Tomatoes!!!

Oh, I'm so jealous! Slice the nice juicy red tomatoes (not too thin or thick and layer them slightly over each other til you have a nice plate or platter full. If you have fresh basil tear or cut small pieces over them (dried basil is fine, too; just sprinkle some then). Take some extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle lightly over all. Other variations include adding oregano or pepper in addition or instead of the basil, adding slices of fresh mozzarella, and/or balsamic or red-wine vinegar in small doses. YUMMY!

I love the idea of freezing the tomatoes! I am no authority, but here is my 2 cents... Tomato sauce is easy. Heat some olive oil in a pot, add minced or crushed garlic, onions, any additional veg you'd like, soften. Then add your tomatos (skinned and chopped - when I dont have fresh I use diced in a can). Then add Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, thyme etc - or a ready mix. I have been using Pampered Chef's Italian seasoning like mad). Simmer for ?1/2 hour? Use what you'd like, freeze the rest in freezer containers.
I also had a bumper crop of mini tomatos and have been putting them in everything. The other night I cooked some chx breasts and then I sauted onions and the tomatoes and then made a sauce by adding stock to the sauted veg, some spices and the fond (brown stuff left in the pan). Poured that over chx and rice. The tomatoes made things look nice and are good cooked like that. Tomato salad is also good. Chop them up, add olive oil, salt, oregano and basil. As kids we'd fight over the juice at the bottom of the bowl to dip bread into. My 3 yr old doesn't care for it though, garlic makes it "too spicy"
Have fun with you new harvest and congrats on the new baby!

When I was a kid we had a huge garden! I haven't started one for myself yet but, plan to next year. Anyhow, my mom made this incredible jam or preserve out of tomatos.. similar to this: http://homeparents.about.com/od/favoritefamilyrecipes/r/p...

She always added a stick of cinamon to each jar too. We spread that on toast instead of jelly. We also gave it as teacher gifts. It is very festive looking when in a jar with a pretty ribbon and fabric around the top. Enjoy!

Way to go on growing your own tomatoes! That is my goal for next year!

Here (on the bottom of this message) is one of the recipes I used when my neighbor so kindly shared thier abundance of tomatoes! I had no idea what to do with fresh tomatoes since I only use them on salads! This was great though... and not nearly as hard as I had expected it to be! We served this with grilled chicken breast for a complete meal!

I also tried homemade spaghetti sauce and I think I screwed up the recipe and it ended up nasty plus burned to my pot.... but I do not in any shape way or form claim to be a cook! Rachel Ray has no competition with me! lol

Here is a website with how to can tomatoes and freeze them... didnt know you can do that! lol

http://homeparents.about.com/cs/recipescooking/a/tomato_i...

And here is the website I got my tomatoe recipe from...

http://southernfood.about.com/od/tomatoes/Tomato_Recipes.htm

Stuffed tomatoes with brown rice, onion, and cheddar cheese.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
6 large tomatoes
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preparation:
Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium low heat; add onions and cook until tender. Stir in rice, chicken broth, and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat and stir with a fork to fluff rice. Stir in chopped parsley.

Core tomatoes, removing some of the loose pulp from the center. Fill each tomato with rice mixture then top with shredded cheese. Place in a large baking dish. Place stuffed tomatoes under broiler until cheese is melted. Stuffed tomatoes serve 6.

Good luck and many blessings to you!

This is my first year for tomatoes too! I have very little sun in my yard so I could only do one pot with a regular tomato plant and one with a cherry tomato, but they're both loaded! I hope to find a recipe for a good homemade salsa so if you get one please send it my way. Otherwise I'm going to search on-line for recipes. (just google tomato recipes and you'll have thousands to chose from!)

p.s. If you didn't use it this year I highly recommend tomato fertilizer sticks. They worked great!

Sauce and/or soup!

Have you been to epicurious.com? You can find just about every recipe ever published in a cooking magazine.

