Of course I didn't really take into account what I would do with all those veggies.
I figured I would eat some and give-away more.
What I didn't count on was the fact that many, many people in my community also garden as a hobby. Some even garden for profit or to stock their own pantries for the coming year.
Tomatoes seem to love North Carolina so we all have them in abundance.
I realized this week that not only am I getting a tad tired of tomatoes (and cucumbers), those I was pushing veggies on were getting their fill too. People were starting to divert their eyes when I approached with my veggie box, I needed to figure out what to do with my tomatoes.
One of the gals at the pool, who also happens to be my local honey source (she's a beekeeper) suggested I could dry my tomatoes in the oven to use for snacks, sauces, and other recipes.
(Just had to throw in a pic of the the honey I bought. It's as beautiful as it is delicious.)
She said she oven-dried her tomatoes overnight because it takes a good chunk of time, but that it was an easy process.
She was right.
Here is what I did: (ignore the chunks of this weeks watermelon...you know how i love h2o melon, but its probably not good dried)
I cut the Roma's in half and the Beefsteak in quarters.
I pushed the seeds out with my fingers, laid them skin side down on an ungreased cookie sheet, an sprinkled them with salt. Next time I am going to try to sprinkle basil on them too.
I turned the oven on to 170.
And went to bed.
This morning the smaller pieces were done,but the larger were still a bit moist and thick.
So I put flipped the undercooked ones over and put them back in the oven. I'll pull them out when they look right.
The others I have cooling and will store in a Ziploc bag.
Then I went out to the garden to water and weed....
...and found more tomatoes.
And more tomatoes....
And the beginnings of more tomatoes....
Any one got a good recipe?
