Mama Says: "Don't Waste Any Tomato"

My cousin Jenny and I are about to head out for a chili sauce lesson at Mama's, and we're taking along Dave's Aunt Shirley, who's from St. Louis, so she can witness this phenomenon called Southern cooking. (Aunt Shirley's giving me a brownie-making lesson tomorrow, but that's another story.) When I called my mother yesterday to see if she needed any canning supplies, she told me she was short on homegrown tomatoes. I offered to pick up a few at Murphree's, a terrific little market in Cahaba Heights. Here's a snippet of that conversation:

Me: You want me to go ahead and peel and chop them before I come?

Mama: That might be a good idea.

Me: Any particular way you want it done?

Mama: No, anything's fine. . . . Just make sure you peel real thin so you don't waste any tomato.

Me: OK.

Mama: And for heaven's sake, cut the core out before you chop them up. You don't want that old core in your chili sauce.

Me: OK.

Mama: And when you start to chop them, remember . . .

I think I'll just take her the basket so she can ramrod this operation in person.

Comments

[James]

Well she's correct. You don't want that nasty ole core in there.

[valerieluesse]

Hey, could you maybe serve as president of the Goin Down to Mama's advisory board? Board of visitors? Board of trustees? Bored with reading this?:)