Roasting Romas & A FREE Printable/Missoni Inspired

More Missoni Inspiration

Chevrons on my mind.....sounds like a song. They are on my mind, so I created another design with them.  This one is for you. And it's FREE. Cool, huh?

These gift tags are colorful, hip and a little bit retro. 

Any package would be honored to have them attached. At least, that's what I've heard. I think they'd be really cute on a package wrapped in white! But, that's just me. You do whatever you'd like. 

Talk about fun!

Here you go:

Click on picture above, save to computer or copy and paste. These gift tags are set up to be printed on an 8.5 x 11 paper. I also have an idea running around my head for note cards using one of these designs. Stay tuned for an update, as I'm hoping to have them in our store, Bates Mercantile Co., later today.

The Heavenly Smell of Romas Roasting

Finally, the Roma tomato post.....I'm a few days behind on this one. Sorry about that. If you have Roma tomatoes growing in your garden like we do, or can get your hands on some at farmers' market, you need to try this. You won't be sorry.  I had no idea I could roast and freeze my tomatoes until my friend Carey (aka Martha) told many years ago. I've been roasting them ever since, and there is nothing like being in the middle of the winter and being able to add garden tomatoes to a dish for some wonderful flavor.

Here's the scoop (and yes, I know I spelled caramelizing wrong above, but I'm too lazy to change it now):

* you need enough Romas to fill a cookie sheet- if they're big, you can cut in two

* I use a well seasoned cookie sheet- that is to say, one I've roasted a lot of veg on with olive oil. Or one you don't care about 'becoming' well seasoned.

*this is a slow cooking process, but one that doesn't need a ton of tending to

*Romas are the tomatoes of choice for this because they are a meaty tomato with not a lot of seeds. I do also throw some cherries in there too if i have them.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Cut Romas in half if they're on the larger side. Leave them whole if they're on the smaller side.  Grease the pan with extra virgin olive oil. I give it a good glug over the sheet and then spread with a paper towel. Sprinkle pan with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Place tomatoes on cookie sheet and sprinkle with more sea salt and pepper.  Pop in oven and let them do their thing. Check about once every hour and turn. It takes several hours on low heat for them to first, caramelize, and then start looking more like a sun dried tomato. There's no golden rule here, do them until they are done how you like them. I'd say at least until they caramelized and start to brown on the edges.  They do stick a bit due to oil and the natural sugar in the tomato, just use a spatula to flip. I have a little metal one that works great. I like to finish them facing up so that they get a little dryer.  That's it. The flavor is out of this world.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.  If you can stop yourself from eating them all right then and there, let them cool and you can pop them in a freezer bag. Make sure all the air is out, seal and throw it in the freezer. Take out in middle of Winter, and remember why you do all that work in your garden or why you like farmers' market so much. If you have a home office like I do, you can do them any day. If not, the weekend is a great time to do this when you're hanging around the house.

So delicious. Trust me.

Sunset Meadows

Gorgeous day yesterday. 84F. We won't see that much longer, supposed to drop tonight. May have to cover my tomatoes because some are still ripening. 

I caught the sunset before I hopped into the pool last night. I've got to get in while I can. It was out of this world......74F and glorious.

Back to the sunset.  Beautiful streams of light.

A big, bright.................

.........ball of fire.

Hot, but very cool.

Thursday already. How'd that happen? Make it a great one in your little corner of the world.

Peace out.