Tomatoes (yes, again)

I know, I know...you're probably tired of hearing about our garden tomatoes. But they're not gonna last too much longer, so here's another post on the tomato theme.

We finally got to the theater to see Julie and Julia. It's a movie all about food, blogging and Julia Child, so it's right up my alley. There were many gorgeous dishes in the movie, but there was one that I was still thinking about after leaving the theater. It was a simple bruschetta that the character Julie made but made with - you guessed it - fresh garden tomatoes and a little butter. I tossed together fresh chopped tomatoes, garden basil, a little garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper and loaded it onto thick slices of french bread that had been toasted in pan with a little melted butter. I think this is my new favorite tomato preparation. Seriously, I could eat this every day.

Cherry Tomatoes Galore!

Normally I eat all of the cherry tomatoes in our garden before they have a chance to be brought inside. This year, however, we have so many I am being forced to get creative. The odd thing is, this year, all our cherry tomatoes are an orange variety. MO insisted he bought 5 different kinds of plants, but apparently they are all the same sweet orange variety. There is one that is different - a juliet tomato plant - but that one is orange, too!

So, here are some of the ways I've used our abundance of orange cherry tomatoes:
- cherry tomato, green bean, and potato salad with basil vinaigrette (from Annie Sommerville's Fields of Greens cookbook)
- chunky cherry tomato salsa with garden green onions and cilantro
- simple cucumber and cherry tomato salad with dill and red wine vinegar
- quick cherry tomato sauce

This last one deserves a special mention because it was so delicious and beautiful. MO was the original creator of this one, but I've made it again since. It's great on pasta with some fresh Parmesan cheese and basil, or on pizza like we made:.Quick Cherry Tomato Sauce
for pizza, pasta, or whatever!

1-2 tsp. olive oil
2 pints cherry tomatoes (it's fine to leave them whole)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
S&P to taste
fresh herbs (basil, parsley, oregano)

Heat oil in pan, then add cherry tomatoes and garlic. Add water and bring to a simmer. Simmer over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and broken up. Add S&P and fresh chopped herbs and remove from heat.

Catching Up and Apple Pie

Ok, so I have a little catching up to do. Or a lot of catching up to do. So, here goes...

My last post was about apples and although the yummy Gravenstein apples are long gone now, I do have to catch you up on the piece de resistance of Apple Week: Apple Pie. I used the recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (my go-to for tried and true baking recipes).

The verdict: This pie took a very long time to make from making and chilling the dough to baking it. The crust could've been a little more golden brown on the bottom and I prefer my apples a little firmer, but all in all this pie was delicious and we happily shared it with the Cousin Crew at a lovely dinner (thanks, Cousin S for the delicious dinner! Maybe if we're lucky, she'll share her recipe for delicious Curried Egg Salad...