Can someone tell me what the difference is between canned crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce? IS there a difference? Because my favorite spaghetti sauce recipe calls for crushed tomatoes, and I like using crushed tomatoes because there are no chunks of tomatoes in it, and I don’t like tomato chunks.
Well, I guess I like tomato chunks in salsa (a restaurant we occasionally go to has salsa without tomato chunks – I think they use tomato sauce, and it’s really just kind of gross) and I like a slice of tomato on BLTs (for years and years I ate my BLTs without tomato, though) and sometimes hamburgers or chicken sandwiches. But in a sauce, I do not care for tomato chunks. I also don’t care for baked tomatoes – I’ve made quiche with halved cherry tomatoes in it, and while I ate it, I didn’t really care for it.
But in any case, what IS the difference between crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce? Anyone know?
I watched Burlesque yesterday. That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Well.
I actually watched the second half of the movie at fast speed – when I hit the “seek” button once on the remote, it speeds up, but you can still hear what everyone’s saying, they just say it faster – and frankly, I could have just taken the movie right out of the Blu-Ray player about 10 minutes after it started, and wouldn’t have missed a thing. I like Christina Aguilera’s voice and think she’s purty and I enjoy singing-and-dancing movies, but good lord – next time I’ll just pull up a couple of her videos on YouTube and call it good enough. What a generic movie annnnnd I hate to say it, but Christina Aguilera is not an actress. Stick to the singing, Christina.
I do not recommend.
So, Rufus. I hear you were a bad boy who went out into the back yard and over the fence on Saturday and were gone ALL DAY LONG and had to be trapped because you were acting like a scaredy cat and wouldn’t come to Fred and so now you have to wear a collar to keep you in the back yard. Do you have any comments on the matter?
“Your accusations bore me, lady.”
“And that guy did NOT scare me. He just smelled funny. Yeah, that’s it.”
First, your daily McMao movie (I have a really long one saved for tomorrow!)
Oh, the little pink toes on the left KILL ME DEAD.
He’s not hungry, he just wants a snuggle.
Maggie’s having deep thoughts.
Sleepin’ baby face.
All six! I imagine in another few weeks, it’ll be pretty hard to get a shot of all of them at once.
Pink toes, pink nose, and tiny little claws.
Those toes are just the most amazing shade of perfect pink, aren’t they?
Named! The kitten formerly known as Blue (aka “Dark face”, aka “no white paws”) is now Fergus Simon! Lori (winner of the Maggie Pool) named him after her sons.
I’m hoping to get the others named by the end of the weekend. What I need, if you know of any, are Irish names that are not gender specific, because we’re still unsure of the sex of two of the kittens and I’d like to get them named. So if you have any favorites, feel free to share!
Corbie, keeping an eye on Newt. Or really, just waiting for Newt to get fed up and run out of the playhouse.
Mission accomplished!
Previously
2010: “What the -?”
2009: Random things that make me twitch.
2008: She turned and glared her “FUCK YOU” glare at me, and went along her way.
2007: No entry.
2006: You WISH you were me.
2005: Off to Gatlinburg.
2004: Our palates are too immature, I suppose.
2003: Now I know why, when the camera and sound guy were setting up and I chirped “Oh, is this the camera that’s going to make me look like Ashley Judd?”, everyone laughed so hard.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Then he and the spud went swimming yesterday, since the pool’s up to a sultry 66.
Maggie snuggling with her kittens – so sweet 🙂
Crushed tomatoes is more “pulpy” for lack of a better word. Tomato sauce has a smoother consistency.
You know, now that you say it Lisa, that’s exactly it!
Those pink toes are the best tiny toes ever.
Crushed tomatoes are thicker than plain sauce. Slightly more texture but without chunks. Right?
That’s right! Actually, when you put it that way, crushed tomatoes sound a million times more appealing than tomato sauce.
I want to recommend Macauley for the kitties. It may make you automatically think male (Culkin), but one of the little girls I nanny is named Macauley. Not sure how it would work with the McMao last name, however…
What Lisa and elyssa said about crushed tomatoes. My lasagna recipe calls for both (plus tomato paste) and I think it’s really all about different textures.
Such touchingly beautiful photos of Maggie and her babies.
Rufus is too handsome for his own good. Whiskery-cute, he is.
Love the power play between Corbie and Newt. Boys!
I’ve known a female Shane and a Rowan, although both are typically boy names. Or you could choose a term of endearment name that I would imagine would do for either. Someone I met once had a daughter named Macushla which means literally ‘my pulse’ but is used like ‘darling’ apparently. That would do for either M or F. Just don’t shorten it to Mac… Mac McMao is a bit of a tongue twister!
Oh, I REALLY like Macushla!
I think Quinn or Riley/Reilly could go either way. And Rory, who is one of my guys.
There’s also the pretty common Kelly or Shannon that could go either way.
There is a texture difference like people said, but I also think tomato sauce (we’re talking the canned kind, right?) does have a few ingredients in it, like oregano or whatever. Actually, I’m a big dork and looked it up online for Hunts on their website: “Hunt’s Tomato Sauce is made from all-natural, vine-ripened tomatoes, with salt, spices, and natural flavors for seasoning and contains no added sugar, corn syrup, or other sweeteners.” Whereas other canned tomato products only have salt, if that.
