Boyd Street Tomatoes: Nothing better..

Was it just about a month ago …

I was wishing for the taste of a homegrown garden tomato?  Well, now I have tomatoes GALORE and am loving it. This year I only planted those nice big ones.. Big Boys and Better Boys.. where one slice will just about cover a sandwich. Nothing better than the distinctive taste of a ripe tomato, still warm from the sun, with a little salt and mayo on bread. Bacon and lettuce are nice but I like the simplicity of just the tomato.

The only problem is they are all getting ripe at the same time and am wondering what to do with all this homegrown produce.  The weather is too hot to do much canning.  I really need some easy solutions to save these rare treats.

Help me out here.. What is your favorite ways to use an abundance of tomatoes?

Happy Thursday…

A Delicious Light Summer Supper

Father’s Day Weekend involved a trip to Kentucky Lake where my friend and excellent cook, Paul, had cooked up the perfect Friday night summer supper.  This Mississippi transplant, turned into a Southern Illinois Yankee Lady, is still use to plain Southern cooking, so it is always a delight to see what’s cooking at Paul’s house.

If you have never tasted the distinctive flavor of an artichoke, then you are in for a treat.  There is very little preparation involved  in serving it this way except for trimming the top and boiling in salted water for about 30 minutes.  The trick is in knowing how to eat it which I was taught this weekend.  Each leaf has a tender meaty tip at the end.  Just tear the leaf off and dip it in a sauce such as this lemon butter dip seen here and scrape the very end with your teeth to enjoy the meaty flavor.  As you get down to the center, the leaves become a little more tender and more can be eaten than just the tip.  The best part, of course, is the “heart.”  Use a knife to remove the spiny tendrils at the top and then dig in for some fancy eating!

The next course was a fresh California Chicken Salad atop Romaine lettuce leaves with ripe tomatoes.  The chicken with its green grapes and toasted slivered almonds was served with a curry mayonaise.  This was possibly the most delicious chicken salad I have ever eaten!  Yummy!!

We call him “The Cook” and he is certainly a fantastic one.  It’s his hobby but he could open his own restaurant.  Thanks, Paul, for another meal and a refreshing summer supper and by the way… Happy Father’s Day.