Tomatoe love

Have I ever told you that in the house in the roses fairies and sprites of all ages find great delight in growing things? Ah yes, they do! And they're everywhere these days... you can find them among the roses, under the bushes, in the air, playing games and singing through their busy day as they collect herbs and ripe tomatoes from the kitchen garden...

As summer reach its great lazy peak around here, our kitchen garden seems to grow by the day. This year alone we have harvested strawberries, several varieties of lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and an assortment of wonderful culinary herbs. Of all herbs, I particularly love cilantro. Do you like cilantro? I use this aromatic herb in all my dishes. I love the smell of it, the taste of it and even love the strong smell of the volatile leaf oil that seems to linger on my hands right after I pick this precious herb... Yes, I love our herbs, but I'd have to say that of all the crop growing in our kitchen garden, tomatoes are the king! Ah yes, we have a bumper crop of delicious tomatoes this year, and now I have more tomatoes that it can be stored in our kitchen...

I must humbly confess, I have nothing to do with growing food. Have I mentioned that a very special sprite in our house is in charge of our kitchen garden? Ah yes, perphas I have mentioned it here, and here... he loves to grow tomatoes you know, and this year we have had massive amount of tomatoes... I hardly know what to do with them any more, but Mr. Sprite is a very wise sprite. He tells me: "you start with a tomato, and it creates the meal!" And he's so right!

The quick and delicious dinner that follows couldn't confirm this more...

Cuban "ropa vieja" and rice is one of my favorite dishes ever... you can never ask for anything more delicious than this at any time on any day. The origin of ropa vieja, by the way, is from the Canary Islands and it literally means "Old Clothes", but if you ever decide to go to a Cuban restaurant, please DO NOT ask for a plate of "Old Clothes"... I'm telling you, do not! Just warning you! ;)

We love to eat outside under the big umbrella, and every evening there is a new dish on our table that includes some sort of goods collected from our kitchen garden... especially tomatoes! Except for the cucumbers you see here, everything else in this yummy summer salad came from our kitchen garden. We have never planted cucumbers, but I'm hoping that this post could shed some light on Mr. Sprite's amazing brain... As you can see, all my salads must have cucumbers in it. I so love cucumbers!

Tilapia marinated in garlic and olive oil with some lemon and pepper added to it, along with potatoes and a fresh salad from our kitchen garden... again, you can tell of my love for cucumbers here!

Tomatoes and cucumber on a bed of lettuce!

Rose hip tomatoe salad!... Just kidding! Only yummy tomatoes marinated in olive oil and aromatic herbs from our kitchen garden!

Ah yes, tomatoes and some "very well done" hamburgers as you can see here! And oh, Mexican noodle soup too! This, on a lovely and very hot summer evening.

We like our soups even in the heat of August, but always enjoyed outside, in the garden, under the big umbrella... can you not see the noble trees swaying their arms to the warm summer breezes? Can you not hear the birds singing their busy ways... ah yes, I love that lovely cotton candy sunset sky... I love it all!

“It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”

Lewis Grizzard

What yummy things have you been growing in your garden? If I could be a bird, I would wear my wings and fly the world just to visit you and your garden, but since I can't do that, I would love to hear your tales. So please take me to your world and I will dream my day away!

Love you all!