The Toasted Tomato

Posted on November 15, 2013March 24, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

Snow on a new day

Snow is falling outside and, under an hour, everything has turned beautiful. There is nothing like the first snowfall of the year to make you re-appreciate your landscape and as I look out of the dining room window, I realize this is a moment I won’t forget.

It’s rare that you have those times, when you realize that something permanent is being embedded in your brain and that, in the coming years, you’ll refer to it often to squeeze a bit of its sweetness out. I feel lucky, so very, very lucky, this is one of these times.

Posted on November 8, 2013March 24, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

A November column

On the weeks I don’t know what to write my column about, I tend to look back on what I’ve written at the same time in previous years, hoping those past stories will prompt an idea for the present. It’s both a painful and pleasurable thing to do, resulting in me smiling at the memories and wincing at how many ways the writing could have been improved.

This morning, at a loss for a topic, I looked back on last November, and found a column I’d written about our decision to pursue in vitro fertilization, the final step in our efforts to have a baby. At the time — and for the year before it — I was struggling with intense anger concerning our failure to conceive. Part of it was the hormones I was taking, part of it was the extreme desperation I felt: time was getting away and I was getting older by the minute.

Posted on November 1, 2013March 24, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

A new approach to turkey

Instead of the usual notes to myself about when to pick up Gabrielle from violin or how long I wrote that day or how many minutes I slaved away on the elliptical machine, this week my day timer is filled with just a few simple commands. On Wednesday, I have to grocery shop and roast tomatoes. On Thursday, I have to make cranberry sauce, soup and ice cream. On Friday, I have to prepare the turkey, bake bread and chocolate tarts. And Saturday, whose square is highlighted in pink, the list extends into Sunday’s box as I wrap everything up.

Though nearly a month late, the Baker/Kaprowy home will be celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving Saturday and our dining room will be packed with friends, who will gamely tuck beside each other like sardines and eat. Everyone comes at 7 and, usually, they come ready to work.

Posted on October 25, 2013March 24, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

Inside fusion class

This morning’s workout involved me trying desperately to touch my toes. As I reached, I realized just how close the tips of my fingers are to them, and yet, as my hamstrings screamed in protest, just how far. Surrounding me was a sea of women not only touching their toes, but calmly pressing their palms flat into their yoga mats, the backs ramrod straight, their shoulders bulging with muscles.

Posted on October 18, 2013March 24, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

On the road again

It’s 8:50 in the morning and I’m sitting here eating a Clif protein bar. Do I want to be eating chocolate chips and oats and soy at 8:50 in the morning? Answer, colon, no, period. But the protein bar is absolutely non-negotiable since in about an hour I’ll head out for a six-mile run, the first I’ll do this week.

I’m 11 weeks into intensive training for two half-marathons I’m going to run in November. The decision to do these runs was made way back in the summer when Nov. 16 and 23 were still way far away. I’m pretty sure I was sitting in the porch at the time and I’m pretty sure a cocktail or two might have been involved.

Then, doing two half-marathons seemed entirely reasonable. I’d get all trained up for one and then, a week later, just run another one. Because, honestly, how far is 13.1 miles? On the Interstate, you can drive it in under 13 minutes. Easy peezy.

Posted on October 4, 2013March 24, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

Crisis averted, record intact

Yesterday afternoon, I had a sick little girl on my hands. I had picked her up at the usual time from school and she sunk into the car, putting her head back on the headrest.

“I feel terrible,” she announced weakly.

I looked over and saw that her eyes were watery and her voice sounded like she was talking around a ping-pong ball. She blinked wearily and I realized, with a mild feeling of dread, it was time for the Pauline Lord sickness special.

Posted on September 20, 2013March 25, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

To the lovely Lady Di

A few Thursdays ago, I showed up at my friend Dianna Milam’s house with a basket full of eggs, whipping cream, sausage and bread. Dianna opened the door with a pure, unrestrained smile on her face, and I basked in seeing the radiance. Because after the hardest year of her life, Dianna Milam had made it. Life was ahead of her in all its wonderful, complicated glory and she was ready to dive in, ready to feel normal, ready to celebrate, and, thanks be to God, ready to eat.

Posted on September 11, 2013March 25, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

A different way to eat

It’s been a summer of omelets at our house, with nearly every Saturday morning spent out on the deck with coffee and these yellow half moons sitting cheerfully on the plate. The beauty of the omelet, I discovered, is that it is wonderfully accepting. Have an extra tomato? Dice it up and add. Too many jalapenos? It can take care of that. Scallions getting wilty? Throw them in there. In fact, the omelet is to breakfast what salad is to lunch — you can toss just about anything in there and somehow it all works.

Posted on September 3, 2013March 25, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

The sting of week 4

Last week, I jauntily wrote about the success I was having with my diet, an effort that involves losing 10 pesky pounds that crept on over the summer. In a tone that might easily have been mistaken for boastful, I talked about how I was in Week Three of my weight-loss project and how I had started to feel wholly in control of my appetite. I could walk past the fridge without feeling weakened by it, could run on the treadmill and not feel like dying. I had lost 5 pounds and could see the light at the end of tunnel, a light that showed that I was slim, marvelous, a little smarter, funnier even, perhaps suddenly ambidextrous.

Oh, the trickster that is Week Three. Here I was, so confident, so sure that this three-week-old approach to food was my new permanent approach and that I could face any threat to my resolve. But then Labor Day weekend struck and everything went to pot.

Posted on August 30, 2013March 25, 2014 by thetoastedtomato

The magic of week 3

It’s Week Three of my Back to School diet and I just finished a bowl of shredded wheat for breakfast. How hungry am I right now? Pretty damn hungry. But I can look into my empty bowl and see that victory is coming.

This effort to lose weight is to get rid of 10 solid pounds that crept on me over the summer. Even though I’d been telling myself I was mostly eating vegetables, it turns out they were accompanied by a lot of meat and cheese and bread. For a while, I rode with it, enjoying myself so much. I ordered dessert at restaurants. I baked zucchini bread and spread the still-warm slices with butter. I ate pasta with fresh tomatoes and Parmesan. I made ribs and slathered them in sauce.