From the Kitchen: July 2010 Archives

I have harvested my first tomatoes of the season! I thought I'd get the jump on the chipmunks and deer and bunnies and pick the very few tomatoes that were ready to eat. I have three yellow pear tomatoes, the tiny ones, a cherry tomato, and what I think may be a "Celebrity" tomato.

The chipmunks planted tomato seeds in the gardens at the sidewalk leading to the front door. The seed was in seventh heaven, because that's one of the areas that has full sunlight, and it gets water regularly from roof run off, and overlap from watering the containers. It turns out there are two cherry tomato plants. They exploded with growth when the heat arrived and were growing across the sidewalk. Our guests had to hop over them. I should have corralled them sooner, but didn't have anything to use. Dear Husband clipped apart an old trellis and we slid it under them and propped them up. It could look better, but the plants seem to be thriving.

When I weeded across the front of the house, to see if the Russian Blue sage was still there, I discovered more tomato plants, and left them. We'll see if there will be tomatoes to harvest, there, too.

I'm looking forward to ripe homegrown tomatoes in "Summer" salad, and "Farmer's Tomato Pie!"

Visit the May 13, 2003 archives for the recipe for Farmer's Tomato Pie. "Summer" salad is diced tomatoes or thin tomato wedges, with cucumber slices and sliced green onions, with dill, in a vinaigrette. You can add other veggies, or omit those you don't care for to personalize the recipe.

My family has a salad that is standard on the tables of almost all my siblings. A visitor to my parent's home years ago dubbed it "Summer Salad," and so we've called it. You all have variations of this salad: diced tomatoes, cucumbers, green onion and a vinaigrette (or in my case, Zesty Italian dressing) with LOTS of dill. Occasionally, I'll toss in some broccoli flowerettes, or perhaps some cauliflower, but I really like it the traditional way.

Unfortunately, Dear Husband is not as enamored of it as I am. I can easily make a bowl of it for myself, but then I need to come up with a salad for him.

I've been thinking that I'd like to create chunkier side salads. For instance, tomatoes, cauliflower flowerettes and pea pods. I need more ideas. Do you have a blend that your family really likes? I hope you'll share your suggestions with me.

I've been trying to find new salads to serve this summer. I want a way to bring more veggies into our meals, and I want to serve something other than the same old things we're used to preparing. I was surfing for variations on chicken salad and came across this recipe: Mexican Chicken Salad.

Chicken, corn, black beans, red onion, grape tomatoes, and red peppers are all dressed with a mixture of cider vinegar, honey, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper and chilled. It's served mixed with greens. Avocado, pepper jack cheese, sour cream, salsa and blue corn chips are served as garnishes, allowing each person to choose how to finish off their salad.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the beans and corn but the salad is good. The dressing is not overpowering because it's spread over a LOT of salad. This would be a really good salad to take to a pot luck, or to fix for a large summer party. I doubt I will make it just for Dear Husband and myself, but I'd make it again if there were more than two of us at dinner.

I finally made it to the Farmer's Market today! I visited the French Market two weeks ago, but until today haven't made it to my favorite Farmer's market. I was amazed at the produce that was available. I'm used to shopping there starting Memorial Day weekend, so this was like being thrown into a grocery store in comparison.

I dropped off two pruners to be sharpened by Tony, the knife sharpener. I'll pick them up next week. I don't need them at the moment and it will give me a chance to visit with him again. He's one of Elegante Mother's favorite men.

Then, I bought a little from as many stalls as I could. I picked up a cauliflower, vine ripened tomatoes, pickle cucumbers, green onions, 2 cloves of garlic, yellow wax beans, five ears of corn, peaches from two different stalls, red raspberries, and a quart of crimini mushrooms. I have too many potatoes in my pantry, or I would have picked up some new potatoes. We've particularly enjoyed roasted peppers, onions and potatoes lately, so I should be ready for some next week.

There's a recipe for a simplified peach pie dessert in the June issue of Southern Living that I want to try. I may add the red raspberries to Cherrios or oatmeal for breakfast. All the other veggies will find their way into our meals this week.

I hope to have cherry tomatoes soon, so I'll make a Farmer's Tomato Pie for dinner when Dear Husband is off sailing. It's the epitome of summer dining!