IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR

At least twice over the last couple of months David has told me that I have lots of green tomatoes and then asked if I was planning on making green tomato chutney. Yesterday, as the tomato crop dwindles due to high summer heat,  I decided it was time to pick some of what was left and get busy in the kitchen.

This afternoon was the perfect time. It was miserably hot out, the humidity was sky high and there was no way I wanted to be outside. Instead I'll slave over a hot stove in the air-conditioned kitchen.
You can check the recipe here. After half an hour of chopping everything was in the pot and on the stove.

After a couple of hours the mixture became a thick brown chutney. The kitchen smells wonderful.

Time to pot up in my saved, sterilized  Bonne Maman jars. Less than half an hour later the lids had all popped. No need to do any canning with this recipe. The sugar and vinegar along with sterilizing jars and lids is enough.

Lots of chutney for gifts and to have with our curries.

AN EARLY CHUTNEY SEASON

We ran out of green tomato chutney this year, so I'm not waiting until the end of the year. Just suppose there weren't any green tomatoes! Not even worth thinking about.

Besides which we have an early bumper crop of tomatoes. This is the earliest I have ever seen tomatoes of this size. The summer-like days are the reason.

But they are also the reason that spider mites and early blight have reared their ugly heads. Ironic that there are few leaf footed bugs this year!

Anyway the tomatoes are bubbling in the pot. Oh! The kitchen smells wonderful.

And this is the batch I made last week. No chance we will run out this year.

THE 1LB TOMATO

Tipping the scales at exactly 1lb. It would be a celebrity even if it wasn't a Celebrity!

Just one day without picking and I have filled two colanders and a bowl. More roasted Roma tomatoes in the oven. Their wonderful aroma fills the kitchen.I am beginning to wish I had picked some of them green and made my green tomato chutney. I'm now stuffing tomatoes with squash instead of squash with tomatoes!

Thank goodness I picked the garlic and had it drying in a sheltered place. We had over 3" of rain in two days. They would have been rotting in the soil, I'm sure. Unfortunately with the rain comes the splitting tomatoes. The yellow pear are particularly affected.