What are you doing with all of your tomatoes? A few years ago, I stumbled on Ina Garten's Recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup - it's the best roasted tomato basil soup recipe out there if you ask me! Ina's recipe calls for fresh tomatoes and herbs and she doesn't use cream or milk. Best of all, Ina's soup is rich and full of flavor. Ingredients 3 lbs. ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 cups chopped yellow onions 6 garlic cloves, minced 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1 (28 oz) can whole plum tomatoes, with juice 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 tsp. dried) 4 cups chicken stock (homemadeor store bought) Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Gently toss the tomatoes from your garden with 1/4 cup olive oil and layer on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Roast for 45 minutes. In a large dutch-oven, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt. Sauté until onions are translucent and start to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, roasted tomatoes, including the juices, and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring the soup back to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes, uncovered. Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with drizzle of cream or dollop of sour cream, fresh parmesan, and side of grilled cheese. So that's what I do with any extra tomatoes this time of year. I'll share the recipe in today's Show Notes.   Brevities #OTD On this day in 1843, the New England Farmer ran an ad about Chrysanthemums for nurseryman Joseph Breck: "The subscribers offer for sale twenty varieties of new Chrysanthemums of the most superb and rare sorts, at 50 cents per pot."     #OTD   Today is the birthday of Joy Morton who was born on this day in 1855. Morton's father was J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Dayand  a former secretary of agriculture under President Cleveland. Not surprisingly, Joy's love of trees was instilled in him at a young age. Raised on a farm in Nebraska, Joy Morton became a powerful businessman in Chicago with his company Morton Salt. In December 1922, Joy established The Morton Arboretum - a tract of land dedicated to ongoing study of trees, shrubs, and grasses. In 1923, Morton donated his family's Ancestral home, Arbor Lodge, to Nebraska and the property became a state park and a memorial to his father. An article from the Chicago Tribune in 1926, offered a glimpse of the passion Morton felt about trees. Speaking at the Arboretum, Morton said, "I want to appeal to the gambling instinct of the American people. I want a man to come in here and say, 'What can I get out of tree planting?' I want to arouse his venturesomeness. A man old enough to think for himself comes in here and sees a group like that [pointing] group of walnuts over there which is doing so well, and then he says to himself, 'Well, how about it? What can I do now on my land that will mean something to my grandchildren thirty years hence? And, then I want him to keep looking at the walnuts, or what he likes best, until he says, I believe I'll go and do likewise.'"   #OTD   Today is the birthday of James Drummond Dole who was born on this day in 1877. Dole had gone to Harvard and then after graduation at the age of 22, he made his way to Hawaii in 1899. After living there two years, he honed in on growing pineapple as a business. The Smooth Cayenne strain of pineapple wasn't native to Hawaii. It was a Florida variety. Dole began growing 200 pineapple plants on 60 acres. The rest is history. Here are a few fun pineapple facts: Pineapples have Bromelain; a chemical that prevents gelatin from setting. But, once pineapple is canned, the Bromelain is de