Sounds like me a few years ago when I first grew tomatoes. I have a few ideas for you:
1. Tomato Salad: Wedge tomatoes, thinly slice some onions, drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and generously with oregano.
2. Sauce: This is a lighter, more refreshing topping for pasta than a standard marinara sauce. Juice then dice tomatoes, put in pan with a little olive oil and basil. Toss with pasta.
3. Make Pico de Gallo: diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro. That or salsa for canning: I buy a package mix from the store. Pretty easy to follow directions. I don't have an actual canning pot, so I just elevate the jars in my big pasta pot and boil them in there.
4. Yes, you can freeze tomatoes, but they can only be used for cooking then.
5. Why wait for them to ripen? My family loves when I make fried green tomatoes. Slice approx. 1/4" thick, dust with flour, dip in buttermilk, then dredge in seasoned flour (I make a blend with salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, a little chili powder and paprika & use it for french fries, etc.) & fry.
6. Bruschetta: Dice tomatoes (keep the juice with them). Add basil, salt & pepper(fresh cracked is good here). Let sit for at least 10 min so that the juices pull out of the tomatoes. Serve on garlic toasts. You can buy them at the store or make your own by slicing a crusty type bread, brush w/olive oil & toast(like on a grill or in oven) then slice open a clove of garlic & rub bread. Though to be honest that usually is not enough garlic flavor for me, so I prefer to sprinkle a little garlic powder over the bread before toasting.

I have to stop now. Good luck & enjoy your harvest!!!

Congrats! on growing tomatoes. I don't have a big enough place that is sunny to grow many veggies so I grow some tomatoes and peppers in pots. In past years I have also grown cukes but not his year. I only end up getting a few to eat.
My first few larger tomatoes had dry rot :( luckily my grape tomatoes have all be great :)
Have a lot of fun making some great dishes with your fresh tomatoes.

S.

Tomatoes can be frozen after coring and quartering. You do not need to blanch to remove skins. When you thaw them the skins come right off: to use or throw away. Congrats on such a great garden. Tomatoes are so healthy. Be sure to cook them also. Cooking increasing the lycopene available and give extra to hubby. It is very protective against prostate and other cancers in men. My favorite dish of all times is a thickly sliced tomato sandwich on soft white bread with mayonnaise and sea salt. And congrats on that new baby!

J., cograts on the tomatoes! Our garden is doing poorly this year after being replanted 3 times. First time, late frost, second and third time, too much rain! Anyway, an easy thing to do with tomatoes is to slice and layer on a platter with sliced fresh mozzarella. I then drizzle with a good Extra Virgin Olive Oil, such as Carapelli and Balsamic vinegar. Next I chop fresh basil and sprinkle on top. If you need a little salt, I sprinkle coarse sea salt and maybe some fresh ground pepper, but neither are necessary. To serve this, I cut thin slices of a fresh baked French bread or whatever type you prefer. Most often, I use Jewel's Crusty French loaf. Then people just take a layer of tomato, basil and Mozarella and set it on top of the bread. It always goes over very well! If you have lots of cherry tomatoes, you can make the same concoction in a bowl with the smaller fresh mozzarella balls and serve as a salad. I believe this is called Salad Caprese. Enjoy!

How about freezer cubes. You get your biggest pot. Cut up the tomatoes in wedges, skin and all. Cook them down first keep the fire or heat low. Add spices as you wish, spicing depends on what you will be using them in, and cook down some more. You simply put the finished product in ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen bag them. Then you have sause for your next meal.

You could also make fried green tomatoes. Boy are they good. You could even cook and freeze complete meals with your tomatoes. Soup has great flavor when you add tomatoe.

You can freeze tomatoes. You bring water to a boil, drop a few tomatoes in for about 30 seconds to a minute, then plunge them immediately into ice water. This will make the skins slide right off. Once they are skinless (the skins can get tough if you leave them on), you can cut them up or freeze them whole in freezer Ziplock bags. Then you can use them in spaghetti sauces and stews during the winter; use them like you would canned tomatoes. Very easy. :)

Well, if you have to big of a problem I could certainly send you my address! I LOVE garden tomoatoes! LOL! Totally kidding! But really as handy as I am in the kitchen, I don't have anything great to do with them! And I realized I am a little bit sad about that! I will have to check back and see some of your responses!