I like Moriarty (which can always be changed to Miz Mo(riarty), Ciaran (black), Caragh (love) Fallon (leader) and for a straight up boy, Dhugal. Just because I love the name Dhugal. 🙂
I also have a sneaking fondness for Biddy, though I’d probably just call a kitten by that name Lil Bit. (Little bitchypoo?) LOL
Patsy is a unisex Irish name — diminutive of “Patrick” for a boy. For some reason I think little Irish lads called Patsy are just the darlingest damn things. Casey, Carey and Keegan are three more non-gender-specific names I can think of.
OK I googled “Irish names” and these are my favorites: Aedan for a boy (pronounced Aid-en) and Carney for a girl. Also after reading your comments, from here on out I will always use crushed tomatoes in my spaghetti sauce!
My great-grandfather was Cornelius, but everyone called him Connie…
My fave girls name is Roisin (Ruh-SHEEN)Not that you asked for any girls names, but y’know!
Swiftly followed by Aoife (EE-fah) and Caoimhe (KEE-vah)
But I’m betting the lil girly is going to e called Siobhan, JUST to annoy Fred…
Hi Robyn,
I prefer crushed tomatoes over sauce any day….
How about Darcy which means “descendant of the dark one.” I think that would be fitting. Darcy was on the Boy Irish Name list I looked at, but I know a female Darcy.
I also vote for Shane which is a variant of Shawn which is an Irish name. I was a nanny to a little girl named Shane.
Thanks for the pictures and movies. The pile of squeaking babbees was a great way to get my day started. Squee.
Val
PS – I just love the tiny specks on Rufus’ nose!
Mika got it right. Crushed tomatoes are just tomatoes and salt; tomato sauce is seasoned tomatoes cooked a while. I use both, plus tomato paste, plus diced tomatoes in winter because I’m too lazy to cut up whole ones.
OMG the Wee Little Behbeh Yawn at 0:25 just killed me DEAD!!!!!!!!!
MY name is Irish and gender neutral, you know… Blair would be a lovely kitty name 😛
Crushed makes the best sauce IMHO because it is a more complex flavor: more tomatoey and sweeter than sauce. Sauce is already cooked down so it loses flavor. If you want to make your own salsa, get whole peeled tomatoes and just whiz them for a second in the food processor. For some reason, the whole ones taste better to me than the pre-chopped ones. It’s kind of crazy how many different kinds of canned tomatoes there are. lol
Finnegan. Finn. What I named my mini daschund!
Notice how excited Sugarbutt is about the activity going on below him in the last two pictures! He must have his kitty ear-plugs in so he won’t be disturbed.
I love the “snuggle” picture!
I like the name Bono, but I imagine that’s more a male name. 🙂
I also like Quinn and Feeny (those were last names of my grandparents).
How about Logan and Riley? I have friends who have boy Logan and girl Riley and prior to that have only heard them the other way around. So to me, that means they must be gender non-specific.
Cute cute cute kitties!
crushed tomatoes = tomatoes which have been crushed and then canned.
tomato sauce = tomatoes which have been crushed and then COOKED and then canned.
At least….. I think that’s the case. I feel very definitively about this, but may be very definitively wrong.
How about Grady? good ol’ Irish name
Omg, Robyn 😀 Today was my first day volunteering at the Humane Society and I totally got to HOLD ITTY BABY KITTENS. I swear one of them still had their umbilical cord. I thought of you 😀
I like the name Nigel for a boy! It means “champion”.
I am not a fan of chunky tomato products either. I love tomato sacue and ketchup but do not eat fresh tomatoes at all. It’s a texture issue I’m sure. People think I’m nuts but that’s the way it is. When I made my own sauce the recipie my Mom had called for Progresso peeled tomatoes with basil. I worked with a lady from Calabria Italy who would use them too if she ran out of her own homegrown canned tomatoes. She had stomach issues-ulcers, gastritus, had her gall bladder removed-just like me. She told me Americans cook the suace too long and tomato paste causes heartburn. I tried her sauce and it didn’t bother me at all. I have handwritten notes that aren’t complete enough for the recipie she gave me. She still works at the store I think I need to pay her a visit. My husband quit smoking in July. He gained 25 lbs. and is complaining of heartburn. I bet he could have that sauce. I think he just doesn’t like it as much as I do. He had a tomato sauce at a Greek resturant that was especially mild and he loved that. Anyone know the secret to that?
I like the Fratelli crushed tomatoes, which come in regular and salt-free varieties. I will sometimes add the Fratelli salt-free to a jar of commercial spaghetti sauce, which can be super salty, then add oregano, garlic, basil, hot pepper flakes, etc. so that the flavor isn’t watered down along with the salt…(even the Mart of the Wall carries Fratelli salt-free!)
The babies are so cute and Maggie looks like a really great mother! Love the videos! I think Bailey is a good Irish name that could go for a boy or girl.
I’m an irish lass named Catherine, but my childhood name was Catsy, so please, name a girl kitten after me!!
OMG I just watched the movie and I died from the cute.
Yes, but do you like cheese on a salad? 🙂
I LURVE cheese on a salad! 🙂
You can always go with the traditional Diedre, Bridget (Bridey), Moira/Maura, Colleen or funky like Sorcha, Sinead, Ailis (ay+lish) or Clodagh. I love Fergus, one down, five to go. For boys Aonghus (Angus)or Declan. You’ve got to love that pile o’cute…..squee for days! Throughout the whole tomato section I kept thinking of Fr3d “I like cheese, just not on salad”…..”I like tomatoes, just not chunks”; amused myself for a good few minutes on that one, because I am a geek of the week :). I wonder if you can repost Fred’s story of Jake and Elwood coming to live with you….I hope it’s not gone forever and although I’ve been replaying it in my head, well, it’s just not the same.
Guiness (okay it’s boyish but I like it)
Finn