Whoa! I hate to disagree, but I'd be very careful about adding garlic. It's a low-acid veggie and in sufficient amounts would lead to problems. You could use some and reduce another low-acid veggie like onion to compensate. The same is true of fresh herbs. All those amendments must be accounted for one way or another. Roasting MAY not be a problem if you make sure your sauce does not get too thick (adding red wine would help restore the consistency). What I mean is that density is also an issue in processing as it affects heat penetration. Tested recipes are predicated on density as well as pH. That's why canning something like creamed corn takes so long. It's not just low-acid; it's very starchy. There are some excellent tested pasta sauces posted on the Forum. You might compare your recipe to these: Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce Recipe By : Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Canning & Preserving Dressings, Marinades, Sauces Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 8 cups (2 L) coarsely chopped peeled tomatoes -- (about 9-12 tomatoes or 4 lb/2 kg) 1 cup chopped onion -- (250 mL) 3 cloves garlic -- minced 2/3 cup red wine -- (150 mL) 1/3 cup red wine vinegar (5 % strength) -- (75 mL) 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil -- (125 mL) 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley -- (15 mL) 1 teaspoon pickling salt -- (5 mL) 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar -- (2 mL) 1 6-oz/156 mL) can tomato paste Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, wine, vinegar, basil, parsley, salt, sugar and tomato paste in a very large non-reactive pan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until mixture reaches desired consistency, stirring frequently. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (head space). Process 35 minutes for pin (500 mL) jars and 40 minutes for quart (1 L) jars in a BWB. Description: "from Ellie Topp's "Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving" Yield: "8 cups" Multi-Use Tomato Sauce Recipe By : Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Canning & Preserving Dressings, Marinades, Sauces Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 10 plum tomatoes -- (about 2 1/2 lbs./1 kg) 10 large tomatoes -- peeled and chopped (about 4 lbs./2 kg) 4 large garlic cloves -- minced 2 large stalks celery -- chopped 2 medium carrots -- chopped 1 large onion -- chopped 1 large zucchini -- chopped 1 large sweet green pepper -- chopped 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes -- (125 mL) 2/3 cup dry red wine -- (150 mL) 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (5% strength or more) -- (125 mL) 2 bay leaves 1 tablespoon pickling salt -- (15 mL) 2 teaspoons dried oregano -- (10 mL) 2 teaspoons dried basil -- (10 mL) 1 teaspoon granulated sugar -- (5 mL) (optional) 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon -- (2 mL) (optional) 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper -- (2 mL) 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley -- (50 mL) Combine tomatoes, celery, garlic, onion, zucchini and green pepper in a very large non-reactive pan. Add 1 cup (250 mL) water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, covered, for 25 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. Soak sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water until softened. Drain and dice. Add to sauce with wine, vinegar, bay leaves, salt, oregano, basil, sugar, cinamon and pepper. Continue to boil gently until desired consistency, stirring frequently. Discard bay leaves and stir in parsley. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (head space). Process in a BWB 35 minutes for pint (500 mL) jars and 40 minutes for quart (1 L) jars. Description: "from Ellie Topp's "Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving" Yield: "12 cups" If you're interested in a spaghetti sauce with meat, check the NCHFP link below. It's not entirely true that everything can be pressure-canned. Certainly many foods can be, but as a rule-of-thumb, eggs, dairy, oils, flour or cornstarch-thickened products cannot be processed. There are a very few tested recipes that are exceptions, but when looking for a new recipe that falls into one of these categories be very careful that it does come from a reliable source. Also, again there are density issues which limit what you can. So, for example, one change since your grandmother's time is that pureed squash is no longer canned. Only chunks are recommended because further testing determined there were inconsistencies in water content and pH with home-grown squash and serious heat-penetration problems. So that rule was changed. By the same token, though some of us occasionally use litmus or a pH meter, it isn't an infallible method. If you're talking about a sauce with chunks of things, the problem is that the litmus even of a blended sample does not allow for the fact that a low-acid chunk in a high-acid mixture may provide a safe harbor for botulism. For that reason it can be a mistake to rely on litmus. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Spaghetti Sauce with Meat

