Sherry K. Shaw wrote:
> 
> :)  You know, I can almost get myself convinced of that--right up until
> I encounter some product that actually tastes right.
> 
> Oh, here's another one:  Tomatoes.  A few years back, I managed to keep
> a couple of tomato plants alive (in spite of the infamous Missouri
> weather).

Missouri weather is actually very good to grow tomatoes. I do it every year.
Tomatoes, and a bunch of other growy stuff.
Hey there, I originate from the largest tomato exporting country in the 
world. It's not a large country by any means but man, do they grow a lot of 
those red rubber balls.
Yes, I was lucky to grow up with a few uncles, and cousins, that were in the 
food growing business. One uncle grew lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes in 
greenhouses. All that came out of those greenhouses was meant for export 
only. What was for the family was grown outside in the cold ground. No 
fertilizers other than cow manure. One other uncle raised beef, pork and 
chicken. A huge barn with cows, another with more pigs than you can imagine 
and an even bigger one with chickens. All that meat was for export only. Some 
of the beef got sold to local slaughter houses but not much. What the family 
ate was free to roam the field, the cows got bigger the pigs got way bigger 
and the chickens could dig in the mud however much they wanted. And they 
tasted great.

> Whenever I would go outside to play a few rounds of Fetch the
> Tennis Ball with Amelia the Wonder Dog, I'd stop at the tiny garden and
> water the plants, pull a few weeds, and so forth.  Amelia couldn't
> understand why I would waste my time with a bunch of stinky old plants
> when there was a perfectly good dog right there to play with.

A little tip, if you water tomato plants, don't get the plants wet, just the 
ground.

> 
> Then, one day, as the first tomato started getting ripe, something about
> it caught her attention.  "Wait a minute, waaaaaait a minute.  It's
> beginning to smell like People Food, but it looks...like...a BALL!!!"
> After that, gardening became fascinating.  At last, the big day arrived.
>   She stared with great intensity (as well as a lot of lip-licking and a
> bit of drool) as I picked the first tomato.  Well, it looked really good
> to me, too, so I got out my trusty SAK and sliced off a bite.  Oh, yeah,
> nice.  So then I sliced off a bite for Amelia.  She said it was
> wonderful.  So we sat on the grass and shared that first tomato (and,
> throughout that summer, most of the remaining ones as well; very few of
> them actually made it as far as the kitchen).

Coming season plant cherry tomatoes. I know, the ones coming from a store 
taste like ping pong balls on Valium, but if you roast them in the oven with 
some olive oil, salt and pepper. I'm almost certain you'll love them.
> 
> But, as much as she liked those home-grown tomatoes, Amelia Will Not,
> Under Any Circumstances, eat a supermarket tomato.  Home-grown tomatoes,
> fine.  Farmer's market tomatoes, fine.  Supermarket tomatoes, nuh-uh,
> not so much.
> 
> Did I mention that she's a DOG?  It strikes me that when someone whose
> favorite pastimes are eating, ball-fetching, and eating, and whose
> favorite foods include things like sticks, dirt, and sun-dried dead
> snakes--when that individual rejects supermarket tomatoes, then they
> must have gotten pretty bad.
> 
>>
>> That was nicely written and describes exactly how I felt. When I moved
>> to an area where all of the butchers were halal. That's what chicken
>> tasted like when it was a treat. :-)
>>
> 
> Thank you!  (Blushes modestly.)  Yes, I've often heard that the best
> meats come from kosher butcher shops (which, I imagine, is pretty much
> the same thing, politics aside).  Sadly, I seem to be in the wrong part
> of the universe for that sort of place.

Dunno what part of the Missouri universe you are in but we have a great 
butcher not too far away from here. He was genuinely shocked when I ordered a 
full slab of pork belly (skin on) to make my own spek. I'm pretty sure Thomas 
will know what I'm talking about. It's non-smoked, non-cured, non-fucked-up 
bacon.

> 
>>
>>>
>>> * Black pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and paprika.  And, of course, love.

No fresh garlic? This saddens me deeply :)
>>>
>>
>> And of course the ingredient you will be keeping back. ;-)
>>
> 
> Well, you COULD add a dash of onion powder if you like.  And perhaps a
> tiny bit of cayenne.  And some--oh, look!  A shiny thing!

Com'on lady, Missouri soil is ideal to grow both onions and cayenne peppers, 
I do it every year, so no powders. Only the real thing.

Come to think of it, you could grow just about anything here short of the 
most tropical fruits.
Last year I had so many bell peppers that I ended up just giving them away to 
whoever passed by the house.
> 
>>
>> I and a few others still have a few years on you, young lady. :-)
>>
Don't let these old guys bog you down, I'm right there with you :)
> 
> OMG, I've stumbled into a nest of geezers!  ;)
> 
>> It is good to see you dropping in again.
>>
> 
> Thanks!  FSM willing and the crick don't rise (and the Internet
> connection fails to fail, and the house doesn't blow away to Oz, and so
> forth), I can hang around a bit.
> 
> --Sherry "One Giant Mass of Wrinkles" Shaw
> 
At 22? I doubt it very much :)

-- 

Ger

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