Tomato vendetta

I got the e-mail late last night. Several farmers had an excess of produce and were willing to meet at the Real Estate Office in town for an impromptu market. Since these Sunday markets are always over by the time I get off work and drive home, I was excited! I would have at least 15 minutes if I bolted directly after work. WOO HOO!

I actually was worries that I would not make it, that they would start closing up before I got there. I was not willing to risk a ticket, but I really wanted to get there...really.

I pulled in and saw that the turnout was sparse, or because of my late arrival, everyone else had gone home. I jumped out of the vehicle and yelled "am I too late?" Nope, we still have the scale out. From a distance I saw that my choices were limited but I could see tomatoes, and honestly, that was what my mission was.

I bought a ten-pound lug, some lemon cukes, some interesting summer squash and two curly cukes. As I left I asked that they have the regular Sunday markets open later, for those of us that work, and took my prize home.

I plopped that lug down and started peeling a tomato almost immediately. Sliced thick with a sprinkle of the Korean salt we just got at "H Mart", a generous grinding of black pepper, I presented the plate to M like it was gold. We could both smell the delicious aroma. And that first taste, amazing.

I am sure this sounds stupid, but I really have not tasted a great tomato this year. I couple of OK tomatoes, but nothing hot out-the-garden great. This was pretty darned close.

When I was really young, we used to drive from our home in Morro Bay to my Grandparents home near Griffith Park in Los Angeles. It was a long drive, and I always threw-up at least once, so it was painful in many ways. My getting sick would annoy my Father, we would have to stop and shuffle people around, ending up with me in the front seat. And no matter what, the car always smelled. Why I did not start out in the front seat is beyond me.

But getting to Grandma's was worth it. She had, of course, been cooking all day and there were good things to eat. Snacks really, but Hungarian snacks. Kolbasz, cut on the diagonal, homemade pickles, fresh bread and as a treat we would get a dribble of Apricot Brandy in an adult glass. Looking back, I can see that we were being helped into slumber, so the adults could play cards. But it was so cool.

The next morning Grandma would be up early making breakfast; huge bowls of fruit, maybe pancakes, maybe the softest fluffiest creamy scrambled eggs ever. Bacon. And a pot of coffee that she made by pouring boiling water over grounds in a filter. She always ground the beans with a grinder that was attached to the wall, and had a long cranking handle. And we ate on special dishes; pale green glass that I learned much much later was depression glass. Coffee was served to everyone, even us kids. Though I think mine was a tablespoon of coffee, two of sugar and the rest cream. I just felt so grown-up!

I could hear Dickey-Bird singing his cage in the "outside" room, what would be considered a mud-room. I do not know how many "Dickey-Birds there had been, but each and every one was raised from an egg by Grandma. And they all sang. Beautifully.

After breakfast we went into the yard. I thought it was huge, probably not, but it was narrow and went as far as Grandpa's "shop". The old one-car garage (if that one car was a Model T) was where he did his wizardry with wood and created beautiful furniture. We were not allowed into the shop except with rare exception. That was Ok by me; there was scary machinery in there!

Grandma and I went into the garden. There was dill and squash and grapes and the most beautiful flowers. Grandma almost never picked those flowers. She just loved them in her yard. But the best by far was the tomatoes. We searched for those nasty tomato worms and to see how they were ripening. And then, I was allowed to pick one and eat it right there in the yard. Nirvana.

So I have a lug of tomatoes, the day off and I need to decide what I will do with them. Stay tuned.