First, let me address the option of boiling the canned tomato sauce that is now sitting on the DR table at my SIL's where we put it to cool after BWB last week. I am not at all comfortable with doing anything with that sauce in an effort to save it. My jar contents are going into the trash. Sad, since I hate the waste of any food, but there's no way I am taking any chances. Unfortunately, I have seen the medical records of someone that contracted botulism (not in any way related to home canning), and it isn't pretty to put it mildly. Even the most remote possibility of that becoming a result from the ingestion of something I created by being a novice, and not having done my homework insofar as the safety precautions necessary with canning, makes me more than uncomfortable, seriously embarassed and feeling very fortunate that my intuition led me here to ask questions about some things done that didn't seem to be 100% okay with what we canned. Thanks to the great advice I've received here, I've enlightened my partner in crime in this endeavor, and I believe she's on the fence about it being okay to eat. I can't make her discard it, but I sure wish I could. I've given the information gleaned here, and from what I can tell, she believes I am over-reacting or over-thinking the whole issue altogether. Don't misunderstand, she's not ignorant, she's a college educated, MBA, just not a chemist, lol. I wanted to clarify something I posted above that I think might be interpreted in a way that I did not intend. The canning/preserving of foods in a plain manner is fabulous if done safely, and can be part and parcel of all sorts of fabulous recipes. My point about not preserving plain things was phrased poorly, and I sincerely apologize to all of you who preserve your harvest, feeding your families wholesome foods through the hard work associated with growing food and with canning. Yes, the crafty part of cooking is one of my big hobbies. If I were fortunate enough to tend a huge garden that yielded me lots of healthy fruits and/or vegetables, I would certainly be more than thrilled to preserve all of what wasn't eaten throughout the growing season. That said, I've wanted to "can" for years, but had no idea of the amount of built-in safeguards when you are knowledgable about what you're doing rather than what I tried to do. Yes, "The Art of Preserving" by WS is a beautiful book to look at, has all sorts of delicious recipes, unfortunately, it isn't at all reliable for a novice, or anyone for that matter, to use as their only source of information on preserving foods safely. Since I've now learned a hugely valuable lesson (~thank you to each and every person who took the time to respond to my post ~), that lesson being that I need to read and absorb as much as I can about the science of canning, why certain foods can be canned safely, following vetted recipes from reputable master canners in a strict manner, and basically learning as much as I can about this craft. In speaking with a cousin who is an actual chemist about this whole issue, I now realize that playing it fast and loose, as someone on the HDF characterized the WS "The Art of Preserving", isn't an option. Education is foremost on my agenda prior to even filling my new BWB with water to process anything other than the Peach Jam recipe that has been pretty much ok'd by those in the know here on the Harvest forum. I am saddened to read that the NCHFP isn't updating any longer. For a good portion of the past few days, I've been reading the loads of information provided there. The funding loss is a political issue, and not going to go there. One of the reasons that I am a "cook", and don't do much baking, isn't only that I'm not really a sweets lover, but more that I really enjoy cooking which isn't an exact science. Baking is. Canning makes baking look like child's play when you compare it to learning to can, and adhering to strict methods to produce not only great tasting food, but food that is for-sure safe to eat or gift. The difference being, I am very interested in learning to can, and learning to can safely. Once again, many thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to my question!

I don't buy imported foods, at least to the best of my knowledge. I also do not buy any mass produced foods, from Smithfield or any other company. I certainly do not buy ANY mixes or prefab box foods. This country is just as deplorable in their food practices as any other. I have talked with many a farmer who left the USDA way of farm life because much filth is allowed while the inspector is sitting there. Bad things are alowed in feeds, the farm conditions are filthy, and people think eggs are fine because they are run through disinfectant water full of feces. The cracked ones sitting in that filth are sold to go in cake mixes. Do you really think workers at a factory farm care? They don't. They don't care if a child dies due to contamination. Read some of Joel Salatin's books. They are an eye opener, and due to his wonderful sense of humor, a delight to read. We vsited his farm in Virginia last fall. What a wonderful place! A well run cattle or chicken farm, where the animlas are allowed to be happy animals and are rotated on fresh pasture daily, DOES NOT SMELL. At all. The meat and milk taste fresh and sweet.The cheese is not the rubber stuff the stores sell. Better yet, make your own cheese from local fresh milk. It's a fun past time. So if the masses want cheap food, buy it, and eat it, I don't care. It only exists because they don't care enough about themselves and support it with their dollar. Make a nice meal for family and guests out of pure basic ingredients, and a roast or hamburgers from a local organic farmer. If you're a vegetarian, make a nice lasagna from cheeses you made youself and sauce you cooked from scratch and simmered all day. It's some effort but make enough for the freezer and you have easy meals for other days. Serve them a cake actually made from scratch and not a grocery store or box. They will rave about your meal, probably over eat a little, and ask to come back soon for a visit. Smithfield? Yuck!

