E for Effort

I went to another book signing. This is my favorite author, Diana Gabledon, signing my copy of her new book. Look how nice and THICK it is! I won't be able to read it until December, sadly, because I have to read homework books until then. I know better than to start one of these unless I have time to do nothing else, because I will ignore the world until I'm done.

I waited for 2 hours to have her sign my book. Why? Two hours for "To Kellet, Diana Gabledon"? I have no idea! It seemed like a good idea at the time. She is a good speaker, I enjoyed her talk before the signing. Here is how she began:

"In days of old, when knights were bold, and condoms weren't invented, they wrapped some socks around their c**ks, and babies were prevented!"

See? You don't hear a talk start out like that every day. Her books are hard to describe. I think they are shelved in fiction, as historical novels. They could also be science fiction or romance. Paul calls them the "Lusty Scotsman"books. I told Ms. Gabledon that at a previous signing and she asked, "Does he enjoy the fringe benefits, too?" GULP! She was asking if her books (which do have some sex in them) inspired me to make out with my husband! I muttered something like, "Bleaaahhh, yeahhhh hahaha" took my book and scuttled off.

She seems to be a very straight-forward person. She said a reporter asked her once "What is the appeal of a man in a kilt?" She said, "I guess it's the idea that he can have you up against a wall in about 2 seconds flat!" And the reporter said, "GULP!" and scuttled off! So if you're looking for a good read, the first one is called Outlander.

Now, we get rain. Too little, too late. My tomatoes are already dead. My friend Deb is a marvelous gardener. I was admiring her tomatoes and asked her how many tomato plants it took to make a cherry tomato hedge that big. Just one! It was so full of cherry tomatoes, I couldn't believe it. Deb gave me a ton of them. I made this yummy jam with them. It takes a lot of effort, and it's amazing how 4 pints of tomatoes cooks down to 3 cups, but it is tasty.

I got my first paper back from religion class. I was pretty nervous, not having written one for a quarter-century, but I got a 3.0! Pretty good, considering. Better yet, the professor said I could rewrite it and try for a better grade, because he says I seem like the kind of person who would put in a little more effort to get a 4.0. Now THAT'S a compliment!

Cherry Tomato Vanilla Jam

2 1/2 lbs (4 pints) cherry tomatoes
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
1/3 c. plus 1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
3 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
3 (1/2 inch wide) strips lemon zest
5 Tbls lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse cherry tomatoes and put on a heavy cookie sheet. Pick off all the stems. Add the vanilla bean pulp to the 1/3 cup sugar, mix with your hands to combine. (Don't they smell good?) Mix tomatoes, sugar, olive oil and lemon zest on the cookie sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes depending on size of tomatoes, stirring often, until the tomatoes are wilted and skins have burst. Let cool a bit before removing the peels. Press the peels in a strainer to collect all the juice. Add juice to a medium sized pot and add tomatoes, discard skins.

Add 1 1/4 cups sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Place in a glass bowl, cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Put it back in the pot and boil until it reaches 220 degrees. Put some on a cold plate and see if it thickens some when cool. It shouldn't run when you tilt the plate. Can or freeze. yield: 3 cups