On the gardening page, I mentioned that my “Rutgers” tomato plant turned out to be more of a “Roma.” This was not good news because Rutgers are slicing tomatoes and Romas are, well not. So of course the romas are producing like crazy while everything else is barely chugging along. Actually after searching for the roma tomato plant photo above, I have decided that this is not really a roma. They look more like a san marzano. They really are not that flavorful though. So I dunno.
A gardening comment suggested salsa, but I am more of a soup person. So I made a huge batch of minestrone soup tonight. It came out fabulous. I get most people make soup in the chillier weather, but I love soup all year around. I like it because it is easy.
If you have too many tomatoes right now and want to make the minestrone soup. Here is roughly what I did. In a huge cast iron pot, start with two slices of chopped up bacon, let it cook while you start to chop the tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, (I really didn’t have onions or celery it didn’t matter) with whatever other veggies you have (squash, zucchini, corn anything really). Puree a few tomatoes if you have enough, if not supplement with a can of plain unsalted tomato sauce). Add a carton of chicken broth to the pot and then dump in all the veggies and add a can of chicken with the broth if you want to. Season with salt, pepper (I added a can of unsalted V8 because I had it) fresh chopped basil and oregano and parsley if you are growing any. Add some chopped garlic, a pat of butter, a pinch of sugar, a splash of lemon juice. Simmer for a bit. Then add pasta if you want. Any pasta kind will work. I had some dried tortellini that I used. Once the pasta cooks it is ready to eat.
I’ll be eating this all weekend. It’s a lot healthier than Taco Bell and you can freeze it in small freezer bags for later.
What are y’all up to this weekend?
Hmmm, that sounds so good!! I’m going to the Farmer’s market so I can fix your soup…bacon mmm 🙂
I love that you made soup in the heat. I love soup when it’s hot outside and people call me crazy (duh.) I however think firm Romas are good for slicing. I’ll dice them up and put them in pasta and they are fine, not perfect, but fine. I use them when I don’t feel like blanching and peeling tomatoes.
I had a cucumber salad and a few Miller Lites for dinner. Now I’m just bored and watching videos on Youtube. The sexless life of a 30 year old.
oh Jen, I’m living that life in my forties. Hope it doesn’t have anything with our shared love of soup year round…cuz I’ll give that shit up in a heartbeat if I could reclaim my sex life
Okay we share much in common! I am married though so I am not sure if that is better or worse.
I don’t mind using Roma tomatoes on sandwiches. They seem to fit better, if that makes sense.
I have had my first batch of tomatoes ripening this week, and I made angel hair pasta with tomatoes and fresh basil (also from my garden) tonight. Yum!
It’s been a big concert week, and it continues this weekend. My BFF’s husband has turned into a curmudgeon and won’t go to concerts anymore. So she and I go, and sometimes my husband comes with us. (We have gone a little ticket crazy this year, no wonder I’m broke!)
Last weekend we saw Harry Connick Jr. at the Hollywood Bowl – amazing! That is one sexy man! Oh, he sounded great too 🙂 Monday night we saw Elvis Costello and Steely Dan, also at the Bowl. I wasn’t surprised that Elvis was still great, but Steely Dan’s core is getting pretty old. You wouldn’t have known it listening to them. They’re such perfectionists – each instrument was mic’d so well that you could hear every note. Tomorrow night we are seeing Willie Nelson at the Greek Theatre. I’m not a huge fan, but I am sure I will enjoy all the second-hand weed 😉
Your soup sounds good!
The Cuervo Gold. The fine Columbian. Make tonight a wonderful thing…
Yep, they played Hey Nineteen. They didn’t miss playing many of their big hits!
That was from a song? I was just placing an order…
I can help you with the Cuervo. You’re on your own with the Columbian!
“No we got nothin’ in common… no we can’t talk at all….”
The Dan. I love DF’s old cynical, hunched over, curmudgeonly a** .
