savor september -- tomatoes



One of my favorite things about summer, something I look forward to all winter long and then all spring (and sometimes most of summer) is tomatoes. I grow them every year (mostly in less than ideal conditions -- someday I will have a garden with ample sunshine!). And while the plants are growing and blooming and forming their little green tomatoes, I check and check and check for signs of ripeness. Eventually there's that first, delicious, ripe tomato. And then, later, if I'm lucky, there's a glut of them.




Matthias calls it "all you can eat tomatoes". I can think of nothing better.




Bringing them in every day. Eating them every day. Cutting them up for salads. Making salsa. Roasting them. Putting them on pizza (roasted with garlic and herbs first, or not). Freezing them. If I get enough of them I'll can them, too.

I like to grow heirloom varieties and always try some I've never grown before. This year's surprise has been Amish Paste.




Some grew fatter than paste tomatoes are supposed to grow. but that wasn't the surprise. The surprise (to me) was how good they taste, such a concentrated tomato yumminess. And when you roast them? Oh, so delicious.

A few tomatoes took a detour up to my studio.




And the whole time all I could do was think about eating them.




What about you? Do you like tomatoes, too? What's your favorite way to eat them?


Comments

  1. I buy heirlooms at the farmer's market, and it's one of the few times we buy bacon...for BLT's.
    We grow cherry tomatoes and we roast them and store them in the freezer for winter pasta.
    Also, halved in salads. Or just popped from the vine to the mouth!
    Wonderful painting, great use of watercolor bleediness. :-)

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  2. Oh my, you know you've hit a nerve here with me! I am a tomato fanatic. I grow the heirlooms, mostly. This year I got such a late start on my garden that I didn't get to eat my first tomato from my garden until August! Which is tomato blasphemy in my neck of the woods. It's usually an unspoken contest as to who can brag about the first ripe mater. Usually, I'm eating by July 4th but my husband's family always gamble and get theirs out earlier than me and are eating them by late June!

    I've grown Amish Paste before and it is a good one. I usually just grow those to freeze for soups and such. My favorites, which really there are quite a few are Cherokee Purple - always good, Carbon - a real tomatoey taste black, Mexico - a nice big pinky beefsteak, Aunt Gertie's Gold - of course a yellow, large and delicious though a tad tangy but a nice change from the reds. Oh and Anna Russian is an oxheart variety that is pink and extremely tasty. I've grown a few different cherry heirlooms and think the best I've found of those are a yellow small variety called Coyote. Man does it ever produce though!

    Loving your paintings of the toms. I keep wanting to do that, too but they never make it the studio! "Get in my belly!"

    Oh my favorite way to eat them is plateful of simply thick sliced with salt and pepper. I could talk tomatoes for days, but I'll quit now ;)

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  3. Fresh tomatoes is one of the best parts of summer!
    We've discovered applewood smoked sea salt -- sprinkled on halved 'Juliette' tomatoes...it's been a total game changer. :)

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  4. Tomatoes heaven and beautiful painting!!! big hugs to you, Anne! Have a lovely and inspiring autumn!

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  5. I love tomatoes! We've been buying the heirloom ones from the farm stand and sadly I can't remember what they are called but they are so yummy and the little tiny orange cherry tomatoes (again not sure of name) but they are so sweet. Yours look great just like your painting.

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  6. I love my "vegetarian" BLT. I'm not a vegetarian but I once made a BLT without the bacon (didn't have any) and my whole being TASTED the bacon. Well, we expect it to be there! Now I make "Bread, Lettuce & Tomato" sandwiches just because they're so tasty. Read Harriet the Spy if you don't believe me! Toast the bread, spread with mayonnaise and top liberally with crisp lettuce & ripe tomato slices. PS if the tomatoes are extra juicy I have to eat them over the sink.

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  7. Oh YUM! and I mean your paintings too!

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  8. Thanks, everyone! I love reading all this enthusiasm for tomatoes!

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