Weedwhacker said: JB, we only went through the mayo v. MW debate yet again in hopes of hearing from you - where have you been hiding??

I've been here, I always read and check in but don't type anything unless I have something worth saying (writing?).

CorabethGodsey said: No. Hillbilly is the best large tomato. Which is my profile pic and the lettuce in the pic too because I was making a BLT with the mater.

...with Miracle Whip.

JBarstool said: Well, it's not that exact...
But I generally start with two very fresh egg yolks in a small bowl to which I add a scant Tablespoon of very good quality Dijon mustard and a generous pinch of salt, whisk together until smooth. Add a few drops of neutral oil, I tend to use grape seed oil but that can be hard to find there so something like Rapeseed (aka Canola) or sunflower. Whisk again until smooth, add a few more drops of oil and whisk. Repeat...repeat...repeat. Having repeated this several times you should see that the yolks and oil begin to become slightly airy and glossy. Once it is evident that the oil and eggs are holding together you can add oil in slightly larger increments - 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon at a time. These early slow additions are important as adding the oil too quickly will cause the sauce to break - you'll know because it will look like an oil slick and runny yolk (you can 'fix' a broken mayonnaise sauce but it basically means starting with another egg yolk and slowly beating the broken sauce in in lieu of the oil and then continuing on).
The total amount of oil to a two-yolk sauce will vary but generally about one cup will be used.
At the point that the sauce reaches a thick and spoonable mayonnaise whisk in either two teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice or the same volume of white wine vinegar. If you are new to mayonnaise making you might add half the vinegar or lemon juice and taste the sauce and then determine whether to add more. It is at this stage that a tablespoon or so of very finely minced herbs such as chervil or tarragon can be added.

If you have a kitchen helper have that person drip-drip-drip the oil into your bowl as you whisk-whisk-whisk. It is helpful to dispense the oil from a gooseneck style oil canister. But - my hint of the day - if you have a diner-style catsup or mustard bottle, you know, the squeeze bottle type often used to garnish plates - pour the oil into that and you can probably get a pretty well controlled fast drip.
Finally, someone earlier noted making mayonnaise with a very good olive oil and being disappointed. Yup. But if you are still wanting an olive oil tasting mayonnaise make the mayonnaise as described but replace a tablespoon or two of the neutral oil with flavorful olive oil.
Once made, store it in the fridge but recognize it is not a shelf stable product and should be used within just a few days.
I have a friend who gets eggs from me and makes mayonnaise virtually every day for their sandwiches and salads. She uses an immersion blender with a beaker designed for its size, she says it takes seconds - I don't have an immersion blender so haven't tried it and can't report.
Hope this helps.

Thank you sir!

Edit: I just ordered a Kitchen Aid immersion blender from Amazon - looking forward to some superb mayonnaise to go with my Cherokee Purple tomato sandwiches!!

Loving the debate over mayo vs. Miracle Whip, and now which tomato? Oh boy!

I grew up eating Miracle Whip, but must say now it tastes to me like mayonnaise ruined with sugar. Great mayo is a food group unto itself. I'm going to try JB's recipe.

I can't grow Cherokee Purple here, (tried at least 3 times) so must admit I've never tasted one. Disease takes the plants out before they even set fruit for me. Must be a seasonal thing. Best tomatoes I've had recently were Bella Rosa. Just beautiful, perfect and delicious plus big enough to make a good sandwich. Thorburn's Terra Cotta was very good as well, but they ripened in the short days of winter, and the plants were done before the days got long enough to make much sugar in the fruit.

Just sayin' . . . it really depends a lot on where you are, as to which tomatoes you can grow best. I don't have the luxury of long days to make my tomatoes taste that fabulous, sweet, fruity flavor so I have to pick from what I can grow.

In Utah at my daughter's house, she likes Momotaro, a mild sweet Japanese variety.

As for the tomato variety, the best sandwich tomato will cover a slice of bread with a single slice. And for me, I love meaty fruity sweet tomatoes like German Pink, Potato Top, Mr. Stripey -- lots of juicy tomato flesh and few seeds.

Wait -- if I move to Florida and have to grow tomatoes in winter I will miss out on my favorite fruity sweet varieties??

Say it ain't so, Joe!