Love it, Xanadude! (Love you, too, though you didn’t know it.) I’m gonna go find that song now!!
Harry Connick, Jr. shows up every now and then in divey little clubs in New Orleans. If you’re lucky enough to be there, you get hotness up close and world-class Jazz. I was downstairs at the bar drinking when the word spread that he had slipped up the back stairs and was at the piano. It’s a miracle the second floor didn’t fall in. Lenny Kravitz makes an appearance from time to time…put him in my pocket. Have fun with Willie….all you have to do is breathe.
Ok now I’m jealous. Lenny kravitz is my ‘happy place’. I never got meditating on beaches and fields – but Lenny? We’ve been aaaaaalll over the world 😉
Musically speaking, Harry is one of my heroes…but I find him very odd-looking up close. But then, many people who photograph extraordinarily well have a funny look about them in real life. He has a really high butt, too, sorta like Malik Yoba. All long legs and high booty.
High five to your music this summer.
Your concert agenda is all kinds of awesome.
He puts on a good show!
So love Harry Connick, Jr.! He used to come thru every year-never missed seeing him! He is amazingly talented and really gives a great show! He seemed to stop touring for a few years(or at least did not make it to Charlotte), so I was really excited to go see him when he announced his tour this year. Our little group got tickets for the february concert, and damned if it didn’t snow/ice! I live in a pretty rural area, and missed going. The rest of our group was able to make it was really bummed! Sounds like you’ve had a fun summer. I share your taste in music!
Haven’t grown a tomato in several years, my dad and I grew them jointly(its hard for me to find things to do with him that he likes) for years, until he got pissed about them not turning out right for a couple of years in a row! Wished I joined with y’all on the tomato adventure-nothing better than fresh grown tomatoes!
Harry could be blind, crippled and crazy, but all he has to do is whisper something in that sweet N’Oleans drawl. I’m hooked. And the way he talks about his wife, “swoon.”
Xanadude Fun Fact: Jennifer Salt, who played Eunice Tate on Soap, is an Executive Producer of American Horror Story.
Knowledge, no matter how useless, is power.
Great memories watching Soap. That show was one of the funniest at it’s time.
Soap–I’M INVISIBLE!
Jennifer Salt used to date, I think, Jon Voigt (or some other famous actor) many, many years ago.
Sounds yummy. I love soup all year round too. Nothing like a pot of goodness cooking up. Watching Complications now, then True Detective.
Thanks, for the recipe, TT. I need to send you another photo of Little Kyle. We transplanted her to a big jar of something–dirt or sand. I don’t know..bf is in charge. She is huge, but so far no little tomatoes. Lisa Vanderpump, on the other hand, is producing like crazy. OMG they are so good. I came home the other night and there was a dark red ripe tomato waiting for me. Made a BLT with Morningstar veggie bacon, Duke mayo, red lettuce and the tomato. Drooling again, thinking about it.
I had today off. Got my hair trimmed and colored and went to brunch with my parents. Spending the rest of the day dozing in front of the TV with the bf.
I have to work this weekend. 🙁 But at least it’s more money and less work on the weekends.
Hope everyone is doing good.
My mom canned quarts of tomato juice each year. She mostly drank it but was great for cooking. All types I of tomato worked. Great memories.
I want to learn how to do this!
Mom picked a lot of tomatoes. She would drop them into boiling water to loosen the skin, she would peel and remove most seeds. She used a aluminum sieve w/wooden paddle. The juice was pulpy but it was juice. Cooked or heated then canned in jars. Mom used all type of jars, mayo, pickle any jar that would accept a canning lid. You do not have to buy jars. Ck for chipped jars, do not use!!
She did not add seasoning. Some canners do batches of different … If you add water make certain it is good water.
A the work was in the peeling & seeding. Some seeds came thru. Was ok.
Oh, and the singing group of UF, Michael, and myself are officially changing our name to either The Tamara Tattles Trio or Tamara’s ToyBoys.
