Tomatoes

Tomatoes are my FAVORITE.  This is a little poem/celebration I wrote on the blackboard at a farm I worked on a few years ago:

Give thanks to the Mother Earth from whom all blessings flow. Give thanks to the Sun, Moon and Stars. Give thanks to the rain and the creek. Give thanks to the soil and the hands that work it. For today is the day that the seed fulfilled its promise and renewed the faith. Today is the day of the first tomato.

I was feeling a little dramatic that day obviously, but that is still how I feel pretty much every time I bite into the first fresh tomato of the year.  By the time we're 4 weeks into tomato season it starts to seem a little less exciting.  Here are a few of our favorite tomato recipes to help you power through all the juicy plenty coming at you this time of year:

Ratatouille

Panzanella

Spaghetti Sauce

A Big Tomato Sandwich

Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes Baked with Herbs and Capers

Pepper and Tomato Soup

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Gazpacho

Shell Beans and Summer Vegetables Stewed in their own Juices

Robust End of Summer Spaghetti