What you should be doing with your Sungolds

If you've been reading Em-i-lis for at least a year, you might know that I adore tomatoes. Raw, in sandwiches and tarts, with peaches, in savory jams, cooked into beautiful sauces for pasta, canned for later use. 

Basically, I'm Forrest Gump's shrimpin' friend, Bubba, or Christopher Guest's nut-aficionado character in Best In Show, with tomatoes.

As an aside, y'all have to watch this clip. Sends me to the floor in peals of laughter every.damn.time. Harlan Pepper, god bless you. HAH!

But back to Sungolds. Possibly, they are my favorite tomato. At the least, they are my favorite small type. I love their golden orange hue, their perfect sweet tang and the way you can eat them hand over fist and never tire.

all delicious, but the bright orange Sungolds are my favorite.

Several summers back, I was heavily into anchovy-garlic anything and one evening cooked some Sungolds over low heat with anchovies, garlic, capers, parsley and olive oil. The sauce ingredients melted together in the most divine, sticky, unctuous way, and the tomatoes broke down just enough to add pleasurably to the mix but also maintain a distinct texture and standing. 

lusty sungold love

Lusty Sungold Love was born, and I have found that the very best way to enjoy this dish is spooned atop toasted baguette slathered with fresh ricotta. Each bite makes you pause. Maybe you'll close your eyes or sigh a small, contented "aah." And then you'll reach for another slice of bread, the bowl of ricotta and the spoon dunked in the lusty tomatoes. And you'll start again and enjoy it just the same.

Still without power, have decamped to in-laws

After an extremely rough night which culminated in Jack waking me up at 3:30am and then Oliver at 4, we finally decided that the power wasn't going to come back soon enough to keep us sane in our hot house. To my in-laws! Their power resumed sometime yesterday, so we cleared out the fridge and freezer, packed up the kids and dog, tried to remember everything else, and as T left for work, I headed out here. No camp, so we've just been hanging around appreciating the cool. I went back home for a bit to clean and toss and damnation was it hot.

I feel totally sleep-deprived but am hoping to catch up soon. Power is out at the center where I take my photog class, and we won't know until later if class tonight is on. Though I like it a lot, I am definitely hoping it gets rainchecked. Camp will resume tomorrow which is superb news, and hopefully our house will head back online sometime soon. Jack's birthday is Wednesday, and I hate to think of it being a bummer in any way.

Pics from last night's dinner are not terrific, BUT they do give you a sense of just how darn good the meal was. Fab! The color is slightly off here, but these tomatoes are insane: capers, anchovies, garlic, olive oil and these gorgeous Sungolds. The fresh corn and the steaks were awesome too- mint pesto was a lovely accompaniment.

Mardi Gras cauliflower, chimichurri steaks, salad from the garden

I.Am.So.Tired. Brought it on myself, I know, and am happy to have done so, but I gotta tell you that today took some effort. In any case, dinner was fab. Steaks with the chimichurri, roasted cauliflower with marconas, capers and cherries, and a gorgeous salad from our garden topped with blue cheese and tomatoes. Yum, yum, and so much more fun than the dreaded task I now face: packing. I detest packing though I hate unpacking even more, and of course, ironing trumps both for worst chore. But I have really done a hell of a job procrastinating today, and now, as my sleepy eyes beg me to let them rest, I simply must fill the suitcase and zip it shut. We leave at 5:30 tomorrow morning, so you can see why I can't wait any longer.

Did anyone see Melissa Clark's recipe for olive-Gruyere bread in today's NYT Dining section? I am making that stat!