The Lady C will continue as interpretive dancer in a cage.
TT’s ToyBoys for the win!
You can’t tell but I’m dancing for you as I type…
A Boy Toy band, yes!!
I had my very own Toy Boy a few years ago. I had the best 6 months of my life. I was 53, he was hot and he took me on big airplanes to awesome hotels. All I had to do was show up.
I called him My Boy Toy and he would smile.
You are the first people I ever told that story to. Yes he was good!!
I envy you. I live in a building with other seniors. Quite a few of the women here have dated younger men. More power to them, I say.
Hahaha.
My only demand is that I always have a Beyonce wind fan on me at all times so that I can: 1)pretend that I’m Beyonce 2) I hate to sweat so need to stay cool 3)Remind all ya bitches that my milkshake brings the boys to the yard.
Yeah I don’t even like to sweat when I’m doing the act. Sweat is not my thing.
We all agree on the sweating thing. That will be in our rider. Max AC during performance, both for non-sweating and maximum nipple pointy reasons.
I support pierced nipples for this reason. Those headlights are forever turned on then.
I’d like to apply for the position of nipple ring organizer and maintenance person. You know you’ll all need a different set to match your frequent wardrobe changes during your performances. Other duties can include but not be limited to turning The Lady C in and out of her cage at the beginning and ending of your performances and also potty breaks especially during your many requests for encores. Oh and making sure that wind fans and/or air conditioners are replugged within seconds to make sure UF’s ass doesn’t break a sweat and the nipple rings maintain the proper temperature to ensure the appropriate nipple erectness. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
“I’d like to apply for the position of nipple ring organizer and maintenance person.”
I want a job too! I know, I can be HKR’s assistant nipple ring organizer!
How did you know I had Taco Bell tonight??? And a first crop of various tomatoes ready to be eaten?!! You are scaring me me miss missy! Will have to try the minestrone with some of the tomatoes, sounds yummy.
Use them in pasta sauce. Saute with onions and garlic and some basil in olive oil and enjoy… 🙂
I love minestrone but it’s way too hot for my favorite recipe which comes from Marcella Hazan. But it’s definitely time to think about gazpacho! I use the recipe from The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, near Tampa.
Marcella Hazan – love and RIP. She was, is the bomb of italian cooking. Her onion, butter and chopped tomato sauce is a staple in my house, at least until it gets inhaled.
I actually met her once, she bordered on bitchy
Shucks, that kills my fantasy that she was a benign, gentle grandmotherly type – damn you! 😉
This weekend I am going to smile with glee as I slowly witness a certain media website implode! It is great. My guess is that the homophobic writer will be fired soon as a scapegoat, but when you ‘allegedly’ assist with extortion then your days are numbered.
Is it an Aussie site, Micheal?
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 2:48 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
American. 🙂
tweet me! 🙂
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 3:44 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Me too Micheal.
I couldn’t believe what had transpired and how the site was also complicit in extortion. No surprise to find out that the Man Hooker’s web profile page has been deleted, but now his real name & identity & pics from his porn career are all over the net now.
This can’t be good business for a $700 hr/ $5000 a night whore that blackmails his tricks. That’s low & sleazy even for prostitutes. The fall out should be severe to the editorial dept that approved this story as well as the writer. This story reeked of intentional public humiliation of a married closeted man just so the site can get those clicks. I will never click on any of their posts again.
I WILL CLICK! Where do I click! 🙂
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 4:20 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
I’m having a weird convo in CBS chat with someone about SRS. Apparently, when you transition you have to use a dilator no less than once a week or things close up. I imagine they give her a private room to do that off the diary room if she has had surgery? Also, the bottom surgery seems to only cost about 20K these days and even less in Thailand.
Interesting.
