15 min. at 350 degrees First Layer: Beat the cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar in one cup of the Cool Whip. Spread on cooled crust. Second Layer: Combine pudding , milk, and vanilla. Beat well and spread over first layer. Third Layer: Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the 2nd layer. I like to sprinkle crushed Heath or Skor bars on top. **Never Fail Pie Crust 3 c. flour 1 1/4 c. shortening(crisco) 1 egg white, unbeaten 5 tbsp. cold water 1 tsp vinegar 1 tsp salt Sift flour and salt. Use fork or pastry fork to mix or cut in shortening. Mix egg white, water and vinegar in a cup, with a fork. Add to flour mixture. **All American Apple Pie 1 c. sugar 2 tbsp. flour 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp lemon juice 5 c apple slices or cubes 2 tbsp butter Combine sugar, flour, spices, salt and lemon juice. Add apples, toss to mix. Put into pie crust and cover. Bake in oven (350) until done. **Death by Chocolate 1 dark chocolate cake mix 16 oz. Cool Whip 4 c. chocolate pudding 6 Heath or Skor bars, crumbled Bake chocolate cake mix as directed and cool completely. Crumble 1/4 of cake in a large bowl. Dollop 1/4 of Cool Whip on top. Dollop 1 c. of the chocolate pudding next, and 1/4 of the crumbled candy bars last. Repeat layers. Keep refrigerated. All I can say is, mmmmmmm!!! Ok, I better stop for now. I'm so excited about this cookbook. Thanks so much Tracy and Sassy for such a great idea, and for the work you are putting into this! Have a great day! Karen

I make sweet and sour chicken in the crockpot all the time. I don't think it will necessarily be a flop. Here are some tips for success - use all thighs or a mix of breasts and thighs--not the super-size breasts. Brown the meat first before putting in the crockpot. Don't cook for 8-10 hours, cook on low for 4-5 hours. I always start the dish on high til it gets up to temp and then turn down to low. Do not put the green peppers in the crockpot, green peppers turn bitter when slow cooked. Saute the green peppers in some canola or soy oil and add them before serving the chicken. Don't add the cornstarch at the start. When the chicken is done, take it out and add the cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I usually pour all the sauce ingredients of the crockpot into my braising pan to thicken with cornstarch. Then I add the chicken back in and serve the whole dish from the braising pan--I like it for presentation. I serve over brown rice--yum! These tips work with all my crockpot chicken recipes--moroccan chicken and chicken cacciatore too. I get raves when I serve these dishes to guests, which is something I wasn't expecting for me preparing meat dishes since I am usually vegetarian when cooking for myself. The tips came from the Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen Cover and Bake Cookbook. Good luck, and report back how it worked.