Overnight Tomatoes

This recipe is taken from Kinfolk Magazine, volume 1.  It took me a long time to get around to making it, and I regret the time I spent in my life not having eaten Overnight Tomatoes.  I love making something, and then eating it, and thinking, "Wow, I'm a genius."  Even though afterward I need to remind myself that all I did was follow instructions, and there is therefore no genius involved.  But you should know that this recipe is so delicious, you too will momentarily convince yourself that you should have a cooking show.
I further prove my genius by having altered this.  I altered it in that I did not use thyme.  Because I didn't have any.  Becky, my friend who truly is a kitchen prodigy, merely heard this recipe, didn't even read it, and went home and cooked it, and then legitimately altered it by mixing some balsamic with the olive oil in the pan before cooking the tomatoes, which she says was an excellent addition, and carmelized in just the right way.  This will obviously be the recipe I try next time, and afterwards I will again refer to myself as a master chef in my head.

Ingredients:

200 grams (about 7 oz) mixed small tomatoes 

cherry, grape, pear

4-5 small unpeeled garlic cloves

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

4 sprigs fresh thyme

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 deg F.  Slice tomatoes in half, place in ovenproof dish (or on baking sheet).  Add garlic cloves, then toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Arrange tomatoes face up in the pan.  Pick leaves off half the thyme and sprinkle over the tomatoes, break the remaining sprigs into shorter lengths and add to the pan.

Place in preheated oven, cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven off.  Leave the tomatoes in the oven to slowly roast, until they reach the desired texture.  (8 hours is recommended.) 

*Resist the temptation to open the oven and smell your tomatoes.  This is really hard to do.*

Bring to room temperature before serving or using in other recipes.

Kinfolk reminds you that depending on the size and variety of tomatoes, cooking times and temperature adjustments may be necessary.  Play with it, make it yours.

 I used my tomatoes to make a really yummy sandwich (like Cosi's TBM.  I'm not really an original thinker in the kitchen). Even the garlic cloves go right in the sandwich, they are so good.  Kinfolk has a recipe for their own sandwich you can put them in.  Becky mixed hers with some provolone and spinach.  You can obviously use these in all kinds of meals.  Possibly all your meals, from now on.

All of these ingredients were acquired from Harvest Local Foods, my favorite source, except the basil, which is from the Pathmark.  Sorry.

Currently

Loving:  My sister finished her DIY calendar today.  It's super-cool.  She made it out of mounted paint color samples and glass.  She can write on it with dry erase markers, so next month it will be just as pretty and November-ready!  If I can convince her, there will be a little feature on this blog showcasing all the things she makes.  (There are a lot!  Wait until you see what she's doing with her bureau!!)

Reading: I read 2 Vogues, and 1 issue each of  Smithsonian, Philadelphia, and House Beautiful Magazines this weekend.  Also bought 4 books this weekend at the Haverford Public Library during Haverford Township Day.  You could get all the books that fit in a bag for $6.  My sister and I filled that bag, me with random stuff (Virginia Woolf, a photojournalism coffee table book, a Second City video from probably 1983), and Erin with ballet, ballet, and more ballet.  

Watching: I just finished season 4 of Dexter today, you know the season when Rita dies?  If you didn't know that happened... oops?  ALSO, I'm pretty obsessed with Call the Midwife, the new series on Masterpiece Theatre, via BBC One.  It's the true story of a young woman who was a bicycling midwife in London's East End in the 1950s.  If it's got pretty hairstyles and babies, I'm totally in.  I thoroughly enjoyed this week, and I can't wait for episode 3 next week!

Listening to: The Velvet Underground and Nico (separately and together) are all I've been listening to this week.  "Shiny, shiny..."

Thinking about: Greed, America, and politics.  This upcoming election has been getting me a little worked up about a lot of things.  I try not to get too political, mostly because I've known people who think about nothing else.  Politics can be very divisive, and that's the thing I dislike the most - the fact that people seem to not work together anymore, or even work against each other.  And then I start thinking, "Well, maybe this is how it was years and years ago, but we just didn't see it, or recognise it, or know it was happening, because we didn't have this magic instant-news/opinion machine called the internet?"  But whether it was happening years ago, or is a new(er) phenomenon, shouldn't it be better?  Why can't we all get along?  Why is everything motivated by money, and not what's right?  Capitalism and moralism can't be mutually exclusive, right?

Looking forward to: The enchilada stuffed peppers that are in my oven RIGHT NOW.  I can't wait to eat them.  They were ordered from my favorite, Harvest Local Foods, and have been in the freezer since they arrived.  I'm also looking forward to my food order this week, since I didn't order anything last week.  (Still getting used to having fresh food in the house - it goes bad so fast, and I eat it so slow!  I need to learn to order less in order to not waste.)

Making me happy: Snugglepuss here next to me.  She hasn't left my side all day, we played tag this morning, and then we snuggled down for TV and blogging.  Yes, "she" is the cat.

Inspired by Dani at Sometimes Sweet.  :)t

Light/Bruce Munro

For the past few months, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square has been exhibiting Light: Installations by Bruce Monro.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  And I mean that in a very literal sense, where you walk in the dark, come upon these light displays, and you literally catch yourself holding your breath.  Maybe that's just me.  No, it's not just me.  Example: when we got to the end, both my mom and little sister were disappointed that there wasn't more to it.  And I think that's a perfect illustration of how good it was; it left you wanting more.  The exhibit is over now, so you all will have believe my photos.
I loved it so much, so beware, this post is very image-heavy.  And this is after some extensive editing and curating.  See what I did there?

I edited this 100 times.  every change looked great.
but this actually shows the colors most accurately.

sometimes you can't stay still

this is terrible, but i love claire sticking her tongue out :)

they're soda bottles!