Heirloom tomatoes from the garden

 The kids started last night and Pat and I finished picking this basket of tomatoes this morning.  I looks beautiful to me with all the colors in it.  I use the different tomatoes for different purposes.  Some are to eat, well all are to eat, but some will be eaten fresh and others will be dried or canned for later.

Not all of the tomatoes are ripe yet but they will ripen quickly over the next few days.  I picked them because I wanted to make sure I got them instead of a pesky bug, slug, chicken, or the likes.  We placed them on an old table with a porcelain top which we put on the back deck for easy access to the kitchen.  I couldn't help but sort them according to like.

These are Principe Borghese tomatoes that I planted specifically to dry for sun dried tomatoes.  I will post on this in the next couple of days when I get time to do them.  I have dried paste tomatoes before with some luck but read in a seed catalog about these and how they have such good flavor when dried.  We shall see.  Only some people in the family like dried tomatoes.  My theory is if I make something they don't like once in a while and they have to try it, maybe they will learn to like it.  Not to mention how good they are for you.  In Sicily they hang the whole plant up to dry out the fruit in the sun.

The bright orange and yellow cherry tomatoes will be devoured one by one as hungry children and adults happen by, or I may put them in a salad with some red tomatoes for nice color.  The chocolate or Cherokee Purple tomatoes are good sliced with some Black Hawaiian Sea Salt, a slab of mozzarella, and a basil leaf with some balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top.  This is called Salad Caprese.  By the looks we will be harvesting tomatoes for a few weeks, maybe longer if we would get some rain.  Everything is so very dry right now.