Tuesday, late morning, I received a text from neighbor Mel that she was going to pick all of the tomatoes and did I want any? YES! And I thought I should volunteer to help, which I did and she accepted. It was nearly lunchtime and a beautiful day and despite the work deadline, I really needed a break outside in the fresh air and a relaxed yack with my good neighbor. So that’s what happened.

It has been close to freezing several nights and was nearly October 1 so it was time to get those ‘maters in. We picked, cut and pulled up the plants. And had a good visit while we worked.

My haul, although some will go back for the chickens. The chickens will apparently eat anything and they especially like stuff that they have to chase. The tomatoes roll around and they scrabble after them. It is great fun. Yep, I am easy – watching chickens chase tomatoes is entertainment!!

So, all of those green tomatoes…

I found a recipe for a green tomato casserole and tried that last night. I made a single serving for testing: layer sliced green tomatoes, onion, bread crumbs, a bit of lemon juice and repeat dotting the top with butter. Then bake at 400 for 1 hour. It was wonderful! I made a small serving of mac ‘n cheese to go along with.

This morning I got to thinking that maybe some bacon and a bit of parmesan cheese would not go amiss … and I had about 1/4 of a potato in the refrigerator.

First, though – Coffee! Today is International Coffee Day. I never knew things like that before the internet. I didn’t do anything to celebrate – coffee as usual!

On to my concoction…

…ready for the oven…

…put an egg on it, add a slice of toast and we have breakfast…with green tomatoes!

My mother tells me that the green tomatoes will ripen fastest in a paper bag. I have some in a bag, some on the window and meanwhile, I have something good to do with the green tomatoes. I might also try green tomato pickles and green tomato chutney. I don’t intend to do fried green tomatoes. I’ve never had much luck with breading and pan frying anything and end up making a huge mess. The casserole is kind of a deconstructed and then baked version of fried green tomatoes and so easy and good that I’ll stick with that!

Happy International Coffee Day!

***Yep, made the project deadline. I have a work meeting in the morning so decided to work half day tomorrow and start late on Monday. It might almost feel like a 4 day weekend!