A year ago i found my old popper after running across a video and discussions on a coffeegeek forum. I've been using a chemex drip method for a few years and was researching a new grinder around that same time. I thought the home roasting was a bit nuts but keep the thought on a back burner... Now it is just an easy task i do when i'm in the kitchen anyway. Usually a weekend morning where we are anyway together, planning our day. I still have a favorite Costco bean, the yellow bag. I've even forgotten the name it's been so long. Took a few bags on our trip last summer. (but ran out and had to buy overpriced cans, gack!). Might have to pack a popper and green beans this summer. Watch a few videos and decide if it might be worth it to you.

Lyra, Yesterday I was given (under the counter at a cafe where I know the staff well) an espresso cup full of homemade "hooch." 90 proof I was told. It was delicious and tasted perhaps of herbs but I have no idea what was in it, only that it was made by a Greek friend named Gus. This got me thinking. As you know I have a son and friend on a boat in the South Pacific. They are on a pretty tight budget and food and libations are astonishingly expensive. They occasionally splurge for some boxed wine and they are sometimes fed by locals in exchange for capable help but often they live on beans, rice, and any fish they catch. So alcohol is an infrequent treat. I was online with the Captain last night and I suggested they try making some homemade wine. They have access to an abundant supply of fresh mangoes and other fruit. I looked up directions for making homemade mango wine and they were fussy, purist, a bit arcane and required a year of aging and ingredients available in a wine store. Well, that won't do! So I looked up "jail house wine." That produced this: "Find any kind of cheap juice. I like cranberry. The way I do it is boil a few cups of sugar mixed with water until it becomes a syrup. I add this to about two gallons of cranberry juice. It sounds too sweet, but it evens out the sour taste from the cranberry. Then I'll take a cup of the juice, warm it up slightly in the mircowave, throw in a packet of yeast and let it sit until it gets a nice head on it. Then I throw that into the rest of the juice, mix it up real good and let set for about a month in a tight container with a small airhole so gas can vent. When the yeast activates, it eats the sugar as food, and the byproduct is alcohol. Its far from a fine wine, but its pretty simple. Its a loose recipe, so it may take some tinkering to get it the way you like it. And remember, the more yeast, the more alcohol. If you can get ahold of some bread yeast over there, that'll do the job, but leaves a slight "bready" flavor if you use too much. Juice+sugar+yeast+time=hooch" Crude but probably effective. There must be some middle ground. I doubt they can find wine yeast or other wine store specific ingredients but can surely find bread yeast and sugar and juice and other things in a grocery store on Bora Bora. Got any recipes or guidance? What do you suggest to Here is a link that might be useful: Will this be useful to send to them?

"If something tastes better, that assumes that the 'better' is objective" My comments were directed to things others said, not to a straw man. There's nothing to fall for. Did I say tastes better? If I did, I left out "to me and others who care about flavor". I think it's you and others advancing a straw man argument. Let's take it in steps. For taste, I'd say things like more or less rich, more or less full bodied or deeper, more or less nuanced, more coffee flavor, more or less acidic, more sharp or more mellow, etc. Funny enough, many of the same words people use to describe wine without fruit elements. These are objective among people who like or want to pay attention. Better? That's subjective, that's about preferences. You like mild, I may like a sharper flavor. Or I like a milder flavor, and you don't care. Etc. Music is the same in a lot of ways. There are people who listen superficially and don't pay attention to or care about nuances in performance, arrangements, etc., There are those who listen more deeply. Classical music fans might have 5 copies of their favorite piece, each performed by a different orchestra with a different conductor. Someone else would say - they all sound the same. Is one person right and the other wrong? They are insofar as the objective assessment is concerned because they're not the same, they are each different. But as between the people, which is preferred has to do with taste and personal preference, and to many it may not matter at all. You won't find percolated Maxwell House coffee in a coffee store. There's a reason why. If you want to think it's because coffee snobs wouldn't drink it because it's not special, then go right ahead.