Pickled Cherry Tomatoes

As we all know, it is tomato time of the year!!! Despite the oppressive heat here in South Carolina, this has been a great year for some awesome tomatoes. I am sure that I am not the only one that is feeling a little overwhelmed by their garden goodness. For those of you that garden and stand with me in your love for all thing tomato, I am planning on posting a little tomato series here. Some of these recipes will help you save a lot of those tomatoes for the cold winter months when you are dying for that taste of summer sweetness. Other recipes will allow you to enjoy the tomatoes right now when they are at their juiciest and most abundant. However you want to look at it, this is the month of the tomato and your chance to savour every bite. In just a few months, we will all be wishing for the day in spring when we can plant again and anticipate what mother nature will give us.

Pickled Okra

So, my garden is prolific this year and I am picking okra by the bagful. Fifteen years ago, when I moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania, these furry little pods were foreign to me. I had never seen them let alone cooked one. Around this time, my southern Mema gave me a big bag of these and instructed me to fry 'em up for my dinner. I politely accepted her generosity and then meekly told her I had no idea what she meant. She looked at me and said, "Why of course you don't. Get in this kitchen and I will show you." In true Mema form, there was no official recipe. Over the years, in all the recipes she taught me (and there are many,) her only measurement reference was "ya just add ya a lil' bit" of said ingredient. It was not so much about the measurement, but more about the experience and the feel. That day, we ended up eating fried okra on her porch and watching the world go by. I miss her and everything she taught me about southern cooking and my local area.  She never judged me, or made fun of my lack of southern heritage. She took me under her wing, taught me what she knew and provided a lot of good laughs in the process. She was happy to have me as her granddaughter; regardless of where I came from.

Tart & Tangy Refrigerator Pickles

So what little summer we had is coming to an end! Kids are going back to school, the early mornings ,when my dogs and I are sitting on the porch drinking tea, have been cool and my garden is giving me its last offerings for summer. Some vegetables are more plentiful than others right now. Unfortunately, with this summers crazy weather, gardens have really suffered here in my part of South Carolina. My family in Pennsylvania has also reported bad crops. One thing that has done exceptionally well is my cucumbers. Maybe it was due to all the rain, I don't know. They had a difficult start though. I always plant my cucurbits from seed. I planted them all in late April as I always do but this year, we had record amounts of rain in the spring and they never came up. I had to reseed them all and therefore they got a late start. I do not know the garden phenomenon that made these cucumbers go crazy while my squash, cantaloupe and zucchini struggled to produce. I do know however that it is August 17 and I just picked 12 cucumbers today. I have the pleasure of doing this at least 3 times per week. Many friends and loved ones have benefited from my cucumbers this summer.

As the summer winds down, I want to share a few of my favorite recipes for using up all those last minute veggies. Yes, some of these recipes will be canning, some will be dinners to make to use up those not so beautiful tomatoes and others will just be personal favorites. Remember this is the time to stretch the summer and enjoy the tastes in the most simple and beautiful way. This late summer time is also a time to start to think about winter and the flavors we will miss. Prepare now..... and in January when you sit down to some fresh pasta covered in homemade pesto or a bagel smeared with  tomato basil jam you canned yourself, you will be standing in the middle of your summer garden again.