Sprigs: Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Except for the German Johnsons, it's been a great year for tomatoes. My freezer has beaucoup bags of them to add to recipes this winter, and one-cup containers full of salsa.

Now the second wave is coming ripe and just in time a friend shared this recipe from a Raleigh newspaper. I've made 3 batches and they are soooo
tasty! 

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

1. Cut the tomatoes in quarters. (I did about 8 cups at a time.)

2. Sprinkle with 1 tsp kosher or sea salt, pepper, and herbs to taste.  I used fresh oregano, rosemary and basil--just whatever looks good.

3. Add approximately 1/4 olive oil, I used slightly less.



4. Stir, and using a slotted spoon to allow the juice to run through. (Save it to replace water in rice, steamed vegetables, or soup.)  Place them skin side down on a parchment line cookie sheet. I used aluminum foil sprayed lightly with canola oil.




5. Cook 3-4 hours at 250. I think it depends on the type of tomato. Roma would be on the lower end, my early variety were juicy and I let them cook 4 hours.  



I poured off the extra juice half-way through the cooking time adding it to what I'd already set aside. 

6. Cool, place into freezer bags, being careful to get as much air out as possible, and freeze. 

I added the broth and fruit to soup. They were so much tastier than ordinary frozen (or canned) tomatoes.


I sampled by sopping up the liquid left on the baking pan with  a chunk of hearty whole wheat bread. Then I spread the roasted pulp on it. Delectable!

A Summer tradition: North Carolina Peaches

"...the walls were wet and sticky, and peach juice was dripping from the ceiling. James opened his mouth and caught some of it on his tongue. It tasted delicious."

Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach

Add fuzzy and fragrant to the description. 

 I've been waiting all summer for the perfect peach. Everyone knows that going to the orchard is the best way to buy them. Lucky for me, we live less than half an hour from several orchards. A friend alerts me when picking begins.  Then for weeks, right through the middle of September, different varieties come available. 

Reports say this year's crop is good, but not terrific. Too much rain. Willing to take my chances we headed up Saturday and got a box full of Majestic peaches at Leonard' Orchard, in Cana, Va.  Only paid $6.00 because they had some soft spots. When we stopped at the busy fruit market a couple of miles away, they were four times that price.

Once home I sorted them on cookie sheets and covered them with a clean towel. Over the next few days I hovered, sniffing for the tell-tale luscious aroma. Then I squeezed gently, checking for just the right amount of give.By Monday morning several passed the test. And the reports were wrong--they were perfect. 

scones with peaches and pecans

We've devoured them with every meal. For breakfast, Peach Streusel Muffins or, like this morning, in scones. With lunch, I'll eat one washed free of fuzz. At dinner time, I'll make the tomato, peach, corn salad I found in the Wall Street Journal , and for dessert, Fresh Peach Sorbet. (I added zest of one lime and it's juice to the recipe.)

When I can't eat them fast enough it's time to make peach butter in the crock pot and freeze it.  

If you have favorite recipes, share them now! The window of opportunity is short. 

Scones

Mix together:
1 1/2 c flour plus 2 Tbsp flour                   
4 Tbsp sugar                                            
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Cut in 2 Tbsp butter 

Add 2 peeled and diced peaches.

Mix together 1/2 cup milk and one egg. Pour into dry ingredient until just mixed.
Dump into a pie plate lightly greased (or sprayed). Sprinkle with pecans and cinnamon-sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.                                  

Sprigs: Lemon cucumbers

The bees have been buzzing between the multitude of little yellow blossoms on my cucumber vines.  I kept looking for tiny fruit to form but could find very few. 

But the conditions must have been just right, because this week I've harvested a couple dozen of the baseball sized, yellow striped lemon cucumber.







Too many to eat fresh, I just started a batch of pickles. They're sitting on the counter right now.

They're delicious, and easy to make. They keep for up to two months, and in past seasons I have added new cukes to the old brine. Thanks to Cathy Johnson from Surry County for the recipe.

In a bowl combine:
6 cups thinly sliced cukes
1 cup each thinly sliced onion and bell pepper
1 Tbsp. salt

Let stand for two hours. Drain and rinse.

Add 1/2 tsp celery seed
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar.

Stir and refrigerate. 

Are you a cupcake, muffin or biscuit?

Are you a cupcake, muffin, or biscuit?

Before I'd heard of personality inventories I contrived my own system to peg the women around me. Of course it's unscientific but I found a certain homey truth to it.  It's no more far-fetched than answering questions in a teacher in-service to determine if my mental operating system was like an oval, triangle, circle or square. 

I typecast a "cupcake" based on her big smile even though standing next to a car with a flat tire and a screaming baby in the backseat.  Could I call her "Honey" or "Sugar" without offending her?  I imagined her inner resolve to be light and easily squashed.

That was a long time ago, and maybe it had to do with our youth and the misguided mission to conceal inner junk.  I can't think of a woman I know today who I'd call a cupcake.

The muffins are unadorned, hearty and appealing. They  take more risks than the cupcakes. They are discerning and speak their minds without being unkind. My friend Florence is a muffin. She suggested that despite my zeal, teaching vacation Bible school wasn't my strength.

Most of my friends now are muffins: dependable and accepting. They don't worry about looking as good as cupcakes because they have developed substantial inner beauty. 

I label myself a biscuit--crusty on the outside, but softer on the inside.  Biscuits will stick to your ribs, they’re basic, no surprises.  Not so good alone, better with strawberry jam added. We do tend to be frank, sometimes, unpalatably so. But you know a biscuit won’t sugar coat the truth to keep from hurting feelings. 

My daughters and I tried to explain our system to my son-in-law. Then we asked him what his old girlfriend was. He thought about it and answered “unbaked cookie dough.”  Gooey.  He made a wise choice with daughter number one, a tasty muffin.  

I never bake cupcakes, can’t make a decent biscuit. Here are two of my favorite muffin recipes, which I admit are more like cupcakes than biscuits. Maybe I'm getting  sweeter with age. 

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Low-Fat-Chocolate-Muffins

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/peach-streusel-muffins-10000000461494/