Good Sunday evening, or rather, good Monday morning for it is 12:01 and I surely want to be correct. After all, as Daddy used to say, "You catching a train, or taking medicine?" and these were the only 2 reasons for worrying about the time. mmmmmmm If not, don't worry about having the right time. Oh well, I do know I haven't been to bed yet but will go as soon as I finish talking with ya'll.
We just got one of those quick, hard, summer rains full of thunder and lightning. Glad it didn't last long but maybe it will cool things off and clear the air. I love to smell the air after a rain shower for it is clean, free of pollen, with a hint of the smell from the lightning. Daddy used to say that the lightning was good for the farmer for it gives off some kind of mineral they need to grow crops. Now, I'm not sure about this but if Daddy said it about farming "you can take it to the bank."
This is one of the things I like about the summer and I have enjoyed several more this week. I picked blueberries the first of the week, what few we have, and have been eating them on my cereal most every day. They are sweet and good for you. I read somewhere they are full of antioxidants and will help your brain stay young. Not sure about all that but they are sooo good, especially picked off the bush, popped in the mouth and chewed slowly and enjoyed. This is a taste of summer that I love and if it makes me smart and healthy, that's an added bonus.
Watermelons are plentiful around us and I have been eating about 1 every other day. I just cut them in half, scoop it out with a melon baller, put this in a big plastic bag to keep in the refrigerator. All during the day I pull out the bag and eat some cold, sweet, watermelon. It is sweet and gives you extra doses of vitamin "P". Don't worry about over dosing on this vitamin for it is water soluble and flows right on through which gives you added exercise as you hurry to the bathroom. Lots of advantages in eating watermelon - tastes good, easy to prepare, full of vitamin P and encourages exercise.
Tonight I had my favorite summer eat - tomato sandwich. A friend brought me some tomatoes straight out of the garden and they are vine-ripened, big, red and juicy. I made that sandwich and savored every bite. Of course I should have had iced tea to go with it but drank a coke instead for I am kinda addicted to cokes.
There is an art to making a good tomato sandwich or "mater sanwich" as it is know here in the South and I think ya'll need to know the secret. The original, delicious, tomato sandwich is made this way.
1. Take a red, ripe tomato from the garden, has not been refrigerated, and slice it THICKLY.
2. Take 2 slices of light bread (which is Southern for white, sliced bread) and slather them liberally with mayonnaise - not diet, not low fat, and not an off brand- but a good brand. You can't be stingy with your money when buying mayonnaise for a good tomato sandwich.
3. Place as many slices of tomato as you can pile onto one slice of the bread. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Gently place the other slice of bread on top of the tomatoes, pick up gently with both hands, and savor every bite of this gift from Southern Heaven.
Now the juices will run down your chin and down your elbows but that's what it is supposed to do. You just take a bath in it, enjoy every bite, then get several napkins and clean up. If it doesn't drip good tomato juices, you have a picked green, sprayed with stuff to make it turn red, and shipped in from California tomato. We all know that California is not in the South, thank goodness, and they don't know how to grow tomatoes. You have to have one grown in the South and picked ripe to have a good sandwich.
There are some other things you can add to enhance the flavor but nothing makes it better. You can add big leaves of fresh, crisp lettuce, fried bacon, slices of Vidalia onion, and use brown bread if you like. I do like to use whole wheat bread and put lettuce on it but my favorite is just plain bread, mayonnaise and slices of tomato.
You have just got to try this but don't go down to your local supermarket and buy some tomatoes. Go to your farmer's market, your garden, your neighbor's garden or the big patch down the road and beg and plead for some tomatoes. The picked green and ripened later ones will just not taste good. This is a seasonal treat - only for the summer.
I hope you all have found your local farmer's market or found a farmer who sells fresh produce for this is the best food you can find. If you check your local paper you can find one and if not, look on the Internet for farms in your area which sell fresh fruits and vegetables. It is worth the search.
Well, I am going to bid all of good night and wish you all pleasant dreams about watermelon, blueberries, peaches, and tomato sandwiches. Talk to ya'll later.
Nuff said,
The Georgia Peach
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