Last Taste of Summer

Greetings from the Last Day of Summer. How did that happen so mother flipping fast?!!!!!??? Summer is officially over even though it hardly ever got here in the first place! Tomorrow is the vernal equinox and then the days just get shorter and shorter. Soon it will be time for roasting vegetables and carving pumpkins and baking bread and harvesting the fall crops in our new garden that we finally had a chance to plant this weekend - lots of salad greens, chard, kale, beets, cabbage and broccoli, oh my!


But for now, it turns out to be a very happy coincidence that tonight's dinner featured the very last bits of goodness from our summer garden at the old house.

We had one last small handful of padron peppers and sweet italian peppers, and a lone midget red bell pepper that we tossed into Grandma Esway's old cast iron skillet, and we quickly fried and then ate them with coarse salt while standing in the kitchen waiting for the tomato soup to finish simmering. I think she very much would have approved of tonight's meal. Dad, you would too!!





The soup was made with the last batch of big fat plump juicy tomatoes from the old garden, supplemented by a handful of dry-farmed early girl tomatoes from local farm Dirty Girl Produce.

The tomatoes got simmered with shallots & onions cooked in a little butter and a little water, and sat there simmering for what felt like so many hours that we thought for sure that we'd never, ever get to eat the soup. But good things come to those who wait. Especially if those who are waiting happen to have a batch of fried peppers to tide them over!

The last day of summer turned out to be not so bad at all, and I'm feeling pretty excited to greet the fall and all of the goodness that it will bring, too. On to new adventures!