Seriously.

They always make about a hundred jars at the end of the summer. You can imagine how full their basement pantry is every fall. At 2AM in October 2005, the furnace adjacent to the pantry caught fire and an electrical fire began to climb through the walls of the house. Many people die of smoke inhalation this way. My father, a very heavy sleeper, happened to hear smashing sounds in the basement. He woke up startled. (Not only by the sound but he heard it coming near his secret money stash–another story.) Sure enough he saw the fire, grabbed his cash, my mom and the cat. They got out in time. He left a little money trail that the firefighters kindly handed back to him.

I like to imagine the jars getting all hot and excited, dancing off the shelf, screaming, “Sal, wake up!” Of course I always loved those tomatoes that made themselves into many a lasagna, wood-fired pizza and pizzaiolo beef dish. But since then, I have an even deeper affection for them.