Sweet Summer Corn

My Ultimate Favorite Dinner I Ever Make, Ever

After a successful week of patio garden harvest I got enough tomatoes to make my favorite dinner! The title of this post may sound like overkill, but it is seriously amazing. As soon as we have enough tomatoes this dinner is happening again.
I was lucky enough to find this recipe in last years Better Homes and Gardens magazine. (Thanks Mom!) I just love this dish it is so easy, but it has soooooo much wow taste. It is best to use cherry tomatoes (or orange cherry or grape or tiny yellow pear) because they just pop and ooze just right.
Okay, no further ado...

Ta-da!!!!!
This is five ingredients, my friends. And almost no chopping or prep work. Perfect meal, right?

Slow-Baked Tomatoes with Garlic and Mint

Ingredients

1-1/2 lb. cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
7 cloves garlic, peeled, split lengthwise and green shoot removed
1 bunch fresh mint, trimmed
1 to 2 tsp. coarse or flake salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wash and drain tomatoes well. Pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a nonreactive (such as earthenware) 2-quart baking dish place tomatoes in a single layer. Pour on olive oil so they are very well coated and there should be a thin layer (1/8 inch) of oil on bottom of dish. Toss in garlic, mint, salt and pepper.

3. Bake, uncovered, for 45 to 60 minutes or until tomato skins split and soften but tomatoes still retain their shape.

4. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Spoon or mash over slices of toasted bread and serve with goat cheese. Makes 8 servings.

Now, I have just a few personal notes. Firstly,the batch pictured above is a halved recipe because I didn't have a pound and a half of tomatoes ripen at once and am too cheap to buy cherry tomatoes. I love this served over chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper (as pictured below). Definitely thumbs up on the crusty bread and while I've never had it with goat cheese and cannot possibly see how that could go wrong. Last of all, savory, sweet, tangy, garlic, salt, spiciness can I wait to have you again?

Third Trimester

Sweet baby is still growing! I'm excited about this milestone. This means I start seeing the midwife more frequently and next week I take the glucose screening. Now I am seriously pregnant, even though I've got a while before the baby will come.
Hurray to pregnancy and hurray to the light at the end of the tunnel!

Also, just to note I am not ashamed of my looks, it is just that no one was home and this was the best spot to set the camera. You'll have to see my face another time.

Tie Dye Fun

I think I am going to do more of this. It is so fun and my hands are back to a normal color!

Crochet Baby Blanket

I made this for our upcoming bundle of joy. It is huge, which I only regret somedays. It is like 4 feet by 3.5 feet. It'll be nice for cushioning on the floor and a good windbreaker. I crocheted two strands of yarn together- fun and sturdy!

Porter Family Reunion

This post is waaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue. I guess I was disappointed by my photo coverage and figured if I just waited more photos of the blessed even would appear. Ah well.
We had an excellent time in California with Ken's wild Porter relatives. It started off with a fun picnic at the park.

The brave went on a serious hike on the coast.

We saw redwood trees in the Muir forest.

The younger crowd and their adults went to the California Academy of Sciences.

Albino Alligator (so cool!)

Claire Bobae (Jared's cousin) and Jared in front of one of the HUGE tanks.

We did lots of other amazing things with other amazing people which and who are not pictured. I'll become a better family photographer someday...

Group picture on the last day!
Obligatory crazy picture of the crazy (fun) relatives.

Grandma Porter with her 6 children!Thanks to this woman and her efforts to create such a great family. I love spending time with Ken's relatives. It really does feel like family to me.
Also, special shout out to the Pacifica Porters for throwing this shindig!

Bop Bop Bop

Bop bop bop is our family lingo for sword (or any other long object) fighting. We sometimes use paper towel tubes, bowling pins, wooden spoons, or blocks. While we were at our most recent family reunion, Jared got to use a real toy sword and armed Grandma with a foam bat.



Looks like fun, right? Well it must've been because Jared would not let his grandma quit. No other partner was sufficient, so she had to be ready at all times!