Our favourite vodka sauce comes from Centro. A wonderful restaurant in Toronto.. Or at least it use to be. Haven't been in a while. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Fettuccine Natasha ================== 3/4 pound (375 g) fettuccine Source: Centro - Toronto 1 tablespoon (15 mL) extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon (15 mL) butter I garlic clove, minced 1 tablespoon (15 mL) minced onion 4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced 1/2 pound (250 g) smoked salmon, sliced 1 cup (250 mL) 35% cream 1/4 cup (50 mL) vodka 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) pepper 1 ounce (28 g) caviar (optional) . In a large pot of boiling salted watei~ cook fettuccine until a! dente. Drain, and set aside. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter. Stir in garlic and onion, and saute, stirring often, for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until softened and beginning to thicken. Stir in the smoked salmon, cream, and vodka; simmer for 5 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Gently fold in cooked pasta and pepper. Garnish with a rosette of smoked salmon or caviar. CHEF'S SLGGESTION: If a saltier taste is desired, add the smoked salmon at the same time as the tomatoes

The strawberry vodka we made (with the fine Popov brand of vodka) is a beautiful, clear red and has a strong strawberry flavor. We mixed it with tonic water (we're V&T fans anyway) and a generous splash of lime, very tasty. We also put a splash into glasses of both pinot grigio and cheap champagne and it was also mighty tasty. We're not martini drinkers, but a friend who is had me make her half strawberry vodka and half regular vodka (some Stoli we had kicking around), iced it down well and added fresh lime and that was also good. We kept the mashed strawberry mixture in there a good month, and shook it up every couple of days, then strained it out and let the vodka cure. Also used the leftover mashed berries with vodka in a frozen vodka daiquiri, and that was STRONG, but good. We have a little left and it's just in the plastic Popov Vodka bottle but next year we have plans to make more and use it as gifts, so we will also be on the hunt for good looking bottles. I was also thinking about making pineapple rum, maybe kinda sorta Captain Morgan-esque? Good luck, all- sandyponder

My tomatoes are doing well so far, but it's in the high 90s today, with heat indices well over 100. It's supposed to cool down to the high 80s next week, so hopefully it'll be OK. We do need rain and I've been running the sprinkler on my little backyard raised garden. No heirlooms ripe yet, except for a handful of Yellow Cherry, but I keep watching! The Mortgage Lifter finally has a lot of green tomatoes, and they're one of my favorites for flavor, so I'm waiting..... Ann/spacific, one of the few ways I actually like a tomato "sauce" is if I can saute some chopped onion and garlic until translucent, toss in some chunks of fresh tomato and cook just until they are heated, then stir into pasta with a shaving of fresh parmesan. I seldom like cooked sauces, but I'll have to give your version a try. Annie

I keep a couple of jars of Classico spaghetti sauce in the pantry for things like that. My favorite ready to heat spaghetti sauce for sandwiches is by Lucca in the frozen food section. With meatball sandwiches the provolone and the bread is what I'm picky about.