Waking up in the pre-dawn darkness of these late October mornings, one can actually feel that Fall is slowly leaving us.  As I take my first sip of scalding, dark coffee & listen to the slow hum of the furnace warming the house, the sun begins to lighten the outside world.  I note the crisp whiteness of hard frost that blankets everything my eyes touch, and I think to myself that today is the day to put up the last tomatoes of the season.  Right before the first hard frost happens, my family goes into the garden and harvests all the remaining mature green tomatoes.  We pack them in single layers in bags or boxes, seal them tightly and place them all in our cool, dark basement.  Thru the magic of time (and the naturally occurring ethylene from the tomatoes) these tomatoes will ripen in about a week or so and make wonderful sauce or stewed tomatoes.  By 8 a.m., our whole house smells just like summer once more as the tomatoes, with just a bit of sea salt, stew and bubble merrily in the pot.

Days like this, for a chef like me, make the whole world right again.  Perhaps your home, too, could capture the smell of summer one more time before we all hunker down for the long, cold quiet days ahead?  Call anytime.  I would be only too happy to help.

 

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