Several years ago I had issues with Blossom End Rot on long slender plum type tomatoes. It usually happens early in te bearing seaon if the weather is very hot and they are growing too fast. Extra calcium is needed to reduce BER and, it can be both applied to soil as well as calcium chloride mixed with water and sprayed on the foliage. A few tomnatoes after that looked fine, but when cut open, were all black inside where the seed cavities are. Being plum types, very little liquid and hard greenish black cores are not usefukl in canning. To avoid the blight next year. Don't plant tomatoes in the same area every year. Doing so will just culture teh soil for a new onset of the same nasty stuff from the year before. Since the blight issue, I never plant in the same locations anymore, and move my small tomato patch to different areas of the garden every year. The same with sweet cherry peppers, as last years insides were all dark color seeds and didn't ripen to red like they should. NEVER use that much oil in any home canning recipe unless its been approved, and not by grandma.

Like Chase, I'd want baked beans. Oh well, they aren't green, at least not if they're fresh. LOL And I love green beans the way LindaC just mentioned, I sprinkle a few slivered almonds on top for a crunchy texture. However, I think a tomato-and-green vegetable dish would go fine. I like the zucchini/tomato combination and this is my version, a little bit more involved but very good. Tomato Zucchini Casserole Ingredients: 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder 1 tablespoon parsley flakes 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, ground 3 cups zucchini, thinly sliced, fresh 1 pound tomatoes, fresh, sliced 1/4 cup bread crumbs, white, fresh 1 tablespoon vegetable oil Preparation: Combine chili powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons parsley flakes, garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Place half the zucchini in a lightly greased 6-cup casserole. Layer with half the tomatoes. Sprinkle with half the seasoning mixture. Repeat the layers. Combine bread crumbs, oil and remaining parsley flakes, sprinkle over vegetables. Bake, uncovered, in preheated 375 degree oven, until vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes. This is another spring recipe although I leave the mint out. I like mint tea or mint candy but somehow I don't like it in other foods. Yeah, I know. I'm strange. I like peas and lettuce, though, and in the spring when there is fresh baby lettuce and the peas are sweet and new, oh yum. I've done it with frozen baby peas and it's still pretty darned good. Peas & Lettuce Makes 6 servings, about 1/2 cup each 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 cups shelled fresh peas (3 pounds unshelled) 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint 4 cups thinly sliced Boston lettuce (about 1 small head) ¼ teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper to taste Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add peas and stir to coat with oil. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Stir in mint and cook for 30 seconds. Add lettuce, cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Per serving: 113 calories; 5 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 13 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 5 g fiber; 206 mg sodium; 225 mg potassium. Nutrition bonus: Vitamin A (70% daily value), Folate (22% dv), Vitamin C (15% dv). 1 Carbohydrate Serving Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 vegetable, 1 fat Then again, I like just plain roasted green beans and red onions, drizzled witholive oil mixed with a bit of balsamic vinegar and seasoned with just salt and pepper. Annie

Green beans are one of the few veggies that I prefer cooked past tender-crisp. If they're frenched I don't mind them a tad under-done and squeaky, but whole I want them cooked. Just cooked, that is, not killed. I find that green beans vary significantly in cooking time, so like Eileen I tend to boil them until al dente, shock them in cold water (I use an ice bath), then hold cold until ready to simply reheat for two or three minutes in whatever recipe I'm using, usually a simple one. Perfect. Roasted is good, too. I've never had home-canned green beans. If they're anything like commercially canned beans, I'm not interested. Looks like they're in season and on sale around here this week, so I might just have to can a jar or two and see for myself.

My cousin got one of those tubs a while back and loves it. She says it is so much easier. She uses it for shrimp, crawfish and crab boils, too. Colorado has several sites set up after Thanksgiving for people to bring their used "turkey oil" for recycling so that it doesn't just get dumped into the sewer system. Here is a link that might be useful: Turkey oil recycling