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[paxamicus AT earthlink.net]

Listen, you have to take beauty where you can find it, and what better  
medium for a homesteader? ;   )    I have long known when I can make  
something pretty looking, my kid eats more of it.

http://www.bspcn.com/2008/05/26/what-happened-to-the-food/

Image heavy page of interestingly prepared fruits and veg. Two pics  
may scare little kids, but my kid is up at the kitchen table making  
things out of grapes, and then eating them.

And, I'd love a mandolin. I have a nice knife I love to use but a  
mandolin would make somethings easier.

For storing tomatoes, last year I boiled them for 30 seconds to pull  
off the skins, cored them, and threw them in zip locks in the  
downstairs freezer. We had tomatoes till January. I really like to  
cook, it's my form of relaxation, so I could just take these out in  
the morning and start cooking like I had raw tomatoes. I did freeze  
some as concentrated roasted tomato sauce, I should have done more  
like that because we used those up quickly. Still, I found the smell  
of tomatoes simmering all day in my crock pot was a real boon on a  
chilly day.

Does anyone grow fennel? I've found if I add fennel to a dish I get  
that sausagey taste I love without the meat. I've only ever used it as  
a spice and I'm starting to wonder if I am really missing the boat in  
terms of using it as a straight up veg.