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 5:11 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
> I WILL CLICK! Where do I click! 🙂 > > On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 4:20 AM, Tamara Tattles [email protected]> wrote: > >>
It is worse. You HAVE to read the follow up ‘Denton apology’ AND the revolt by the writers and their posts. They are pissed that the post was not retracted but deleted. It is completely imploding. Especially as he worked for a competitor who was/is the owner of Reddit – who they want destroyed.
Excellent points, UF. The guy wasn’t a public figure. Commenters are debating the ethical and journalistic merits like there’s even a question. Not a public figure, no story. I hope he sues.
Now only one contributor is posting on the site. Me thinks their writing staff is probably on strike (recently unionized).
Yeah, and the owner/creator/founder of said site is openly gay, too, which makes it more bizarre. The apology was, frankly, not enough, nor has the subsequent “throwing everything up on the site to make the story/apology appear further down the news scroll” tactic been effective. They pretty much outed a man for no other reason than for funsies.
BTW – the rentboy in question is bizarre. Google his real name and you come up with some very odd articles about his beliefs, and apparently his coworkers on the porn sets were not that enamored with him either.
I am just an old, straight, white lady so maybe you guys can explain all the outrage about this. That particular website publishes gossip and rumors about anyone and everyone-that’s their mantra. If their story was about a straight male married-with-children-CFO who was paying for the services of a female porn star, I think they would have published it and no one would have blinked. Isn’t that the same thing..? They “out” people all the time for not living an authentic life (or whatever they call it to justify publishing salacious stuff) so why the uproar now?
Also, how is the site complicit in extortion by publishing? Aren’t they responsible for stopping the extortion by making it public? Full disclosure: I wasn’t able to read the original post because it already been taken down when it came to my attention.
This is how I think the site was complicit in this extortion
If the site, I won’t mention by name, had come across the extortion plot & posted a story about it as a result of a criminal investigation then it would be ok… But instead the site was contacted by the BLACKMAILER CRIMINAL who was following through with his threats to expose the closeted married man if his demands were not met to punish him.
The site took information from a blackmailing criminal and posted about a crime who’s intent was to publicly humiliate & destroy a man and his family that would also financially benefit the site with all the click views and ad money generated by the click views. The site gave a blackmailer the means to follow through with a crime to expose if demands were not met.
Maybe my explanation is a stretch for some to agree with, but that’s how I see it.
Very well said, UF. Thank you.
Yes the site deleted the post after the uproar against them. They really should publicly retract the post, but the damage is already done.
Cammi though the post is deleted on the site, it is archived on the web. If you want to see the archived post just tweet me and I’ll give you the link for it.
What UF said. Basic points:
1. The site kept the blackmailers name annonymous whilst in the original post AND subsequent ‘apologies’ they keep mentioning the victim’s name.
2. The man is NOT a public figure.
3. The ‘evidence’ (text messages) were never authenticated as true before publication.
4. The site regularly castrates other gossip websites for their ‘trashy journalism’ (hypocrisy at its finest).
5. General background research of the ‘writer’ shows that he is at least a teensy bit homophobic.
6. The victim of the article never even (if the texts are real) paid for sex – he tried to but canceled it. He still paid the extortioner/criminal for his time wasted – they never met or had sex (again even if any of the article is correct).
7. The pos hooker/criminal realised he was a rich married white guy so demanded he use his ‘connections’ to influence some housing court (simplifying as best I can) issues he was involved with. Failure would mean he would send the texts to a website – of which he did. So the site is completely complicit.
8. The site only recently posted an article about how outing the sexuality of a non-public figure was not ever going to be on their agenda.
9. The site has a huge boner for trashing reddit – of which was/is owned by the media company that the victim works for.
10. The victim works for a huge competitor of theirs.
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain. I see how you could feel the site was complicit now. I’ll be tweeting you for that link!
Simply gawking at the stupidity – it can be a fun past-time.
Now it’s looking like a hoax to get back at the site for lambasting its competitor. Oh man, what a clusterfuck. Complete with blurred out dick pic and crazy conspiracy rants.
