helenore, Sounds like you have been busy with the alternative harvest. I only have 2 under 11 but I understand what you are saying about safety. Not only can you not risk their health, but you can't take risks with your own. This is a recipe from a book that is generally considered safe, Small Batch Preserving. After the Blue Book (as a reference) it is usually everyone's favorite. I have also been happy that I purchased the new book, Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It seems to combine their Bernardin Canadian version with the Ball American version. Seasoned Tomato Sauce 12 cups chopped ripe tomatoes (about 6lbs) 1 cup chopped onion (subsitute a smaller amount of powder if you like) 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar (you could safely leave that out) 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 bay leaves 2 Tablespoons bottled lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, sugar, pepper and bay leaves in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered until very thick, about 1 1/2 hours; stir frequently. Press through a food mill or coarse sieve to remove seeds and skins. Add lemon juice and salt. 2. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars within 1/2 inch of rim. Process 35 minutes for half-pint or pint jars. Makes about 4 cups. (Apparently it is not safe to can in quarts.) Personally, I don't see why you couldn't reduce the tomatoes in the oven rather than on the stove. Sounds less messy. Alot of folks use the same oven method to make apple butter. Just don't add any oil. Here are another two from the same book. Booberry posted it in another thread. * Exported from MasterCook * Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce 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. Yield: "8 cups" Note: This sauce also makes an excellent base for a quick pizza. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * Exported from MasterCook * Multi-Use Tomato Sauce 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. Yield: "12 cups" Linda Lou posted this one in another thread: Seasoned Tomato Sauce Makes about 5 half-pints 10 pounds washed, peeled, cored and chopped tomatoes 3 medium onions, chopped fine 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced 1 1/2 teaspoon oregano 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1 teaspoon sugar Hot Pack Add all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Press mixture through a food mill and discard seeds. Return to sauce pan and cook over medium-high heat until thick, stirring frequently. Add lemon juice or citric acid to hot canning jars and pack with hot prepared tomato mixture leaving -inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim and screw threads and adjust lids and screw bands. Processing Methods Boiling Water Bath Canner Half-Pints 35 minutes Pints 35 minutes Pressure Canner Dial Gauge Type @ 11 pounds pressure or Weighted Gauge Type @ 10 pounds pressure. Half-Pints 15 minutes Pints 15 minutes After processing, remove jars immediately, place on a rack to cool. Test for Seal. You can leave out the onion. Do not increase the garlic amount as it is a low acid food and will change the ph level. Some herbs become bitter when canned. This sauce recipe should give you a good basic sauce to can. Hopefully this will help!!

This thread has helped me a great deal. I'm in the process of designing my kitchen for a new home we will be building (hopefully) soon. the hangup has been my klitchen . I've had kitchens a tad tight, but functioned well, and I've had the huge kitchen with too great a distance to everything, including carrying a kettle of boiling water across the kitchen to dump in the sink. I've been going around and around with wondering if the table should go in the center of the whole kitchen, (Julia Child style), or if I should I have a wonderful island, for baking and perhaps a small prep sink in it. The pros to table centered in kitchen is small steps to serve and clean up. The cons are I give up having full view of our woods. With the island the table can have full view of the woods at the end of the kitchen area, and I can have my wonderful baking island. The cons are it's a lot of steps to set the table in a kitchen that long. Twenty some feet seems long. I'm thinking the view and the use of the island would be well worth it. Sandy

I just wanted to chime in about the radiant heat/wood floor issue. I have researched the heck out of this over the past two years. We are in the process of building a home in Colorado and are using hydronic radiant heat with poured gypcrete over it. I was never told that I couldn't use wood flooring. There are many companies that sell wood floors that are able to be used over radiant heat. One company that comes to mind that makes beautiful solid hardwood floors is Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. The only thing that you might have to be concerned with is the width of the plank. Most people that I spoke to do not recommend using planks wider than 8" over radiant heat due to "cupping". The product I chose to use is a site-finished engineered walnut floor with square cut edges made by Owens PlankFloor. It is the most beautiful engineered product that I have found. It comes in a variety of widths (I am using 6" planks) and very long lengths. I did not want any short boards installed so I had my contractor order some extra so only 3 ft and longer boards are being used. It is being installed right now in my home. From what I have heard/learned about this product is that people can not tell that it is an engineered wood product...they think it is solid hardwood. Your kitchen cabinet selection is gorgeous and your dinig room is beautiful. I would definately do some more research into using wood floors. I don't think tile would look right in your home. Good Luck!

Here are the elevations Here is a link that might be useful: