major tom

I have a thing for tomatoes. I love 'em. I think they're little edible jewels. I also think they should be ripening in abundance by now in my cement patch, but they are certainly taking their sweet time. This is my first time growing my own. Maybe I just need to be a bit more patient - it really has been fascinating watching them grow.

In fact, today I am proud to announce the first touch of red to show up on my humble vines.
Check out Miss Tomato Sauce in the background, supervising as usual!

Now as much I am wholeheartedly in favor of buying local & in season as much as humanly possible, I admit - sometimes I can't wait. But if I'm gonna cheat & buy tomatoes (that come from god knows where), they better be damn cool tomatoes. Like these beauts -

Seriously. Couldn't you just stick one of those on a band of gold & wear it on your finger?

Or these - from which I rustled up tonight's easy, end-of-summer meal.

A simple, yet striking sauce of yellow tomatoes simmered in olive oil & garlic, with a dash of salt, a few cranks of black pepper & a bunch of excited handfuls of fresh basil from the patch. See, nearly homegrown.

These yellow tomatoes break down quickly & become instantly saucy (Saucy!), more so than red ones I'm used to. No need for paste or anything to thicken it.

I dumped it on some simple spaghetti that I had tossed with more olive oil, chickpeas & sundried tomatoes. Oh & some shaved parmesan on top. A little brightly colored hodge podge in the kitchen on a blah Wednesday evening never hurt anybody, did it?