Remember the pathetic growing season I had last year? When I couldn’t get my tomato plants into the ground and had to “grow” them in pots? Then it rained practically all June long, leaving me with a few measly, watery tomatoes. This, my friends, is what I call a serious dearth. Well, this year we tried again. We actually got the tomatoes into the ground, in soil no less! They were slow going. Slow to ripen. But then they got a little crazy, bushing out, tossing their tomato cages out of the garden. If not for the care of a diligent and mindful friend while Brian and I were in California, I fear that we would have had to hack our way through the tomato jungle when we got home. In fact, we sort of did.

This was only one of our tomato harvests. I would say this is is only a quarter of what has been plucked and consumed.

That is what I would call a glut.

Granted, these tomatoes were Early Girls and Fourth of Julys. What month is it? Oh yes, it’s August– late August, but this is New England, so I’m not complaining.

In addition to giving everyone that I know fresh tomatoes, whether they want them or not, Brian and I have been eating tomatoes at just about every meal. This is what I have made lately:

• Pappa al Pomodoro- excellent and satisfying, I will definitely make this again.
• Seafood stew with crushed tomatoes
• Tomato Champagne Salad- Booze and tomatoes, what could be better?
• Tomato and Fresh Corn Salad with Creme Fraiche
• Broiled Bluefish with Pico de Gallo
• Canned tomatoes for the winter
• Tomato Confit

I haven’t made tomato confit in a couple of years, but I had a ton of split tomatoes, waiting to be peeled. That’s olive oil, and the juices from the tomato that the fruit is swimming in. It’s pretty spectacular. I eat it on crusty bread, juice dribbling down my chin, or it’s amazing served over pasta or pan fried gnocchi. I wrote about it on iVillage, the recipe is over there. I’ll let you know if any other recipes occur to me that I have to share.

I’m off to eat more tomatoes!