Wow, the thought of fermenting fruit juice in an entirely closed keg scares the heck out of me. I sure hope it has a good pressure-release safety valve! From making beer and cider, I ferment a batch in a 5 gallon glass carboy, with a bubbling airlock to keep it sterile. But I ferment it until all fermentation has ended, then stir in 1.5 cups of corn sugar (or 1.3 cups white sugar) and bottle it, which yields about 22-one litre bottles or 66 beer bottles. That added sugar then ferments in the bottles and carbonates the brew. The amount of sugar I add is actually about double what most recipes call for because I like a lot of carbonation. You are obviously using far more sugar than me if you are fermenting the fresh juice in a pressure vessel. Why you lose that carbonation is a bit of mystery to me because home-brewed beer and cider keep their carbonation as well as commercial brews. Sometimes brewers add "heading agents" to their beer if they have trouble maintaining carbonation. The problem is due to a lack of proteins in the brew, as proteins seem to be needed to hold onto the gas bubbles. Maybe that is your problem... lack of proteins in the fruit juice? Anyway, thought I'd mention it in case you wanted to look it up a little more or talk to someone at one of the local homebrew stores. One other thought... are you using a commercial wine yeast to ferment the juice? Or relying on natural yeasts that get onto the fruit? I'm not sure that would have any effect on the final carbonation, but a commercial yeast would give a more consistent product.

Thanks! A couple people over in "Name that Plant" figured it out too. Now if I could just find a way to get some seeds from that local cultivar... (smiles) PS- Whilst living in Bucks I missed American waffles and crisp bacon; now I find I'm missing clotted cream and good English roast lamb and my partner misses biltong & naartjies... lol... such international greediness! Here is a link that might be useful: osprey: rare but definitely here

Linda, Yes, chips, guacamole, salsa, snacks like that will just show up. If I panic and buy them anyway (as I sometimes do thinking I'll run out of food!) I always have lots left over. I was thinking about something like your "salata" That will work as I have lots of sweet onions ready to harvest and cucumbers as well. Lou, I could add other seafood to the shrimp boil. It's a bit more Louisiana-style, less New England, but adding clams and mussels could easily work. I'm trying to stay away from grilling anything that day, so I could instead do a meat/cheese tray for those that just want a sandwich. I like your idea of the spiked watermelon.... just have to figure out how to keep the kids from going for that one!

When we can buy legal pot here next year, I'm sure we still won't be allowed to buy it from some guy who sells it from the trunk of his car, just as we can't buy our smokes or booze that way either. lol It will be sold in a store by someone who has a legal licence to sell it. :) I'm glad Canada is legalizing it FINALLY! I, personally, do not smoke it nor do I want to, but there are so many people who do just like those who enjoy a drink or two. They should have the same rights to buy their pot as those who buy booze. Not sure what our police would have done here, had it happened here and someone called the police though.