How many days have passed since June 28, 2009? I’m pretty sure it adds up to 393. For me that means 393 days of consecutive, daily food blogging. Should I continue posting through the week and aim for the tidy, round number of 400? Nope. I’m partial to odd numbers, the fish are jumping, and I’m taking the weekend off.
Daily food blogging brings me a great deal of pleasure, especially knowing folks are tuning in. I’m trying hard not to wax sappy sentimental, but the most important thing to me is writing a recipe that I hope you will enjoy. When I cook and write, I try to visualize you, and imagine you just took a bite from the dish, and are smiling.
Whether you’re an armchair cook and enjoy fantasizing about cooking, or you have the time to cook every day, I understand your time is a precious commodity and I sincerely thank you for indulging my culinary verbosity. I’m just, plain and simply, thrilled to have the opportunity to share my favorite recipes with you on AnnArbor.com., and am blessed to live in a town with such a rich culinary repository.
I especially enjoy reading and responding to your comments. Listening to your voice gives us all alternative ideas, lending your own unique twist to the “recipe-story”. Then it becomes a recipe chain: everyone’s recipe, everyone’s story.
Today’s recipe brings me full-circle. I made the recipe last summer – it’s nothing fancy, and I’d prefer not calculating the calories. I simply enjoy country cooking in the heat of July, when fat green tomatoes are hanging on the backyard vines. Besides, it’s a recipe I grew up with and conjurs memories of my family.
I adore fried green tomatoes – when properly cooked they have a crispy crust with a tangy, creamy filling. I’ve never repeated a recipe until now, but this one begs I haul out the skillet.
For me, the therapies of cooking are no bottled elixir – sustainable happiness poured out, to taste, in 1/4 cup increments. A sink of dirty dishes are always left behind.
When it’s all said and done, the sweetness of life is in the relationships built with family, friends and community; food is simply the fun and practical facilitator I’ve chosen for nurturing these bonds. Even sharing a seasonal peach can do the trick – preferably with a dollop of Devon cream!
Back to the tomatoes. The most important trick in frying green tomatoes is regulating the temperature of the oil; if it’s too hot you will burn your tomatoes; if not hot enough, your tomatoes may not develop a crunchy crust. And please don’t fiddle with the tomatoes as the crust is forming; it may dislodge from the tomato. I try not to touch them for the first five minutes of frying time, simply adjusting the burner heat as necessary.
I followed last year’s recipe, only enhancing it by making my own mayonnaise. I dedicate this recipe to my father, Bob, who taught me that the best mayonnaise does not come out of a jar.
Note: Heartfelt thanks to the AnnArbor.Com staff who nudged me onward (notes on the trials and tribulations from an obsessive food blogger here.)