Jill, the ones I grow at this time of year are much sweeter than those I grow in the winter. There just isn't enough hours of sun in the day to make them as sweet. The closer we get to summer the more the plants struggle to survive, though. The warm, muggy nights just ramp up disease pressure and the bugs just get worse and worse.

Even in summer, our days aren't nearly as long as yours - it's dark by 8:30ish even in June.

_TheZenMaster said: Thank you sir!

Edit: I just ordered a Kitchen Aid immersion blender from Amazon - looking forward to some superb mayonnaise to go with my Cherokee Purple tomato sandwiches!!

Check on Youtube, theres a lot of videos on how to make mayo with an immersion blender. Extremely easy and fast. Let us know how you do!

Army worms are starting to do damage here. No pics, because who wants to see wormy tomato pictures. Ive bagged up a couple of the smaller tomatoes with organza bags; should do the trick. I think Im going to try an experiment. Since tomatoes are self pollinating, I think Ill bag up some of the blooms and see how they grow being entirely in an organza bag.

I picked 4 or 5 more baby hornworms off my tomato plants. I can't spray or dust for them, it's going to rain Thursday.

@TomatoNut95 yes you can spray - and most dust stays active in the soil for a week to 2 weeks - the rain won't bother the dust and it will work thru the pests. I need to go kill the poison ivy, and it works even if it rains within 24 hours. It may not seem like it will, but it does. Don't let the pests win.

Ann @TomatoNut95, this may be co-incidental or merely for my area. . .

For over a decade, I've made it a practice to plant 2-3 short, French marigolds at the feet of each tomato plant to ward off the moth that lays the eggs that become the dreaded hornworm. I surmise its the strong odor of the marigolds that mask the scent of the tomato plant?

I've never had a single hornworm, except for the one year I forgot to plant marigolds. That year, I went out to find one of my few precious tomato plants decimated. I quickly found and dispatched the fat hornworm and made an emergency trip to HD for marigolds! After planting them that day, I didn't have any more problems with hornworms the rest of that year.

I choose the shortest, French marigolds because. . . they're SHORTand fit nicely under the tomato plants. I've had many varieties of marigolds: Mr. Majestic, Naughty Marietta, orange puffballs, yellow puffballs. . . this year its Lemon Drops from the swap (from you). All work equally well, but I prefer the orange puffballs for esthetics: their bright orange color is striking against the dark green foliage/yellow blossoms/red fruit of the tomato plants.

Try some marigolds: they're pretty, economical and readily available especially now. You can always spray if they don't work!

First Porter's Pride on the left and a couple more Cherokee Purple on the right.

@BetNC I do have some marigolds but a couple got too puny and I yanked them. I've had aphids get on marigolds before so that's when I stopped believing the myth that they drive off bugs.
I need to replace those sticky traps.

Marigolds draw spiders, the spiders go after the other bugs. Found my first SS100 turned orange today while thinning out the lower branches, yippee!

Marigolds are whitefly magnets in my garden...one of the pests marigolds are specifically reputed to repel. Personally, I think their reputed ability to repel pests is overblown. There are long-known studies that have proven that certain varieties repel some root knot nematodes—I remember reading about that in the 70s—but from there, with the aid of the internet, it seems like that ability has transformed into magical powers of across-the-spectrum pest control. Hey, if you think they repel pests in your garden, go for it. After 40+ years of interplanting marigolds with my veggies, I've gotten into the habit and I like the look, but I don't think they do much more than look pretty.

https://piedmontmastergardener...

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/pr...

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publ...

Here's an article that addresses whitefly. You have to read through it to get the full point.
https://thedallasgarden.com/th...

My first immersion blender mayonnaise.



For my first endeavor I used a whole egg and pure grape seed oil. Very easy and very quick to make and it is better than Dukes - and that is saying something...

Some of it will be going on a half a Cherokee Purple tomato sandwich tomorrow because I only have one ripe tomato but it is on the small side so, half a sandwich.

Next time I will use two egg yolks instead of one whole egg - I did not want to risk wasting 2-eggs for my first attempt

Yum..I just dont know how fast I can eat a whole cup of mayo. Maybe for potato salad.

Pea salad, egg salad, chicken salad, tartar sauce, sandwiches, can you tell I really don't want to visit the dentist tomorro?

Well, yeah, but do any of us?
and do any of us want to eat mayo dressed salad for 3 days straight, lol.

I have a Kitchenaid stick blender, it may have been a mayo dream that made me order it.