Damn, he found my stash!

I love fresh, sun filled tomatoes. During the summer, I have them for breakfast (on my eggs with sauteed spinach), lunch (on a sandwich, sometime as the centerpiece) and dinner (as their own side or with corn, salad, zucchini).

We don't have a vegetable garden, though I do have a fairly extensive herb garden. For a few years, I grew sun gold tomatoes, the intensely sweet, orange, cherry sized variety, in my herb garden. The yield was pretty paltry so I turned that patch into mint. However for the past two years I've been growing them in one of those wooden barrel containers you can pick up from any garden store and they've taken off! This year besides the plant I purchased at the growers market, some plants grew from seeds dropped in the container from last year.

I have to admit, I can be selfish when it comes to food. Though I do use food and cooking to express my love, there are times when I am something of a hoarder if something I love is in limited supply. I can even get a bit violent. (Unfortunately, I've passed this trait onto my children. My eldest has the easiest going temperament EXCEPT when it comes to food. He once speared his younger brother with his fork, when the younger was going after something left on his brother's plate....nearly drew blood, as I remember it!)

So back to the tomatoes....I had managed to keep my stash a secret from my husband last summer but this year he discovered them much to my chagrin. He almost dropped his load (of tomatoes) on the floor when I let out a loud "NOOOOOOOOO" as I saw him bringing a batch in to put on his bagel and smoked salmon.  Fortunately the yield this year has been so stupendous, there is enough to share.  I'm still able to pick several handfuls at a time, though with the chilly nights this week, I'm not sure how long they will last.

One of my favorite ways to eat them is to make almost a caprese salad but use fresh corn cut off the cob instead of mozzarella (though fresh mozzarella doesn't hurt too). I slice the kernels off the cob and put them in the center (the corn has been so sweet this year, I don't bother to even cook it). Then I surround the corn with the sliced tomatoes, sprinkle some fresh basil, and oregano over both, drizzle with a homemade vinaigrette and dig in. If I have a ripe avocado lying around I might add a few slices around the tomatoes. It screams summer! Not much more time left to enjoy this!