I’m joining The Novel Bakers
with Gathering in the Garden:
From lifelong friends, artists, and gardeners, comes a delightful little gift book full of ideas to transform ordinary events into garden parties, complete with menus and recipes.
Gathering in the Garden
begins with a Tomato Taste-Off.
I’m savoring that last bit of summer with
tomatoes fresh from the Farmers’ Market.
Mr. Hunter’s Tomato Stand, watercolor by Shelley Snow
in Gathering in the Garden
“It was a hot, sultry day, and we situated ourselves in the shade behind the garden shed, conveniently out of sight from anyone else who might want to enjoy a home-grown, red-ripe tomato.”
“We started with just two nice fat ones, never intending to eat every red, round thing in the garden, but we did. At number eight or so, we noticed we were giggling quite a bit.”
“By number ten, we were downright hysterical. However by number fourteen, or laughter had subsided and we were sick as dogs.”
“We stayed that way for several days, just long enough to allow the next crop of tomatoes to turn nice and red.”
Instead of the classic BLT,
we’ve been enjoying
BLT Bruschetta~
Their smallish size makes
it easy to overindulge,
eating more than you intended :)
No recipe required~ you can use any size tomato, diced, or a medley of cherry or grape tomatoes. Cook and crumble some bacon and shred some lettuce.
For some additional flavor, add some chopped basil to your mayonnaise and slather on a liberal amount on your toasted baguette slices, season with salt and pepper.
Their open-faced BLT goodness
will put a smile on your face :)
“For months we have suffered the insult of dishonest marketers who display signs touting ‘Home Grown Tomatoes’ over mealy, tasteless objects in our produce departments. So, when the real thing comes along, we junkies have to cram into three months what we have waited for the whole year. We slice her, we stack her, we juice her, we fry her, pickle her, bake her, and best of all, slather her with mayonaise, salt and pepper, and sandwich her!”
A little tomato taste-off with some recipes from the archives.
Click on the links to enjoy a taste!
Tomato Tarts
Heirloom Tomato Pie
Heirloom Tomato Carpaccio Salad
Tomato Centerpiece
The flavor of summer~ Basil Salt
Joining The Novel Bakers
for Gathering in the Garden, September 2nd – 6th!
a quiet life
Rattlebridge Farm
Once Upon a Plate
Visit Jain, Michael Lee and Mari for more delicious fun!
Tomato salad plates from Pier 1, several years ago
Very pretty Mary! I love tomatoes and thought I’d have my fill from my son’s garden… Um, I’ll have to go back to planting my own next year:@) I love your plates and the BLT Bruschetta would be a perfect after work snack tonight-Happy Weekend!
I’m so darn hungry for that BLT Bruschetta now! Delicious and delightful post.
Oh, I love tomatoes. Can’t beat home grown tomatoes. My mouth is watering.
Oh Mary, your photos are full of tomatoey mouth watering goodness! I’m ready for a BLT bruschetta for breakfast. xo
So timely! I have a big kettle of chili sauce simmering ready to can and about a peck of heirloom tomatoes I just picked waiting to be used-Now I have some great recipes to make with them!!
What lovely shots of nature’s abundance! Our 2 little tomato plants pumped out plenty of gorgeous red fruit for us to enjoy this summer. I’ll have to get to the farmers market to buy more so I can try your BLT’s, as there is only ONE red one left on our plants & one GREEN on that I hope to fry soon.
Thanks for sharing the recipe & your beautiful photos, as always.
I just woke up and my tummy is growling so your foods make my mouth water. Do you think the BLT bruschetta would work for breakfast?
Mary, good idea with blt on bruschetta ! Had great tomatoes at my daughters house in Maine. She had an awesome garden. But, now I’m in Forida I will grow my own! We are lucky to have 3 growing seasons.
Have a great weekend.
Love all the different meal idea:) Makes me want to eat one.
Delightful post today Mary. Tomatoes are one of mt favorites, so I am a mouth-watering mess right now! It’s a good thing I don’t have the ingredients for that BLT Bruschetta in the house, as I am home alone and would be eating the whole thing myself! Yum!
