Growing and canning your own tomatoes for sauce

It's fascinating, some of the things you learn from your friends' Facebook statuses. One of my friends was perusing a seed catalog right after the holidays. I'm like: What? Already? Is this what real gardeners' do? Magically, a seed catalog arrived in my mail the next day. Thus, Heather and I have been talking. This is it. The year of the tomato. We are not going to wuss out. We are going to grow our own tomatoes. Can 'em. Sauce 'em. The works!

Of course, I'm thinking we'll probably need a good dose of advice from those of you who are experienced in this tomato business. Tell me dear readers:

• What's your favorite tomato to grow for making sauce? I've heard if you don't order early, you might not get the seeds you want.
• And how about food mills? I'd guess those are indispensable for making tomato sauce. The only time I made sauce was with cherry tomatoes, and I left the seeds in, and it was, er, um, crunchy. Not the best sauce ever. 

So please, without further ado. Bring it on. Your best tomato growing, canning, and saucing advice, if you will.