you say tomato, I say tomahto (+ a summer blog break)

~ jama

“A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins.” ~ Laurie Colwin (Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, 2012)

via Nashville Scene

We have a big love for tomatoes here in the Alphabet Soup kitchen. Wish we still had our own vegetable garden, as there’s nothing like freshly picked homegrown tomatoes for salads and sandwiches. Along with peaches, they represent the best part of summer.

“Still Life-Tomatoes” by Gevorg Sinanyan
SONNET #43, KITCHEN STYLE
by Kim O'Donnel

How do I love thee, tomato? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and might
My palate can reach, when remembering out of sight
Your peak month of August, when you bear fruits of juicy Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most urgent need for a BLT, by sun or moon-light.
I love thee with abandon, as Venus might her Mars or Vulcan.
I love thee purely, as surely as the summer wanes.
I love thee with the passion of my appetite
Above all fruits, and with my childhood's eye of Jersey tomatoes
As if they were falling from the sky.
I love thee with a hunger I seemed to lose
With my lost innocence (and the icky mealy tomatoes of January)! I love thee with the smell,
Unlike no other in the garden, and your vine-ripened sweetness
That bring me smiles, tears, only at this time of year! -- and if the farmers choose,
I shall but love thee better after many bowls of gazpacho.

~ This poem first appeared in the “What’s Cooking/A Mighty Appetite” column in The Washington Post (August 7, 2006).
“Still Life #5: Tomatoes and Basil” by Vitaly Sidorenko

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Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road . . .

by John Cannon via Omnifold.

Did you know Toto was named after To-ma-to? 😀

Apt that the road is yellow too, since the first tomatoes known to Europeans were thought to be yellow (the Italians called them pomo d’oro, which means “golden apple”). And of course it had to be Emerald City, since tomato stems are a lovely green.

“BLT” by Tjalf Sparnaay.

I can certainly identify with “everyday’s most urgent need for a BLT.” Although we usually try to avoid bacon, the lettuce and tomato are a healthy balance (at least that’s what we keep telling ourselves). We do eat BLTs year round, even sometimes risking those “icky mealy tomatoes of January” to get our fix.

Tomato poster by Yeesan Loh.

I do like how versatile tomatoes are too. They’re just as delicious cooked as they are raw. I don’t want to imagine a world without Italian food and its saucy tomato deliciousness. Hello, pasta bolognese, pizza Margherita, lasagna, chicken cacciatora, eggplant parmigiana!

How do I love thee? I shall count the ways: stuffed, stewed, diced, sliced, broiled, fried, skewered, grilled. Let me wrap my lips around some salsa, caprese, soup, bruschetta, tacos and jam. And I confess to being one of ‘those’ people who likes fries, steak, and scrambled eggs with ketchup.

“Straight Out of Ketchup” by Kait Schoeb.

BTW, did you know Heinz Tomato Ketchup has a speed limit? If the yummy sauce pours at more than 0.028mph when it’s in the Heinz Tomato Ketchup factory, it’s considered too runny and rejected! We like our ketchup thick and slow.

No rotten tomatoes, though. Nice to know the Beatles felt the same. Originally, the opening lines from “With a Little Help From My Friends” were, “What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?” Apparently, Ringo did not want to sing that, fearing he would be pelted with tomatoes if he performed the song live. 🙂

So how do you like your tomatoes? Do you have a favorite variety?

by John Cannon.

♥️ All you need is love ♥️ . . . and tomatoes. 🍅 🍅 🍅

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The lovely and talented Michelle Kogan is hosting the Roundup this week. Be sure to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being serving up around the blogosphere. Enjoy!

