Finally! Tomatoes!!!!

The summer before last I fell in love. With tomatoes. And the woman who grew the most amazing heirloom tomatoes I’ve ever seen. She sold them at the local farmer’s market and ohmygosh did she have the most fanastic array of varieties. Red ones, orange ones, yellow, green, purple, striped, oblong, gigantic, teeny, sweet, dense, sturdy, fragrant. . . . I could go on and on! I made salsa, sauce, soup, and sandwiches. I stuffed them, broiled them, grilled them, and popped them raw. The next summer I stalked the market, waiting week after week for her to return. And when her tomatoes were finally ripe I came home with bags of them. Amelia ate them like candy!

This year I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. No tomato lady. All summer, no tomato lady. I had heard that our crazy weather had been hard on tomatoes, and I wonder if that is why I haven’t seen her. *sniff* I haven’t had a decent tomato since last September. Boo. I’ve been bookmarking all sorts of tomato recipes that sound just amazing. Like this one, or this one. But I didn’t want to bother making them with grocery store tomatoes. What’s the point, right?

But then. . . . . a friend of my mom’s dropped off some tomatoes!!! Hallelujah!!! So I stole them from her and made this salad (she's got some great info about tomatoes in that post, check it out!) that we took to a potluck. It was wonderful!

Tomato and Onion Salad
Adapted from The English Kitchen

2 pounds tomatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
½ red onion, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
½ cup parmesan, grated
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3-5 tablespoons olive oil

Toss everything in a bowl and gently mix, using your hands.

Slide into serving bowl and cover with saran wrap.
Park in fridge for at least two hours.
Devour.

I’ve been taking a lot of pictures of Reese lately. Well, really I’ve been taking lots of Lia too, but she doesn’t hold still long enough to snap a very good picture. Anywho, I can’t stop risking my life, and my camera, taking these pictures. I’m lying under the swing shooting up as he swings over! I know he’s not really going to kick me or anything, I’m just out of reach, but it still freaks me out! Makes for interesting pictures though!

I’m not exactly sure when his obsession for skateboards started, but I know it was spurred on while we were in Seattle and he saw a guy on a board. Reese got so excited and pointed him out to everyone. The guy smiled at him and did some cool little skateboard trick. And Reese’s fate was sealed. I should just start setting aside money now for all the casts and x-rays this kid is going to need. He’s fallen off Uncle Chauncey’s board like crazy, but he’s so excited to be playing on a real skateboard that he just hops back on and tries again. This picture was taken just before it occurred to me that the kid should be wearing a helmet. I had to practically pry it off him later when we were heading out. I’m not walking around a grocery store with a kid in a bike helmet, sorry son.

How happy is THIS kid? Seriously, that little smile kills me! He's so cute! Oh, and let me just say that when this picture was taken there was cheesecake, pie, banana bread, zucchini bread, smore cookies, ice cream and gobs of candy in the house. Nothing beats Grandma's house! I've had some happy, and insanely hyper, kidlets the past week. It'll take 'em weeks to come down from this sugar high! (I'm guilty here too, though. I'm making cupcakes and cake pops tomorrow!)