Tomatoes

OK, my hat goes off to those bloggers who can keep up with summer activities, vacations, work AND cooking and blogging.  I am not doing so great at it and as much as I tell myself that I am going to "buckle down", cook something and blog about it, it just isn't happening.  Now, I know that my grandma has plenty of recipes that are just perfect for the summer.  Being a school teacher, I am sure that she found summers to be the best time to cook...after all...this meant more time for socializing, bridge playing, family gatherings and trips to see good friends or friends dropping by.  Boy do I envy the thought of "summers past" and I feel guilty about not cooking something from all those recipes, but then again..I have a lifetime of my grandma's recipes...who says I have to try and get them all in in a year or two?. So while I may cut back on cooking (well not cooking, but at least stuff from my Grandma's recipe box and the kind of stuff that anyone would want to read about), I do know that I have some things to blog about and no doubt, I can tie them back to summers with both my Grandma's. I thought I would start, by sharing a picture of my tomato plant.  Admittedly, it isn't pretty, in fact, I suspect most will look at it and determine that I am a pathetic excuse for a Nebraskan (I mean, after all, shouldn't all good Nebraskans know how to grow stuff?)...but I want to tell you something about my tomato plant.  It has produced a number of tomatoes that are plump, juicy and full of flavor...Just ask Duke, my (now weighing in at 108 lbs) chocolate lab.  He is my gardening companion when it comes time to pick tomatoes.  I think he knows that the chances are pretty good that he will get a tomato and he loves them!  Now for Bubba, I'm not sure he even knows I have a tomato plant, but that's OK...just means more for me (and Duke)!  I'll water my flowers and my one tomato plant (I actually have 2, but the other one hardly counts...I think it has produced a total of 2 tomatoes) and then pick a tomato right off the vine and eat it (Duke gets one too). As I think about my 2 Grandma's, it is my father's mother that was the gardener.  Grandmother loved flowers, but I always remember her planting a tomato plant or two in her flower beds and taking great care of them...and for those that remember my grandmother, I bet they know that I get my "just picked" eating habit from her!  Any way...here's a picture of my beauty!  It's mine and I am sure my grandmother is getting a kick out of me and Duke and the tomato plant.