Not everyone is aware of some risks from home canning recipes. This oen could have been written many years ago and after all this time its assumed that no one has ever goten ill or died from it. As mentioned, years ago, even home vinegar was high in acidity and for some reason it was lowered to a barely acidic 5%. Olive oil is commercialy bottled using nitrogen as is mayonaise. They airate it and its what helps to kill off some bad things. We as home canners don't usually have access to equipment that is used in the commercial canning industry. I recall recently that a powered sesoning mix was a favorite of some people for making home made spagetti sauces. Spatini was the brand. Its been so popular for some that they tried to discontinue it only to find that people wanted it again. Apparently it is now made by the Knorr company. In most resurants, I never see that much oil or fat in any sauces. I remember as a kid, an italian lady would cook down a big pork shoulder and add all the fat to a tomato sauce. Needless to say it was never canned at home, but had several inches of fat flopating on top of the tomatoes. It required a lot of stirring for serving. Suggest that you look into some fo te current home canning books, especially the Ball Blue Book. Many others are newer too, but you still need to think about what is safe to can and wnat might raise a doubt. If it doubt even a little, don't can it, is my motto. Eggs, dairy, cheese, fats, and some very dense foods and a few other things are not advisable to home can. I am still amazed at how the commercially prioduced 'shelf stable' products are made. They are obvioulsy not exposed to high heat, but instead must be bombarded with radiation of some kind to kill off any organisms. Maybe some day that process would be a reality for some home canners, but not now.

I use my KA, and love it, but if the thing fries out, that will give me a reason to get a BIGGER machine for making bread, and I'll probably get a separate machine for straining veggies and fruit. We used this two years in a row to grind up venison (we do our own processing) and I told DH I didn't want him wearing out the mixer so we bought a meat grinder. I'm a bit of a kitchen gadget junkie. One of the problems with recommending KA is new machines aren't near as tough as the older machines. Mine is about 20 years old and we bought DS a new one about five years ago. DS toasted his within one year - did get it warrantied but he did not use his near as hard as I use mine.

I don't like either. (shrug) If I'm going to have anything that resembles pizza, I want slices of fresh tomato, none of that sauce. If I have pasta, I want hot pasta tossed with chunks of fresh tomato and herbs and good fresh parmesan shaved on top. Oh, and the pasta needs to be something besides white, I prefer whole wheat or herbed homemade pasta. I did make a passable basil pasta, so I might do that again. I'm not really wild about ground meat either, the texture puts me off, so that takes care of the meatball issue. I do eat them, occasionally, but like meatloaf or cheeseburgers, I'm really apathetic about them. My girls love the Rocco's Mama's Meatballs that got posted here a couple of years ago, I make hundreds of those every fall when the beef is slaughtered and they go into the freezer, "fast food" on crazy busy days. Of course, most of them go into Amanda's freezer, LOL. They don't get either sauce, both my girls like Prego, as do the grandkids. Go figure, they don't like the homemade stuff at all, heathens, I think it's the corn syrup that they actually like... Annie

Basic canned tomatoes types: Whole tomatoes -- peeled, partially cooked, in tomato juice Diced tomatoes -- cut up, peeled, packed in crushed tomatoes Crushed tomatoes -- peeled and squashed Tomato puree -- peeled, seeded, milled to a totally smooth texture Tomato sauce -- cooked, about the consistency of slightly thick puree with basic seasoning Tomato paste -- peeled, seeded, milled, and reduced to remove water and concentrate flavor Tomato juice -- pressed, lots of tomato water with fine solids Stewed tomatoes -- peeled but with seeds, cooked with seasonings and vegetables until partially broken up. Come in a variety of flavors. Not all stores carry all types. Most of the above come in seasoned and/or "fire roasted" (charred) versions as well. How "ick" canned tomatoes are depends on the quality of the tomatoes and the quality of the can. Poorly canned ones taste like metal. ICK! Good ones just taste like tomatoes. I can make my own, but when I do, they don't taste different from the good canned ones.