Tomatoes

Here I am just beginning and I've neglected writing longer than I ought to.  I'll blame it on the round of family birthdays and school activities and TOMATOES that have beset us.  Seattle has had such a cool summer that anyone with tomatoes was just biting their nails waiting for those first red tomatoes to appear.  Round here, we finally got impatient and pulled a few off the vines to ripen inside in a paper bag and at least enjoyed those.  Then suddenly it was just time and we have started pulling them all.  Ready or not. 

We've (and by we I mean John) been making tomato sauce and green tomato pickle and a bizarre looking yet tasty green tomato ketchup.  We did enjoy a bunch of lovely red and yellow we coaxed into ripening in a traditional tomato and mozzarella salad.  Nothing too secret or special about it.  Slices of fresh cheese (I used a nice log from Trader Joe's) interleavened with slices of tomato.  A bit of good olive olive, balsamic, salt, pepper and basil splashed over the top.

I did have a bit of luck in that we had a bottle of balsamic reduction we splurged on a bit ago, still kicking round the cupboard.  It's also not too hard to make your own, and boy howdy, there is nothing like it.

Take about a cup of decent balsamic and simmer it on the back burner until it is reduced by half.  Save it in a jar for drizzling and/or dipping purposes.  One can also include a handful of whole garlic cloves in there--say a dozen and let those steep and simmer along with everything else.  A good loaf of bread smeared with soft goat cheese, a couple cloves of that soft garlic and a good astringent green salad makes a lovely dinner on a tired evening.