Im searching for Tomato varieties that I might have eaten a a Boy growing up ***** This I think I can address, while trying to define tangy I can't b/c it's just too individual . LOL It's been pointed out that almost all tomatoes tested for pH have about the same pH so tangy isn't acid related. Over 400 organic compounds have been noted on mass spectography as being involved in tomato taste and none of them IDed, so I'm going to leave it at that. LOL OK, so about 60 years ago brings us back to maybe 1945-1955 when I was a kid growing up on the family farm and we raised tomatoes and lots of other veggies/fruits. Bright red, medium size and I'll say with that old fashioned taste, you say zesty. Varieties to consider might include: Rutgers Valiant New Yorker Break O Day Marglobe Big Boy F1 Bonny Best Chalk's Early Jewel Earliana Fireball .....for starters As for others that may meet your criteria that I perceive as non-sweet and somewhat zesty, but not necessarily red and round: Silvery Fir Tree, round red Tigerella ( the original, a small red with gold jagged stripes) Prue, various shapes, red Gold Ball Tangella, round orange Sandpoint, round red Brandywine ( Sudduth), beefsteak pink Lida Ukrainian, round red Vehza, round red Vodar, round red ....for starters and I can pick out the ones I think come closest to your criteria if you wish. But only you with your soil and your way of growing tomatoes and what you use for amendments and the weather in any one season are going to decide what comes closest to what you remember. Being roughly your age, I imagine, I was born in 1939, I know how hard it is to recapture what we thought we remembered from our youth. But I have regrown many that I listed above, from that first list, that we grew back in those years, and for the most part, they were round and red and the plants bushy and that's remembering them from the fields where they were grown sprawling. And I remember them from going along with a can of kerosene to get the Colorado Potato Beetles and I got one cent for every beetle. LOL And of course I also helped pick and we used, all farmers used at that time, three peck baskets. Heavy, is all I can remember, LOL, and they had to be carried out to the dirt road where my dad would pick them up and put them on the flatbed trailer to be taken back to the shed where they were sorted and packed for market the next day. Had to be waiting in line at the market entrance at 5 AM, and that I remember as well.( smile) Carolyn

Like some of you have said, I don't consider myself a good cook. I am an OK recipe follower and I like to eat good food, so I cook. My aunt is a good cook. She can put together a meal out of nothing. It's really amazing, she goes in the kitchen, putters around and you really have no idea what she is doing in there and it seems like nothing, and then she pulls out an amazing meal. She has a great sense of taste and texture and what to make out of what. She is not a fancy, gourmet cook, her food just tastes good. I have also noted that she creates thing bit by bit, which is why it seems like she pulls meals out of nowhere. She starts a dish in the AM or the day before and does some aspect of cooking it and then just keeps going at odd times. She has a grand scheme of her kitchen and food and pantry in her mind. I'm always amazed by her, because she doesn't have fancy serving ware or antyhing, she can serve up the best dessert on a chipped dime store plate. And nothing fancy either, but she knows what pleases. Like when my dad or her son come to her house for a visit, blintzes will be made . . . On the other hand, practice makes perfect if you have a good palate. I am not too shabby with rice, beans, pasta and soup, because I make them constantly. I now have a tasty repertoire of taste combos and techniques in my mind. So some of it is just good taste, knowing what works for your tried and true favorites. That's my biggest problem actually, my sense of adventure. For every "Wow that was good!" concoction that I try, there are three or four "Meh's" and a sometimes a "Yuk." I dunno, perhaps a great cook never goes there . . . but it is my domain most of the time.

oh me oh my... that sounds exactly like BM over here. When the kids were living with us full time we would send over enough clothes pj socks etc for the entire time that they would be at her house and then one extra just in case... When the kids would come home almost no clothes would come back ... it was ridiculous and got to the point where we had to write everything down just to make sure we got the stuff back. Now that she has taken the kids back (a whole other story) She NEVER sends any clothes. Even over Christmas break when we kept the kids for the entire two weeks we asked for clothes... Do you know what was sent ... one pair of pants each and no jackets of any kind no shirts no nothing... three pair of pants two of which were all holied up and really not wearable. She never sends anything even when we ask over and over again for the clothes. So, we ended up having to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes for the kids (since when she decided to take them back she didnt have anything so we "had" to send over all of their clothes) Now, whatever they came over in is what they wear home to the last sock and shoe. They have a whole bunch of clothes at our house that they can change into and wear all day long if they want but when it is time to go home.. they have to change and put on the clothes that they wore over to our house. It is frustrating for us and the kids because there are certain things like the new dress and boots that I bought for SD that she really wants to take home and wear to school. But, as with the last pair of boots I bought her and every other clothing item that has been sent home and requested back... it will somehow get lost. Although I will never understand how you can completely 'lose' that many clothing items but whatever...

