I guess I got a little confused because elsewhere in this forum I read that you should remove the seeds when canning tomatoes for sauce because the seeds could make the sauce bitter. Is that because there is something different about sauce versus dried? No it is a matter of taste buds and maybe digestive tract and a bit of appearance as the seeds tend to turn black when dried. :) Many find seeds turn bitter in whatever tomato product they make - myself included - so a general guidelines removal is recommended. Other don't notice it. Some find the seeds irritating to the digestive tract so removal is also recommended for that reason. But I will say that the majority of the seeds are easy to remove before drying and no food mill is need, just your thumb. Just pop the center gel lump and seeds out after cutting the tomatoes. Leaves a few but the majority pop right out. Dave

That's just evil. It's been weeks since I've enjoyed a homegrown tomato that wasn't a little cherry. By far my favorite use of a tomato includes a nearly equal weight in bacon! My late summer bloom set several dozen maters but I'm not sure if they have time to blush. So far the weather is cooperating and I'll bring in a few for sure. But most of them will probably be too immature before they freeze. Psst. You never answered my last email.

Was this a MURDER SCENE?!? Not sure how it will work on blood but have had success removing that food schmutz that ended up of thumb/tips of off-white terry oven mitts. Dawn makes something called "power dissolver"... or something like that?? Original use is to spray that casserole that you put in dishwasher, knowing full well... it's NOT coming out spotless. It comes in a pump/spray, sprays one kinda foamy, has that slippery feeling like oven cleaner but NOT those nasty fumes. Got rid of at least 90% of stuff that hadn't budged thru regular washing.

Oh, the flavor will be fine. Dried chiles are good for a long tim, but all chiles, like all grain, can have "guests". I coul tell you a funny and slightly disturbing story about how I know that, but then I might scare you from using them. :) I keep my dried chiles in the freezer. Guajillos can have a little heat to them. I've used them so often that I can sort of tell by the smell how hot they will be. They do vary from one batch to the next. I usually rinse them since the place I get mine packs in the fields, Then I wipe them dry and toast them in a dry pan (less than a minutes) just until they soften. DO NOT SCORCH THEM or they will be bitter. Then I put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Once they are soft, I split and dessed/devein (just depends on what I'm making and how hot I want it.) I have a VitaMix, which can puree darn near anything into a smooth sauce, so one sauce I keep in the freezer uses 5 or 6 guajillos, about a pound of roasted tomatoes, an onion, two heads of roasted garlic, cumin, coriander, thyme, morjarom, and chicken broth. I whir it into a sauce, then freeze it for later. It's good with chicken or pork espeically.