Well, you know, we've only had the beans three times so far in the last 10 days or so. We can keep up with them at that pace, but I was just looking ahead in case I do have extras that I can keep till later in the year. I had heard of blanching, but I didn't quite remember. Let's see if I have it right. Throw the beans in boiling water for 1 1/2 minutes, take out and immerse in ice water, dry, and then put them in a ziplock bag. Try to take as much of the air out of the bag (Mary, interesting idea about the straw). Alternatively, I might try 'blanching' them in the microwave and then the rest as above. Is that right? Now I almost hope I have extras just to try this procedure out! Thank-you, everyone. P.S.- Carol, how do you make oven-roasted beans? Anna

Crepe myrtles come easily from root cuttings. Dig the cuttings in early spring and pot up or plant out in beds with loose soil. If you want to do cuttings, hard or softwood cuttings taken in spring or summer (take them from right where they join the main branch, from the south side of the plant). Use 6-8 inch cuttings with about 3-4 nodes per cutting. Remove all the leaves except the last two or three & bury the cutting almost to the base of the lowest leaf. You need a very well-aerated medium for cuttings. If you stick them in MG soil and the base of the cutting is below the level of saturated soil at the bottom of the container, expect failure due to a lack of O2 to the cutting. Shallow pots are most difficult to grow in because a heavy soil might be 100% saturated in them, yet the maple above and this one do just fine in this soil which is what I start cuttings in, too. Al

The mayo would be my hesitation to freeze. Some recipes would freeze better than others me thinks. I would probably prep some of the parts ahead in kit form. Maybe grate the cheese now and portion in 1 lb zip lock getting all the air out. You could even add the spice and pepper. Chives and/or another herb would add nice color and flavor. Assemble the night before the first event and fridge them. (i think you have three balls to make?) The no-freeze lists are fine, even the first one posted if you read the copy. It was mentioned to not expect fresh when thawed, but perfectly edible to cook with. I recently roasted a half dozen red peppers and a few dozen halapenos, chopped/sliced, then froze in small useful portions. A bag of limes i juiced and froze in ice cube trays. Meyer lemons i freeze whole and grate a bit as needed... Many things freeze fine if used in cooking or cubed fruit going straight into a smoothy. Saran is a nice tight way to seal something like a cheese ball to keep its shape and get all the air out but it should be further sealed in something heavier like a freezer thick zip-lock. Or foil. Or freezer wrap, parchment. I use to make something i called an AntHill. Lined a small half dome soup bowl with saran, then line it with paper thin provolone from my deli. Lay in some nice herb leaves, chives, basil, parsley, thin slivers of sundried tomatoes...then another layer of thin prov...a layer of nutty pesto, then my cheese ball filling...usually white cheddar, cream cheese and some spice. Fold over the excess saran and chill overnight. Flipped over and un-molded it had a nice see-through design of herbs. Sprinkled with a trail of toasted black sesame seeds for the ants. It was my holiday go-to dish for a few years. Easy to travel to parties. Something like that, kept cold in a ceramic bowl in a chilly part of the fridge, i would be fine making it 4-5 days in advance. I would not freeze it for NewYears if i made it today. But i would shop for the ingredients and have them ready to make a day or two in advance. Cheese grated, herbs washed, and ready for assembly the night before.

My recipe is very different from yours but I can't really see why your's wouldn't freeze well. Next time you make it and plan to freeze some, undercook your noodles as they will continue to cook in the oven and perhaps get sofer than you would prefer - the sauce will provide enough moisture for the oven cooking. Do you have a Food Saver seal a meal thingie? I do and it works beautifully, I can take out baked spaghetti, bake it and serve it as long as a year or even two later. It sucks out all the air, which is why it will last so long. If not, you could use the Hefty freezer zipper bags, it will keep in that for a couple of months, try to "squeeze" out as much air as you can before zipping it completely. Soft freeze your spaghetti in order to cut it to the size you want for the dish you want to bake it in when you take it out of the freezer to eat. Trying to cut it without soft freezing it will only make a mush mess but soft freezing it keeps it's form fairly well when you cut it up. You can use the baking dish you want to use as a meal serving as a template for the size you plan to cut it to. I have these little corning ware baking dishes that are the perfect serving size for two, so I cut them that size, then remove them from the dish, place it in the plastic seal a meal freeze it up with the date on the bag. Remove them from the bag while frozen for keeping it together, place in the baking dish, then top with a little fresh cheese and bake it uncovered. We 'heart' baked spaghetti :)