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🌞 SUMMER BLOG BREAK 🌴

It’s time to put our soup on the back burner so this blog can take a little nap. Hope you have a great summer — playing, reading, relaxing, (maybe) traveling, eating, singing, tap dancing, writing, thinking. We’ll see you right after Labor Day! 🙂

Here’s Guy Clark to play us out:

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“In this world of uncertainty and woe, one thing remains unchanged: Fresh, canned, pureed, dried, salted, sliced, and served with sugar and cream, or pressed into juice, the tomato is reliable, friendly, and delicious. We would be nothing without it.” ~ Laurie Colwin

*Copyright © 2023 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

19 thoughts on “you say tomato, I say tomahto (+ a summer blog break)”

  1. Ah, tomatoes! I love them. When I was traveling in Asia, I missed tomato-based foods…and possibly the combination of tomato and cheese. I love a good slice of warm summer tomato with mayonnaise. Have a wonderful summer. I always miss you and am so glad to see your return. I will be catching up on a few of your posts that I missed. Take care.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I love garden tomatoes. We planted ours right after Mother’s Day. My favorite is yellow boy, but being Italian-American, I love everything with tomatoes. My absolute favorite in summer is a lovely tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion salad dressed with a homemade red wine vinaigrette! Have a wonderful summer, and as the 60’s song said, “See you in September!”

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I don’t grow them anymore but sneak quite a few from my daughter’s garden, Jama, love those beefsteak ones, with or without bacon, summer sandwiches! And the poem, “urgent need for a BLT” is just right! I love the fun fact about Ringo, will miss your jolly posts but have a wonderful summer, filled with tomatoes!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. This made think of my mother. She didn’t always have a full garden, but every summer she planted tomatoes. And when they did get enough from their own plants, my dad would rive across town to his favorite farm stand to buy fresh locally grown tomatoes. Last summer my neighbor gifted me with a dark, purplish heirloom tomato from his garden- best ever! Thanks for bringing out the memories.

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  5. “I love thee to the depth and breadth and might
    My palate can reach” — yes, true, and nice ending, too. Thanks for the wonderful tomato post, Jama. Last year my parents had a bumper crop of volunteer Matt’s Wild Cherry tomatoes. I hope they come back this year. Delicious in a salad with corn and basil.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Did NOT know that about Toto’s name – thank you for the education! And Ringo was right, too many syllables in the tomato-throwing option anyway. ;0) Thank you for the fresh, juicy post (and they’re so GOOD for you with all those nutrients and all), and as Linda notes, we will MISS YOU!
    Hugs to Mr. C. and all the bears and such as everyone gets some good, I hope, R&R in coming weeks. xo

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  9. Jama, as a child I used to watch the bushel of fresh ripe tomatoes come into my Nonnie’s kitchen. Ah, the smell of her pasta sauce perfumed the room and I could not resist dipping my bread into it. Thank you for all the wonderful sights in your blog post. I forgot that you do take a summer break each year so enjoy your sunkissed summer and I certainly look forward to your return.

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  10. I *love* homegrown tomatoes. Atticus has planted them for as long as we’ve had the space for a garden (30 years, I think?) I love a BLT (have you tried the bacon without nitrates or nitrites?) and I love to roast grape or cherry tomatoes in olive oil. I freeze them and use them all year on salads or on pizza. Delish! Love the poems today, Jama, and enjoy your summer blog break! I always look forward to your return! ❤️

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  11. There are sungolds and heirlooms in my garden, battling their way through our very late spring mountain weather. My earliest recollection of liking any vegetable (yes-yes, it’s a FRUIT!) is a tomato-cucumber salad drenched in red wine vinegar. I liked BLTs well before PBJs. And I keep romas frozen for my pasta gravy (yep, we call it gravy, not sauce). Sigh… I love tomatoes! Enjoy your summer, Jama!

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  13. As a kid I didn’t eat tomatoes, and for a long time as an adult I only liked tomato sauce, but now I am such a fan. I am quite sure they are my favorite food but only fresh and local. Nothing else is worth eating to me. And all the heirlooms that are available are out-of-this-world excellent. I think about them in all the months I can’t be eating them. Have a nice blogging break. Your blog is such a place of joy.

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  15. Love your post, Jama – almost as much as I love tomatoes! I usually grow about 40 different plants each year, and the best-tasting one I’ve ever grown is a German heirloom called Aunt Ginny’s Purple, and it’s very hardy, too. If you have a chance to try on, you won’t regret it! Have a great summer!

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