Curly Girl Farm: See You Downtown

"What's in Season" article from the second week in August:

For the next two weekends Farmers’ Market will be changing locations. The 165^th Muskingum County Blue Ribbon Fair will be taking place at the fairgrounds, so market will be held downtown on Third Street in front of the Freight Shops. The time will be the same: 9:00 am - noon. For some, having market downtown will bring back memories of when downtown was a bustling place on Saturdays and the farmers would bring their goods in town to sell. I wish I had been around to see it like that.

It seems like the fair rolls around each year right when the glut of the tomatoes are on. Last year I had a friend visiting from Europe during the fair and I told him he would have to help me pick tomatoes before I would take him to the fair. A ticket to the fair is pretty cheap wages for a days work in a hot tomato patch but it worked; we got the patch picked and still had time to go to the fair and participate in the potato peeling and pie eating contests that evening.

I have more tomatoes “than you can shake a stick at,” as my dad would say. I don’t know what that saying means, but find myself using it a lot. I have all shapes, sizes, and colors. Did you know they don’t just come in red? The little cherry tomatoes are just the cutest things and it is so nice when a mother buys a pint for her kids because she says they eat them just like candy. Really, they are just as appealing as candy and so much better for them.

My aunt and uncle have a dinner party club with their friends. They meet once a month at each others’ houses for dinner and the ladies try out new recipes. This is one that my aunt Monica made last year using cherry tomatoes. When my cherry tomatoes were ready this year, her friends recalled this dish and were still raving over it, so I knew I had to get it from her.

Slow-Baked Tomatoes with Garlic and Mint

· 3 pints cherry tomatoes

· ¼ to ½ cup olive oil

· 7 cloves garlic, peeled and split lengthwise

· 1 bunch fresh mint

· 1-2 tsp. coarse salt

· 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

· Toasted slices of bread such as a baguette

· Goat cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 325º. Place tomatoes in ceramic baking dish in a single layer. Coat with olive oil. Toss in garlic, mint, salt, and pepper. Bake, uncovered, for 45-60 min or until skins split and soften but tomatoes still retain their shape. Serve, hot, warm, or at room temp. Spoon over slices of toasted bread with goat cheese.