tried this last year, tomatoes almost disentegrated upon thawing. okra and red mush, pretty much. there is a canning recipie in the ball blue book. this is what I used, but froze instead of canned, might have been a pressure can recipie.

Crushed Tomatoes from the Ball complete book of Home Preserving. Ahh makes a big difference! ;) Yes that is a safe recipe and very different from Stewed Tomatoes. And the separation, the floating, you saw is common. You can gently shake the jar or just ignore it and they will settle all on their own with some time. So then in theses recipes i can only use dried spices not fresh and no veges, but i can use most dried spices and dried veges,dried mushrumes, dried etc or am i taking it over board to the next level? You can use dried spices, yes. They don't change the pH. Just do it carefully as the dried spices will intensify during storage. Too much can ruin the whole jar. Dried vegetables is another matter. They DO change the pH and they can also change the density. They have to be rehydrated before adding them and you need to rehydrate them in vinegar or bottled lemon juice, not in water, and they can be used only in very small amounts. Don't make assumptions about recipes without checking first. That can easily get you into trouble. ;) Dave

Have you posted at the harvest forum? They can give you some great canning tips. They (and I) always recommend the Ball Blue Book of canning - if you don't have a copy, you should pick one up, it's a great resource. These are the steps I always follow, I find that it's a good formula and always works for me. Hopefully it's not too much information - I'm probably being too thorough, but better safe than sorry. 1. Wash jars. Wash rings, rinse new lids. Put lids in a small saucepan with water on "low" so they get warm and the rubber becomes soft for canning. I set up a workstation - basically a kitchen towel spread on the counter next to my stove to set jars on while I fill them, and keep the rings at a corner of the towel, within reach. The rings don't have to be hot. I also dampen a paper towel for wiping the jar rims clean before putting lids on, and keep that handy on one side of the towel. 2. Put jars in a big canning pot**, filled so that the jars are covered with 2 inches of water. The jars will be full of water, which will sterilize them as they heat. Put the lid on the canner (if you have a pressure canner, just set it on, don't tighten). 3. Bring water in canner to a high simmer, while preparing food for canning. I usually crank the heat to high and turn it back when I hear it starting to boil. 4. When food is ready to be canned, the water in the canner should be plenty hot, so it will come back to a boil quickly. If it's not, keep your food at the ready. (You want those jars to be sterile if you're heating them in the water.) 5. Pull a jar out of the canner using a jar lifter, and carefully pour the hot water from it into the sink. I have my own angle technique that works - just be careful when you do this, because you pretty much have to pour the water toward you to keep the jar in hand with the lifter. Practicing with cold water isn't a bad plan if you haven't done the pour before. :) Or if you're more sensible than I am, you might set the jar down for a moment on your towel, then pick it up again from the side with the lifter and empty it that way. 6. Fill the jar with food to be canned, wipe the rim, put a lid on, then put a ring on. Tighten the ring to finger tight - it should be snug but not super tight. (All the ring does is apply a little pressure so that there is good contact between the lid's sealant and the jar rim - it doesn't hold the lid on; the natural vacuum will do that.) 7. Put filled jar back into canner, and pull the next empty jar. Repeat steps 5-6 until all jars are full. I do these steps as quickly (but carefully) as possible so that the first jar sitting in the hot water doesn't end up with soft pickles. 8. Put lid on canner when all jars are filled. Bring back up to a boil (should only take a few minutes, since the water has been simmering the whole time). Start timing when the boil starts, and pull the jars when the timer goes off. If pressure canning, you would wait 5 minutes (possibly more) after the timer goes off to pull out the jars. **If you're lucky enough to have a dishwasher, you can put the jars in there on sani-cycle and it will keep them hot as long as it's closed. Still, you'll have to be sure to get the canner simmering with enough water to cover the filled jars by 2 inches, and starting the heating while you're prepping food is good timing. With a dishwasher you won't have to deal with pouring hot water down the sink. That's how my mom always canned. I wish my husband would hitch up our dishwasher. Someday...

You just add about 2 tsp. brown sugar to a one pound can of stewed tomatoes. Put in a pan and bring to a boil. Then turn heat to low and add mixture of 1 tbs. of cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water. Stir and simmer 1-2 minutes. Another Pa. Dutch way with tomatoes that is served at home rather than in restaurants is to slice and peel vine-ripened tomatoes, and sprinkle them with dark brown sugar and salt and pepper.