This is the same site that wrecked an anonymous woman’s career by casting one of her tweets as a racist statement when in fact, it as just a bad – very bad – joke. Read about that in a book on public shaming.
Is it time to rechain UF to the radiator long enough for an AHS update post? Someone linked me to a Lady Gaga themed trailer claiming to be official but it wasnt’. From that alone I am out. I have enough scary thoughts in my head with seeking out more.
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 6:04 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
What has happened to Mickey Rourke? No really. What happened between 91/2 Weeks until today? 🙁
His face? He used to be so handsome. Now he looks like a future housewife on Bravo.
I KNOW! I mean I have gone seriously downhill myself, but he is an actor in LaLa land! I think he just had some bad work done. He would have been find aging gracefully, he was a hot man.
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 3:47 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
George Clooney; not my type at all and at times over hyped, but he certainly aged gracefully without hitting the surgery room hard. Rourke would have been so handsome.
Wasn’t he a fighter or a boxer after he started acting? I thought it was injuries from that as well as trying to get plastic surgery after.
Rourke was so hot when he was younger , drooling hot.
LOTS of bad plastic surgery and fillers. Brandi Glanville is going to end up looking just like him if she isn’t careful.
It’s too hot for me to try Tamara’s soup today, but the weather where live is usually so rainy…I’m saving this recipe!!! I LOVE tomato based soups, last week I made Gaszpacho when it was Sahara Desert Hell Hot here. I wonder if Tamara likes flatbreads or artisan pizzas? I’d take those durn tomatoes and throw them on some fancy-pants flatbread, add caramelized onions, fresh basil, crumbled farmer’s/feta or even blue cheese, pop it in the oven or throw low heat on a grill…if you can get your hands on some Balsamic creme, drizzle it on top…okay, she has me getting started with a tomato obsession today, sigh…
What am I up to this weekend you ask…reading TamaraTattles posts and comments. It could be a lot worse. I mean, at least I have this…:)
If the tomatoes taste good, eat them however you like!
By the way, anyone who had “Jax Getting Arrested” on their Vanderpump Rules Vacation Bingo Square, you can fill that spot in.
I saw that a few hours ago. *sigh*
Douchebaggery at it’s finest.
BING….oh damn. I still have the ‘Jax’s boyfriend posts his bail’ square to fill.
🙂 that made me smile.,,wonder if the *cough* new girlfriend he brought with him will post it? Man, oh man. Lisa is gonna be PISSED.
BINGO! Jax get arrested was my last square after “One of the Toms posts their ass on Instagram!
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 3:48 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
I will be off right now to…ugh…check the journalistic integrity/honesty of this comment. For…science!
Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner folks!!!!
Take about 8-10 of those romas and rough chop. Put in large sauce pan, salt & pepper, 1/3 stick butter. Cook on low heat. Stir and smush with wooden spoon occaisionaly. Cook for about 45 min. Add another Tbs or so of butter. Purée in blender. Serve on pasta with fresh Romano or Parmesan cheese. Sauces about 1lb of pasta.
I make Barefoot Contessa’s gazpacho recipe all the time, and add in some jumbo lump crabmeat (I am in Maryland, soooo….). Serve it with grilled sourdough bread rubbed with a clove of raw garlic. Beastly good. But tonight we’re making some sort of nacho buffet and drink frozen drinks.
Remind me again why I don’t live with Rebecca? Because, I really should.
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 4:30 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
My life would be complete. And I could regale you with my Mickey Rourke story from my 20’s…
OMG! Why don’t I dream about this life instead of hours of fatal car crashes like last night.
I was waiting for a guy to show up that I had met online and like sitting in some duplex’s porch watching for his car when a red truck out of nowhere started tumbling down the highway. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the person I was waiting for, but the dream ended after the ambulance and tow trucks drove away. 🙁
Tonight I want to dream about living in Maryland and eating lobster and drinking bloody marys and gossiping about Mickey Rourke.