Here's some for you: FRESH BANANA BUNDT CAKE WITH GLAZE 1/2 cup shortening 1 cup sugar 3 to 4 fresh Bananas, mashed 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 2 cups flour 1 tsp. soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 (8 oz.) container sour cream Mix all the ingredients well and pour into a greased Bundt pan. Bake at 350° F. for about 45 minutes, until golden brown and cake tests done. Icing: 1 box powdered sugar 4 tsp. water 1 tsp. rum flavoring or vanilla Mix and drizzle over cake. ORANGE BUNDT CAKE 8 Tblsp. (1 stick) sweet butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs, separated Grated zest of 2 oranges 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 cup fresh orange juice Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan. Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar, beating until light. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, and add orange zest. Sift the flour with baking powder, soda and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with orange juice to the batter. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until sides of cake shrink away from pan's edge and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan and unmold onto a rack and drizzle with orange glaze while warm. Cool before serving. Makes 8 to 10 servings. Orange Glaze: 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 1/4 cup granulated sugar Combine orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a light syrup forms. SOUR CREAM PUMPKIN BUNDT CAKE Streusel: 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground allspice 2 tsp. butter or margarine Cake: 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tblsp. ground cinnamon 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened 4 large eggs 1 cup canned pumpkin 1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream 2 tsp. vanilla extract Glaze (recipe follows) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. For streusel: Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice in a small bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly. For batter: Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Beat granulated sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin, sour cream, and vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. To assemble: Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle streusel over batter, now allowing streusel to touch sides of pan. Top with remaining batter. Make sure batter layer touches edges of pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes in pan on wire rack. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle with Glaze. Makes 16 servings. For glaze: Combine 1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 2 to 3 Tblsp. orange juice or milk in small bowl; stir until smooth. From Libbys Pumpkin Test Kitchen. This is my personal favorite: BUTTER PECAN BUNDT CAKE 1 Butter Pecan cake mix 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup water 4 eggs 1 can ready-to-spread Coconut pecan frosting 1 Tblsp. sugar Chopped pecan pieces Spray a Bundt or tube pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle the sugar in the pan, then sprinkle chopped pecans over this. Mix the cake mix, oil water, eggs and frosting, mixing well. Pour into Bundt pan, Bake at 350º F. for 50 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; turn out cake and cool completely. **While the cake was cooling I made a little icing to drizzle on top.** 1 cup powdered sugar 2 Tblsp. milk 1/2 tsp. rum extract Mix well and drizzle from a spoon onto cake. I've made this 3 times. The fist two times by the recipe, the second one seemed to be too moist and the batter a little thin. I made one last week and only used 3/4 cup water, and 3/4 cup oil. It turned out great! I always make it by the recipe, tweaks come later.. BTW it really doesn't need an icing. It is a keeper here. hope you like it. Posted by Kayce at Nanas Kitchen.

I chose the recipe above because it had 5 stars and 260 reviews IIRC. If you look in the comments, like always, people change the recipes a lot! One women said how good it was, but she had added a bunch of stuff to it, and THEN topped it with gravy! LOL But to me it was blah. Last year i made my first ever strata based on this recipe from Anglophile, below. Yes it is a lot richer but it was much, much better. I think next time I would use Anglophile's as a start and add mushroom and kale. Maybe sub milk for half of the dairy or somesuch. But Anglophile's recipe was delicious!