How to actually process tomatoes!

I'm re-posting the link to my friend Janelle's blog, where she actually tells you in some detail how to do the things I airily whisked onto my blog, not giving y'all the hint that I spent hours trying to figure out how exactly to (safely) dry, roast, freeze, puree and can tomato products.   It's definitely a learned art, and Janelle gives good directions.  (also bomb-ass pictures).

http://creativehomesteading.blogspot.com/2010/08/tomatoes.html

My only note of caution about preserving is to always follow a recipe and to never, ever try to preserve something in oil.   I had one book tell me to let my dried tomatoes sit in olive oil, to make "a delightful sauce for soups and salads".   I thought, ok, added garlic and it quickly turned moldy, thank goodness, because that turns out to be a fairly perfect botulism environment.   Vinegar kills just about everything it touches, and is safe (thus we have pickles, catchup, mustard and mayonaise), but if you want to make a flavored olive oil, I'd use it within a few days and store it in the fridge.   For the dried tomatoes, they might be acidic enough to be all right, possibly add some vinegar to the mix and nothing else,  but I'm still leery.   

More on canning soon - hopefully with pictures!