By Vanessa Richins

I am a very visual person.

Like many of you, I get a gleam in my eyes when a new catalog comes in the mail because I have been given a new treat.

The vibrant colors and shapes just pop off the page and keep me riveted.

I felt the same way when I discovered FoodGawker. It’s a website where people can submit their recipes to their directory. The page appears as row after row of luscious foods.

I decided to see what they had listed for tomatoes. Here are some of the recipes I suggest you try based on their picture :

Sun-Dried Tomato, Basil, and Parmesan Muffins

I think most of us think of muffins as sweet, but these will prove that savory is just as good. Sun-dried tomatoes are from heaven, as well as Parmesan cheese. Match it with basil and it’s perfection.

Pininoa Tomato Sauce

This is basically an Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

One of my favorite hobbies (besides my number one passion – gardening – of course!) is cooking from scratch.

When I was in community college, I took some cooking classes.

Italian cooking still reigns as my favorite course.

Many nights I will make my own tomato sauce to go with pasta. It makes an easy dish to serve to my friends.

However, people run into a problem if they ask for my recipe. I don’t use one – I just throw together whatever sounds good that day. It usually works out quite well.

Today I will describe my “recipe” on how to throw together your own tomato sauce.

It all begins with the tomatoes, of course. Paste tomatoes like Roma will make the best sauce. It will be especially flavorful if you use one of the heirloom varieties. Each tomato will make about 1/5 cup of sauce, so figure out how many you will need. I like to leave the Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

Just when you start to think the tomatoes will never be ripe and you’ll be stuck eating zucchini and chard for the rest of your life, the cherry tomatoes throw you a bone.

Hallelujah!

I love cherry tomatoes.

Although they lack the glamour of the big guys, they more than make up for it in spunk. Maybe it’s because I’m only 5’2” myself, but I have a lot respect for things that come in small packages.

Cherry tomatoes, perhaps because they’re on the vine for a shorter time, seem to be less prone to pests and disease than their larger counterparts. Because they’re smaller and therefore have fewer seeds, they’re less Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for – the plants you painstakingly nurtured through needy infancy and difficult adolescence are coming to maturity and producing red, ripe tomatoes.

Pounds of them.

Pounds, and pounds, and pounds of them.

You’re eating tomatoes at every meal, canning and freezing as much as humanly possible, and still they keep coming.

What’s a tomato gardener to do?

1. Keep eating! Remember the dark days of winter, when a garden fresh tomato is but a distant memory, and have just a few more. You’ll be glad you did.

2. Feed your friends. Speaking as someone who went through a gardenless period a while back, I can tell you that they’ll be grateful.

3. Leave the best ones on Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

I used to haul out my favorite chef’s knife to slice tomatoes – a big, heavy number that my woodworker husband keeps nice and sharp for me.

I’d draw the blade along the tomato a few times, eventually get through the skin, and try to minimize the inevitable squashing and bruising.

Then I tried a tomato knife.

With apologies to Neil Diamond, now I’m a believer! Not a trace of doubt in my mind. I’m in love, and I couldn’t go back if I tried.

Tomato knives are, as the name suggests, designed for cutting tomatoes.

They’re serrated, which gets you through that skin layer in one slice and finishes the job without a single smush or bruise. Hallelujah! So, as a service to fellow tomato-lovers everywhere, I’ve put together this list of fabulous tomato knives.

Best Overall: Williams-Sonoma, $15
Slices easily, cleans easily (in the dishwasher!), and has a handy round tip for scooping up the slices when you’re finished cutting.

Best Inexpensive: Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Protecting your skin from sun damage may get a little easier thanks to a new extract from our favorite fruit, the tomato.

LycoRed, a company that specializes in the development and production of plant extracts, has zeroed in on oleoresin from LycoRed’s specially-bred tomatoes.

Studies have shown that this tomato extract works to defeat free radicals and block harmful UV radiation from reaching the skin, potentially lowering risks of skin cancer as well as premature aging.

Lyc-O-Mato wouldn’t be recommended as a substitute Read the rest of this entry »