Gotta pick!

The weather forecast is calling for frost.  If it happens, 'twill be the first of the season here on Station Camp Creek.   However, these cool nights often cause fog to develop in the valleys so that we squeak by without frost while the ridges get bit. 

I'm hoping for a blanket of fog tonight because I'm not ready to lose my impatiens that are blooming better now than they have all summer. 

Just in case, I thought I'd save some of the green tomatoes still hanging on the vines.  I didn't pick them all, but I picked a bucket full. 

And I gathered bell peppers, which are incredibly crisp and sweet right now, some jalapenos and some banana peppers. I intend to make pepper jelly with some of those. 

After bringing all these goodies in, I went right to work slicing green tomatoes.  I sliced 7 cookie sheets full, breaded one pan full and put the other six in the deep freeze.

Once those are frozen solid, I'll slide the slices into Ziploc bags and they'll be ready to bread and fry when I take them out later this winter to eat with soup beans, fried potatoes and cornbread.  Yum-O, as Rachel Ray would say.

The tomatoes that I breaded went into the oven to "fry" while I sliced the others for the freezer.  By the time I was done, so were they. 

My Aunt Wilberta taught me this nifty trick for "frying" green tomatoes. 

First, you beat an egg in a shallow dish, then pour about a half cup of evaporated milk in with the beaten egg and mix that together. 

Next, you mix about a cup of flour and a couple of tablespoons of cornmeal in another shallow bowl, and add some salt and pepper.  Just to be daring, I sprinkled in a bit of garlic powder and a spoonful of seasoned fish breading this time. 

Now.  You take your sliced green tomatos, dunk them into the beaten egg mixture, then into the seasoned flour mixture. 

Then lay them on a well-oiled cookie sheet and place them in a preheated oven set on approximately 400 degrees. 

Bake about 20 minutes, then flip.  The tomatoes, I mean.  Bake another 15-20 minutes or until they are nicely browned. 

When cool enough to handle, grab one and quickly scarf it down.  Swallow and repeat. 

I thought I'd be clever and try something different. 

I  grilled some garlic parmesan Italian Bread from a big box bakery in a skillet with some olive oil.  Once the bread was nice and golden, I smeared one slice with a scant teaspoon of smoky horseradish sauce, then I piled some fried green tomatoes on that and jammed the bread slices together into a "Fried Green Tomato Sandwich."

It was purty good. However, the horsey sauce was a bit overpowering although I only used a tad.  So I'm thinking the sandwich would have been just fine with only the fried tomatoes and the bread.  Mayo would taste good on that too. 

I ate a few slices of those tomatoes without a thing on them and they were supremely tasty as well. 

The best thing about oven frying is that you don't have all that grease splatterin' all over the stove top. The tomatoes still get nice and crispy if you leave them in there long enough--heck, they'd probably turn black if you wanted 'em too!

Oh, and they taste great too! 


Aren't green tomatoes beautiful? 

 Ready to be frozen and eaten later...

 Another attempt at creativity--a green tomato sandwich served up with a side of zinnias. 

 Looks pretty good, heh? 

 Makes you feel like this after a plateful of 'em. 

 Zzzzzzzzzz...

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