I have two step-children.... 4 and 6. Their Bio Mom is still around. It's joint physical custody. The kids are here just as much as they are there, although sometimes Bio Mom likes to take her trips and live her social life and she often let's the kids slip as her number one priority. She is an involved Mother, just not as much as she should be. My husband is a great Father......NOW. He was horrible when we first met. I had to come in there and lay down the law. The kids were getting away with murder and not respecting adults. I helped him to see that and much of the excellent behavior these kids display, can be attributed to me and my efforts. My husband loves his kids, but even he is not as involved as he should be. I really do everything. I fill their shoes A LOT. Recently, I have put my foot down and I've told them, YOU NEED TO DO THIS, THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS, STAY HOME WITH YOUR KIDS ETC. They respond well to it. My husband is supportive of me...and so is his ex. We are actually all friends...and we work together really well. But I just feel sometimes that my role is too strong, but we all placed myself here in the beginning.... I've been a strong influence/parent from the start. Once you take on all that responsibility and become a huge role in the kids' lives, even if you realize it's too much, how can you really stop without hurting the great relationship you have with the kids? If I pull back, the kids know it and they feel rejected by me. So I feel stuck in this HUGE role forever... I don't mind it very much at all, I just don't want to be taken advantage of. As I wrote above, I put my foot down a lot. Recently I yelled an emphatic NO! We've changed the schedule to accomodate my time and Bio Mom knows I do a lot....and that I am often put in the middle of her and my husband. She and I are true ALPHA females...we have a lot in common. When she was married to my husband she was the boss. That is the same in our house. I run it... he makes the money, but I run the house and our life... SO when it comes to planning for the kids, his ex and I directly work together. He is just informed once we have reached a decision. This way has always worked better for me because I then get to make the decisions....and don't feel like I'm having to adjust to her requests coming through my husband. If we work on a schedule and set it up a certain way I feel more willing to do it...then if my husband set it up with her. It's easier...and feels less threatening and controlling. Not only that, she and I work together better. We communicate better.... Those two are horrible. They are night and day. If they planned things together, the kids would be lost....and dressed in pajamas for school. SO basically, what I am trying to say and going off on a tangine with, is that life has been set up in a way that makes me totally accountable and responsible for the kids....more than perhaps most stepparents. I don't think it can change. As long as I have the strength to communicate my limitations or express when I think it is too much, it should be okay. My major concern in all of this, will be how the kids feel. We are close and enjoy our time together...and I am very much their Mother...not BIO MOM of course, but no different from her and her role. However, I've sensed a pulling back lately, as I pull back. I think the kids feel like I don't want them... It's so hard sometimes because as much as I love them, there are times I could do without them.... I think they are starting to sense that feeling, even though I don't directly show that to them...somehow they are sensing it. I don't know how to comfort them and help them to realize that it's not an evil thing, it's justified....but doesn't mean I don't love them. I also think that they sometimes wish they had both of their parents taking care of them.... When they want their Dad, they may not say it, but feel it, AND they get me instead. I think they are getting smarter and figuring things out and experiencing some new emotions. I know I threw out a huge question to everyone. I think I sent it out when I felt pressured by my role for the day.. Today my role is fine...but perhaps two days ago it was a lot! Every day is a different day... It's amazing how your attitude can change from day to day as a stepparent. I wish there was more consistency in this life. Anyway, I just want the kids to be happy...but I just sense some tough things on the rise. It seems to come in cycles..when we first met, it was really hard. Although the kids were nice to me, they displayed anger to their Dad...mainly the 6 yr old, he was 4 at the time. Things calm down, the kids adjust and then one day they say something, things get quiet, they adjust, someone gets angry at something or doesn't listen, they say they get tired of going back and forth, and through everything, they have not pulled back with me... But lately they have...and I think it is because I pulled back the time I put in with them...and my other priorities replaced them temporarily. It sucks for a stepparent because if you do something that upsets the kids, or if you are not there when they need you....you have to work twice as hard to get it back, while Bio Mom checks out for a week and never calls and when she walks through the door, she is Heaven on Earth!! SO unfair. How can you prevent your steppchildren from sensing that they are not wanted one day? I guess you just have to suck it up and pretend you are happy to see them, when you don't even care? I'm rambeling, but I see things are changing...and I'm worried. I don't want to lose what I have with them...it's a great, loving relationship... One of these days, they will see things clearly and I'm so afraid they'll hate me, and all this time I put in, will be for nothing... And my marriage will suffer and life will just plain suck!