Pulp Friction: Tomato Enzymes Can Break Down Pectin

I tried canning some homemade tomato juice yesterday. The jars sealed, the lids popped down, but this morning it is all separated. The red pulp is in the top half of the jar, but the bottom half is watery and yellow. What happened? Can I use it?

You can certainly use it. Just give the jar a good shake. It won't be really thick, but the flavor should be fine. What happened is that it took too long from when the tomatoes were cut until they got hot. That gave the natural enzymes in the tomatoes enough time to break down the pectin that holds the juice and pulp together. To keep it from separating next time, you need to cut the tomatoes a few at a time.

As soon as they're cut, drop them into boiling smashed tomatoes, slowly enough that the juice keeps boiling. Smash them, then add a few more. When they're all boiling then you can strain or squeeze it however you want.

I have an old pudding recipe that uses flour to thicken the milk. When I've tried it with cornstarch it never gets thick. What else do I need to do or add to thicken the pudding?

Cornstarch doesn't have the same thickening capacity as flour, so you need to use more. For each tablespoon of flour in the recipe, use 1 1/2 Tbsp of cornstarch. The same would be true if you use arrowroot, potato or rice starch instead of flour. Then heat it slowly so there's enough time for the starch to absorb liquid before you add the eggs.

How do I need to change the baking time if I make angel food cake in a long narrow pan instead of a tube pan? The pan is about 3 inches wide but 11 inches long.

Because both pans are about the same width, the baking time should be quite similar. I can't find any specific comparisons for these pans with angel food batter.

Why do pork chops seem so tough these days? No matter how long I cook them, even with a wine sauce, they seem tough and dry.

Pork chops have changed over the decades. Pork in general is now bred and raised to have much less fat. That means that although it's healthier, if it's overcooked it will get tough. So, you can reduce the temperature a little, or decrease the cooking time. But you really need to use a thermometer to tell when it is done. Once it hits 160 degrees, the longer it cooks the tougher it will get - unless you keep cooking it for several more hours until the collagen starts breaking down. Or use a slow cooker that depends on long, slow cooking to tenderize meat.

I chopped the candied fruit for fruitcakes this year, then my oven died! So I have bags of fruit in the refrigerator. Can I freeze them for next year, or will they get mushy?

Candied fruit should freeze fine. There's little enough moisture in there that it shouldn't get mushy. It would probably keep all right in the refrigerator too. The sugar is a preservative. A third alternative, if your recipe doesn't use nuts, would be to go ahead and bake the fruitcakes now and freeze them. Nuts might go rancid if frozen for a full year.

Can you send me a list of foods that contain cholesterol? How much should I eat, or how much is too much? My cholesterol is high but I don't like the medication.

Cholesterol is found in all animal products, and only in animal products. So eat lots of vegetables and whole grains. The recommended limit is 300 mg a day for most adults. However for most of us, it is more important and more helpful to limit the amount of saturated fat in our diet than to just count cholesterol. Our bodies produce cholesterol from the saturated fat we eat, and this usually has a greater effect on blood cholesterol. Limit the butter, bacon, ham and hard margarines, and choose foods with less saturated fat on the label.