So Many Tomatoes!

It's that time of year! Hip hip hooray! Too many tomatoes to pick, too many to eat, too many to can or freeze. Home grown tomatoes have become god's jewels to all foodies, and to non-foodies as well. Heirloom tomatoes have gained in popularity at a rate I can't even fathom. They are amazing in variety, and somehow seem to be fairly disease-resistant. My neighbors grow some that are so incredibly beautiful with yellow, peach, and pink streaks, they should take the place of a flower bouquet centerpiece on your table or kitchen island.

I am a huge fan of Green Zebras, which freeze very, very well, and make a fantastic pasta sauce in winter. This is an essential part of living well. I put in 3 plants that I bought from the farmer's market in spring, and one of the plants is producing something different. Its fruit is almost purple, bigger, and less globular than a green zebra. Maybe a Cherokee Purple?

Oh, how delightful, the surprises that come up from the ground.

For those of you who need another use for your tomato bounty, I offer this recipe. It is an old-fashioned recipe, and I'm not really sure where I got it. It is delicious on English muffins.


TOMATO JAM

Ingredients:

1 lb. tomatoes, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
3/4 c. sugar
juice of one lemon
2 t. grated ginger root
1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a 2-3 qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the consistency reaches a thin jam. Let cool. Refrigerate in a tightly sealed container.

Here's a tip: fresh homegrown tomatoes can be watery. You might drain the chopped tomatoes before cooking.

Something Funny

Here's something funny: I composted a beet that had dehydrated in my fridge, and it grew again! I think I will continue this practice with all dehydrated beets.

Weird Pizza Hut Invention vs. Tree Bark for Food

This new form of pizza is being advertised on TV, and it is really freaking me out. I post these pictures so that you, too, can freak out.

I really don't know what to say about such an invention made from pizza-type food. Except that, yes, we do have an obesity epidemic.

And yes, people will dip those weird little cheese-filled things into Ranch dressing.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, have you read "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck? Well, I recently read "Pearl of China" by Anchee Min, and so I became very interested in Pearl Buck's life. She was an American (white/German) daughter of missionaries who worked in China. She grew up there, and therefore considered herself Chinese. When she was an adult, political events forced her to leave China, and spend the rest of her life in the U.S. She won the Nobel Peace Prize and a Pulitzer for "The Good Earth," which was also made into a movie.

I'm on page 96 of "The Good Earth," and boy, is it depressing! It is just like reading "The Grapes of Wrath," a book forced on teenage Americans in high school. I understand why this is a great work of literature, but oh, boy! Only one-third through the book, the family is starving and eating grass and tree bark, and taking a walking trip to lands south where there might be more food. I don't think this is a summer read.

I am not a religious person, but I am thankful every day of my life for the luck I have in food. We are growing totally delicious and healthy vegetables, I know how to cook them, and we are never, ever bored of the available bounty. I am totally aware that it may not last for my whole life, or for my daughter's whole life. So each day, I am thankful for my food.

Tandoori Chicken, and Swimming

I had tandoori chicken for the first time about 10 years ago. My friend, Debra, who is a really, really, great cook, served it at her home. Now that I think about it, my best friends are really great cooks. They can make something spectacular from scratch in no time at all. I continue to be amazed by my friends, who are just regular weirdos, by the way they cook truly delicious meals inspired by recipes from all over the world. How blessed I am to know such people.

Indian cooking requires many ingredients, though the cooking is actually very simple. You just have to have the spices on hand. You can make an out-of-this-world cauliflower dish, very simply, if you just have the spices on hand. If you read an Indian recipe, you may be put off by the list of ingredients; once you get that under control, you can cook anything quickly, and simply, without much prep.

For some reason, tandoori marinade has always scared me. It seems so exotic and complicated. Ten years ago, Debra told me it was easy. And yet....
But the real truth is that the DH is lactose-intolerant, and therefore I avoid cooking with dairy. Yogurt is the main ingredient in tandoori marinade.

The chicken is marinating right now, and I just hope I can cook it properly on the grill. Friday is always a very good day. My daughter has a new saying this week; each morning she says to me, "Mommy, I am so happy today!" She has such joie de vivre, and has brought so much joy to our home. And why wouldn't she be happy? She has a great life. Check out the video of her swimming this morning.

For the Love of Oceans

As you may know, I am very concerned about vanishing fish. It still seems like few people know that all of the fish in the world are disappearing at a disturbingly rapid rate. Many people do know about this, and yet choose to do nothing to sustain seafood populations. If you, too, are concerned and want some advice on choosing what fish you eat, Chef Reinvented has written recently on this topic.

And BTW, good luck with that!