Dear Mary, what a feast for the eyes! The image of your ivy encircled iron chair caught my attention immediately. Then the images of bruchettas from the multicolored and varieties!
I always look forward to your visits!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
That was a visual delight for the eyes and dining!! What a display!! Cherry tomatoes are my favorite and I, too, eat them all day long. franki
Such a beautiful display for the beloved tomatoe. There really isn’t anything more delicious than a vine ripened tomatoe. Just love a tomatoe sandwich with and a little onion. We have been going to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and buying some wonderful ones- the real thing. Thanks for sharing!
That passage is so funny–I was thinking I would be ill if I indulged in so many juicy tomatoes on an empty stomach! Much better to mix them with bacon and basil. Yum–the bruschetta (bruschettas? bruschettae?) look delicious!!!! Love your wire watering can with the tomatoes pouring out. Can’t wait to see what book you do next! Linda
Mary, YOU need to write a book on tomatoes! You certainly have enough beautiful content!!!! LOVE that scale with the tomatoes!
This is wonderful Mary! I love tomatoes with just plain mayo and bread in the summer time. Jennifer
Mary, I don’t eat tomatoes, but I sure can savor these gorgeous images. You’ve done tomatoes proud! I’m going to pin the tomato centerpiece. It’s lovely! You could keep it on your kitchen counter and pick from it as you cook. My husband will like this one. He loves tomatoes. I’m forwarding it on over.
Love it, love it, love it!!!
For the first time since we’ve had a garden on this island, our tomato harvest has been wonderful!!! Definitely will try the BLT Bruschetta!
What a beautiful post dedicated to the tomato ! I love the selection of recipes you chose to make Mary~ they all look delicious. I’m enjoying every one of your tomato accessories (and little wheel barrow!) It’s always a charming visit at your blog. Have a great weekend!
What a beautiful post, Mary! I WANT those plates-they are SO cute! xo Diana
gosh i hate for the week to end, i have so enjoyed everyone’s gathering in the garden… i am very smitten with your tomato tasting, from old to new again its all fabulous. your little corner niche to play in is picture perfect… AGAIN! so much fun to play with the professionals ;-)
as always, you have an eye for detail, which is why we all adore you, we can just study your thought patterns, smack dab live and in color. its a knack to take the common, the simple and make it extraordinary. its even rarer to have such perfect camera skills to dazzle us from head to toe~
the trowel, the cage, the can, make that cans, all fantastic. your statue reminds me of bacchus, i have a cement one lost somewhere in the garden i need to unearth now that i mention it! you know i love the plates too ;-)
i love your refreshing tomato love, i have all these pics filed away for years now, but i must say my very favorite was your center piece, brim full of creativity.
thanks so much for such a wonderful gathering in the garden, you have been my playing with books and food since day one with me, its always a treat, always fresh, always new and exciting!
BLT Bruschetta sounds absolutely perfect, Mary. And I must say that you amaze me with your photography. You really do have a great eye! Lovely post, my friend.
xo,
RJ
~Mary~
Oh Yum !! nothing better homegrown tomatoes!!
Isn’t funny my sister loves green fried tomatoes, but will not touch a Red tomato. I love Red tomatoes, and will not eat green fried tomatoes.
tHE BLT Brushcetta looks wonderful !!
Paula
In.
What can I say that “a quiet life” didn’t say…very uplifting and inspirational!
Mary, I think that I’ve eaten tomatoes at least once a day for the past 3 months but I still enjoyed your photographs of them! I think I need to find the book Gathering in the Garden!
What a visual delight this post is. The composition of each picture makes me so hungry hat I want to go out and buy a bushel of tomatoes and sit down and gorge on them. You are just so clever.
Fresh tomatoes are wonderful! Their flavor is like nothing else. Love your presentation.
Wonderful to have you at Seasonal Sundays.
– The Tablescaper
Looks beautiful and so delicious!
Oh Mary…reading your beautiful posts is like reading a gorgeous novel every day…you are amazing!…and I love, love “Mr. Hunter’s Tomato Stand” watercolor!
Your pictures are beautiful and that book looks so cute…I may have to order it! Visiting from The Scoop and following you via Bloglovin!
I love anything tomatoes…and bruschetta is one of my favorites. This blt twist is inviting