On Sun, Jul 19, 2015 at 12:00 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
Back in the day, a friend dated Carré Otis while she was broken up with Mickey Rourke. Mickey didn’t like that & put a hit out on my friend. It was pretty dramatic for a while. Carré later married MR & he was not a good husband (abuse, etc). >
See. Gazpacho makes sense.
I love this place.
Tomatoes, soup recipes, hookers, blackmail, and journalistic integrity all in one place.
We are a unique following.
Ps. Is it true that they are doing the ‘hotel’ theme for AHS this season?
Pps. Scream queens still looks like heaps of fun. Can’t wait.
Yes it is a Hotel theme. If you care to see what is up I can tweet you some teaser links of what is revealed so far for the new season.
Sure. I hope it is scarier than Freakshow.
and I still lay heavy money that at some point the song “Hotel California” will come up, with the line “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device” repeated throughout the season.
Ryan Murphy has said there will no musical numbers this season, but I would love if it was referenced some way in the show. By the way I love that songs, and I LOVE the Eagles.
“Ps. Is it true that they are doing the ‘hotel’ theme for AHS this season? ”
Yes, and Lady Gaga is part of the cast!
~~~you may check out anytime you want…but you can never leave.
Wait wait wait. “add a carton of….” CARTON????? Ugh. Horrendous.
Yea…I wasn’t going to say anything but that made me pause, too.
Where is your outrage over the V-8? I am out of all my homemade stock. It’s too hot to roast the chickens. This was just me trying to use up some tomatoes with items on hand to put off going to the store again.
Besides, I thought I was the only person who still made their own stock.
On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 8:17 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
Oh hell no, I save all my bones and make stock. Did you know you can reuse the bones a couple of times? I throw in a tbsp or two of apple cider vinegar to extract minerals from the bones. I add fresh ones and when the used bone pile gets unwieldy it goes in my Bokassa compost bucket.
I just used the last frozen bit of stock to make jasmine rice this week. But I won’t be making soup again till fall. If the tomatoes don’t have a lot of flavor, sun dry them. In the oven. Or in your car. Am I allowed to post a link?
I love making stock. I usually use Julia Childs as my guide.
The Barefoot Contessa gazpacho recipe uses tomato juice, but I use V8 because it’s zippier. A non-zippy gazpacho is hardly worth the effort.
In a blender: the aromatic marriage of tomatoes, cukes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic.
Pour chilled in a bowl. Float on it a dollip of sour cream, thinly sliced radishes, avocado slices, chopped scallions.
Chilled heaven on a hot day.
Before I die I need to find a moment in my life to properly use “aromatic marriage” in a sentence.
You just did.
I had a few tomatoes tonight just sliced with S/P, some fresh basil, a little white balsamic and regular moz. It was amazing! have 9 small tomatoes for tomorrow and hopefully many, many more to come for the recipes and days to come. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, truly Xmas in July!!
Weird. I made a big Caprese pasta salad yesterday too.
I do bowtie pasta, baby grape tomatoes cut in two, mozzarella balls cut in two, lots of fresh basil, olive oil and salt and pepper.
It lasts for several days. I just add a little more salt and pepper and olive oil to it a couple times to keep it moist. All the basil gives it great flavor.
Just a quick update. I finally went to the doctor about my concerns. After being examined by several doctors, including 2 surgeons, it was determined that I was freaking out over nothing.
False alarm. My problem at this point is more emotional than physical.
I am now working on that. From now on, I’m avoiding the topic as much as possible. It upsets me, and in return, upsets others.
Thanks to everyone for their concern.
Cat, I’m glad you’re ok
I managed to miss your concerns somehow. I’m glad to hear that they were resolved favorably. #NineLives
On Sun, Jul 19, 2015 at 2:52 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
Yay for the false alarm and huge Pepe le Peu hugs!
I missed your freakouts, too.
I’m glad you are okay, Cat.