Harvest Moon

It has been a busy summer!  This summer started off rocky but thankfully with lots of family and great friends, it actually ended up being a pretty good season so far.  The minis, Mimi and I drove to Georgia to visit my sister and her husband and of course my father, Big Daddy.  The kids love Mimi and Big Daddy's house-it's much bigger than our house and they can run around to their heart's content-no downstairs neighbors to worry about.  Murph flew down later in the trip and we all had a great vacation going to outdoor fairs, farmers' markets and the pool.  We had a chance to stop in North Carolina to visit with my sister in law and my husband's cousins and their children.  We even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Sesame Place especially for the minis and they LOVED it!  But now we are back at home base and I'm ready to pick up where I left off-yay!

My Grandpa has been growing tons of veggies since before I was born and though his garden has gotten a little smaller, it is still amazing to me that a 90 year old man will go out in hot humid weather to tend to his tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, swiss chard, basil, eggplants and accidentally this season, JALAPENOS!  As a kid there were at least a dozen types of veggies being grown throughout the summer at our house and it was wonderful!  It only encourages my hope that when I have a house with a real yard I can grow enough veggies in my own yard to not have to buy much produce in the summer and just enjoy the ones we've grown!  This post is a tribute to my grandpa, who is probably outside right now at 7:20 am watering, because the tomatoes I used were his own grape tomatoes!

This is also a shout out to, guess who...NIGELLA...again!  I am not really a crazy stalker, but I do love her recipes and find they will come out well without fail.  This one is from the Nigella Express cookbook.  I used her recipe but made some changes to work better for me. 

Moonblush Tomatoes are sweet and yummy!!!!  They are cheaper than sundried tomatoes (basically free if you grow your own tomatoes or have an iron man 90 yr old grandpa who grows his own for you) and you can use them anywhere-salads, pasta dishes and I've even drizzled them with balsamic and included in an anitpasto.  They are called Moonblush because you leave them in the oven overnight (oven off).  When you wake up the smell in the kitchen is pure heaven & I usually use them right away for lunch or if I can wait, for dinner.  They do keep in the fridge for about a week or 2, but I can't attest to that because they are generally eaten with 3 days in my house.

Moonblush Tomatoes 

1 lb. grape tomatoes (Nigella says about 24-I usually have about 40 at a time)
3 TBSP olive oil
sprinkle sea salt
sprinkle thyme
1/4 tsp sugar
4 or 5 basil leaves
3 or 4 cloves garlic

Heat the oven to 450 F.  Do this about 15 minutes before you plan on putting the tomatoes in so the oven has enough time to build up some heat. 

Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them cut side up on a cookie sheet (with sides).  Toss them in the olive oil, salt, sugar, and thyme-making sure to turn them cut side up again.

Not sure why I took a picture of me cutting them-think I needed an "action shot".
 

 

 Do a rough chop of the garlic-big chunks are okay. Tear the basil leaves. Sprinkle the garlic and basil over the tomatoes. 

I unfortunately took this pic before the basil had gone on, but you get the idea.

Put the tomatoes in the oven and turn off the heat.  Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight.  Don't open the door if you can help it - this allows heat to escape and who wants escaping heat to ruin their moon tomatoes!


That's it-when you wake up your kitchen smells awesome and you have these slightly wrinkly, cooked down, yummy, sweet tomatoes ready for anything.

Enjoy them!  I love them and they are handy to have around all the time, but are even better when I know the tomatoes have been home grown by my grandpa and most likely picked by Stina.  Stina has been following in her great grandpa's footsteps and this summer grew carrots and green beans in my grandpa's garden.  She has so far only gotten one bean and we aren't too sure what is going on with her carrots but it's a start.  Mimi said if she doesn't get a carrot soon she's going to stuff some baby carrots in there so she won't get discouraged-4 year olds may not know yet they don't come out of the ground nicely trimmed and shrunken to a baby size!

Next blog will be Chicken and white wine sauce...that's what's for dinner here later!