Variety doesn't make any difference as the same methods apply to all varieties. So it depends on how you would use them the most. Canned plain tomatoes can be used for any number of recipes so the instructions for canning crushed tomatoes (linked below) is one of the most popular methods. If you'd use more tomato sauce than whole or chopped tomatoes then you can turn any tomato into sauce and using anything other than Romas will deliver a better tasting sauce. Most use a mixture of many different varieties to make sauce for either canning or freezing as it will deliver a far superior flavored sauce. Canning salsa is probably the next most popular method but it can be tricky since it also includes low acid ingredients so only tested and approved recipes can be used for it. Of course you can also freeze them plain and use them for cooking if you don't want to get into canning. Check out all the canning and freezing instructions for them at NCHFP Hope this helps. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Canning Crushed Tomatoes with no added liquid

I only freeze these veggies, sugarsnap peas, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, greenbeans, corn, both on cob and cut off. I both dry and freze okra, the latter for stew. I also freeze fruit: strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples and elderberries. i also make fresh juice--beet-carrot-apple-cabbage is my favorite--and freeze it in pint jars. I also make my own beef and chicken broth which I freeze in pint jars. I mainly use my dehydrator to dry jerky and make yogurt. After I blanch the milk at 160 degrees cool it to 120 and add the starter which I buy at the health food store, I put it in the dehydrator at 100 until it thickens. I can pickled veggies. okra, green "dilly beans" jalapenos but not cucumbers. They always go mushy on me and I won't use alum. I also make saurkraut in a five gallon crock and can that. We have an unheated storage building that we don't allow to freeze. I buy bushels of apples and sweet potatoes in the fall and store them out there. And this year I have a basket of butternut squash that I raised. Potatos go under the bed in the house when we dig them in July and usually last until the next Jan. Onions I dry and braid and hang on nails on the glassed porch. They usually last only til Sept or Oct. Wish I had a root cellar, and a greenhouse, but I make do. Dorothy

It is easy here in the norther tier of the US in the winter months to feel sessions of depression etc, but since I have had my vit D level checked and found it was low and taking extra it really makes a difference, but then I like cold weather. I love being outside, working on my hobbies, being with some people especially in my women's Bible group, being with my kids, grandkids and now with the 4 great grandkids, and yes, shopping by myself, even if I don't buy anything. Just watching people. In CA I loved to go outside as we had 5 acres in the mountains and in the sping seeing all the new baby quail, and other animals. So quiet so calming And yes, every morning I try to remember to say Hi to Jesus and ask for help for the day. Hope this finds you in a better mood and more postive spirits. Marie

I'm the exception to the "normal" cooking methods when it comes to bean preparation because I sprout them first to remove the (ah hem) "noise", make them easier to digest, and to increase the nutrition. They also cook faster when they are sprouted first. I also dehydrate sprouted beans/lentils/peas which rehydrate and cook quickly, too. I keep buying pressure cookers thinking I'm missing out on something or an improved method of food preparation, and then giving them away. I just really don't like the high-heat process or the end product, but that's just me. Luckily there are all kinds of methods to choose from. I often serve a small amount of beans with a small amount of meat (not a full 3-oz. serving of meat) in order stretch the high-costing meat and still serve a full serving of protein. I store, and use, a large variety of beans as part of our home food storage and we eat a LOT of beans/peas/legumes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I even made a recipe of (Refried) Bean Fudge at Christmas, and you can also use bean puree in baked goods as a fat substitute and increase the protein. Here's a How To for Sprouting Beans: http://www.insonnetskitchen.com/how-to-sprout-cook-beans/ Another interesting method for preparation is a passive heat method (aka fireless cooking) by soaking and "cooking" in a Thermos in boiling hot water (for a small amount) - or a Thermal Cooker (for a large amount), and Wonder Oven or a Hay Box methods. I also cook beans in quart jars in one of my solar ovens (the jars are painted black on the outside with heat-resistant paint to absorb heat from the sun). Thermal Cooking is great during the hot months to keep the heat out of the kitchen: http://www.thermoscooking.com/ You can also brine beans, which aids in keeping them from shredding/exploding and keep the inside creamy and tender. Here's a video from America's Test Kitchen for a How To: http://lifehacker.com/5906564/brine-beans-for-the-best-possible-flavor-and-texture Another great web site for bean info. is The Prudent Homemaker and her article "How to Eat Beans Every Night" - http://theprudenthomemaker.com/blog?view=entry&id=330 I also love the book, "Country Beans" by Rita Bingham. This link has some information and recipes from the book: http://realfoodliving.com/reviews/book-reviews/country-beans-by-rita-bingham -Grainlady