Tomato Invasion

They started sprouting out of the compost, and there was no turning back.  Not that anyone around here is complaining (we love tomatoes), but cherry tomato plants took over our flower beds this year.  You can see the huge tomato bush in the picture above.  It's choking out my new lavender and rosemary plants, but we decided to let it grow-- no sense in all those tomatoes going to waste.  It was a good decision, I think, because most of the tomato crop at the farm where we purchased our CSA share was killed off by some sort of blight.

Grace always helps me with our daily harvest.  She reminds me to "only pick the RED ones, Mommy".  Usually any red tomatoes Grace finds end up in her mouth,  but on this particular day we managed to get a whole bowl full into the kitchen.  Where Grace washed them.  Then ate them.

Here's my new favorite way to eat cherry tomatoes, for those of you who are interested:

In a baking dish, toss a large handful of whole cherry tomatoes and some sliced hot peppers (like Anaheim) in some olive oil.  Season with sea salt and ground pepper then pop them into a 400 degree oven until they're soft and starting to char a teeny bit.  While the tomatoes are roasting, put a thick slice of crusty french bread in the oven next to the roasting pan, just until it's toasty.  Now you're ready to assemble the most delicious lunch ever~  rub a piece of fresh garlic over one side of the toast, spread the toast with goat cheese, then spoon a big helping of roasted tomatoes on top.  Garnish with chopped fresh basil.  It will smell and taste so delicious that you won't even bother to put it on a plate or grab a napkin, you'll eat it right over the sink like I did.  Then you'll make a second helping.