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Tomato love and more

heirloom tomatoes

I’ve been having a wonderful summer and I’ve been greatly remiss in not sharing more of it with you, my dear and faithful readers. Because it is you, dear readers, that I think of when I’m deciding what to bake, cook, photograph, and write…well you and those three big guys I live with. I’m a shy girl, I’ve never been popular and well…you know…I’m kinda geeky. So everyday I’m shocked and surprised that you all show up here to see what’s cooking…and I’m thankful. Thank you for reading, commenting, praising, suggesting, and lurking (yes I see you over there hiding behind that cup of coffee).

So it was this morning that I woke up and went down to the kitchen to see if GH had the coffee ready. The sun was shining so fetchingly on my collection of tomatoes that I thought of you and wanted to share…so I grabbed my camera.

heirloom tomatoes

I love, adore, and worship tomatoes. The more misshapen, cracked, and oddly colored, the more I love them and the better they taste. I get several beautiful tomatoes in my CSA box and then I go to the farmers’ market and I always end up buying many, many more. When I was a kid my mom had a huge tomato garden. In the first few weeks of September I’d arrive home on the school bus and be met by my trusty, devoted Beagle dog, Billy. We’d walk straight to the garden and I’d pick the best, most perfect tomato and sit down in the cool grass under a shade tree and eat the tomato out of hand, just like an apple. That sunny warmth and flavor shaped my love of all good things to this day.

Scott at Real Epicurean has tagged me for the Fantastic Four meme…so here goes:

4 jobs I’ve had:
Waitress, driver, soil lab technician, operations manager

4 places I’ve lived:
Sullivan, Illinois, Carbondale, Illinois, San Fransisco, California, Antioch, California

4 places I’ve vacationed:
London, NYC, Boonville, California, Markleeville, California

4 of my favorite foods:
Pork, pie, tomatoes, garlic

4 places I’d like to visit (was “rather be” but I’m always happy where I am):
Prague, Mongolia, Sicily, Amsterdam

4 friends to tag for this meme:
Ros, Kate, Erin, and Splatgirl

Now, go eat a tomato…you know you want to!

August 12, 2007 | Filed Under Local, Wisconsin, bits and pieces, blog event, food, food porn 

comments

4 Responses to “Tomato love and more”

  1. erin on August 12th, 2007

    I tried to email this to you directly, but I couldn’t get the visual verification to work for me….sorry!

    Hey Vanessa,

    Got your message–thanks for the tag! I just left the Midwest yesterday–my family’s from Holmen, a town a bit north of La Crosse, so I never made it over to the Madison area. Next time!

    Thanks for the tag–I’m in the middle of moving so I may not get to it for awhile….

    By the way, I made your fudgie banana cake a few weeks ago and it was fab–my husband and I loved it.

    Take care, Erin

  2. Mollie on August 13th, 2007

    I’m a lurker (yes, that’s me behind the coffee). However, I had to comment when I saw that you lived in Sullivan… I did a year of summer stock at the Little Theatre and I will never forget it! The world is so small, I’ve run into 3 people with Sullivan ties in the last 2 months.

    And I share your love of tomatos… we eat them constantly, in every variety. Your blog inspires me to eat better food!

  3. vanessa on August 14th, 2007

    Erin, good luck with the move!

    Mollie, thanks for saying Hi and thanks for reading. Yes, Sullivan is hard to forget…I’m never sure if that’s good or bad.

  4. Mollie on August 15th, 2007

    me either…. :)

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