Here we are. Another ManiacMonday. You have come here for your weekly fix of TomatoMania. In fact you may be expecting more great advice from Scott on growing these perfect jewels of summer. But we are giving him a week off.
You also may have been expecting me to post Sups! version of one of the contest winning recipes today. But in truth, I am dragging my feet a little bit because I know those great tomatoes of summer are right around the corner. I figure with just a little more patience I can make these recipes using the very best tomatoes. Maybe even tomatoes from my own backyard!
So I am choosing this Monday to give you an update on my tomatoes. Which have not only started to flower, but they are beginning to fruit as well.
As I have mentioned in weeks past am growing my tomatoes in pots because I do not get a lot of sun in my yard. But that has not stopped my little seedling from growing HUGE!
I think I am having so much success because Scott helped me pick varieties suited to my conditions.
He steered me to smaller, more compactly shaped plants that fruit early. He suggested for best reliability without tons of sun Matina (Heirloom) and 4th of July (Hybrid). Both are short season plants, which means they will flower and fruit successfully in cooler temps. Plus they fruit FAST. Both of them have lots of little green tomatoes hanging all over them.
I also have a “black” tomato variety called Nyagous (Heirloom). The plant is the largest of any that I am growing though it has fewer fruits on than some of the others, but these fruits are getting quite large.
I also have a variety called Margo (Hybrid). It is described as “easy-to-grow” and needs less support than other varieties. Which is turning out to be quite true. But it does seem to be lagging behind a bit. It is covered with flowers but not sizeable fruit yet.
Which brings me to the clear leader in my crop this year: Jenny (Hybrid). Jenny is covered with trusses of 15–20 very small tomatoes. But they are already turning orange!
I hope the squirrels stay away from Jenny now that she is starting to ripen. I have Mogli (my dog) on patrol out there all day. He seems to be doing a good job of keeping those critters at bay. Let’s hope he doesn’t fall sleep on the job!
SERIOUS FUN FOOD
Greg Henry
SippitySup
…that you were my hero, but I see that was already stated. These are gluten-free, and if you said they taste kinda like pecan pie, then I’m sold!
Flirting and lying! They must be great cookies!
When you say that “The Central Valley is one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions. On less than 1 percent of the total U.S. farmland, The Central Valley produces 8 percent of the nation’s agricultural output.” Nothing to do with cookies, but this cracks me up. I’m frustrated with the “eat local” lecture (not from you) that is usually touted by californians because they can anything all year. But, if I don’t eat your california produce who will? Okay, I had to say that, back to cookies.
There is no flour? They are gluten free and I know you didn’t mean to share that, but that’s a plus! And somehow seeing you bake cookies is also cracking me up. You are always full of surprises.
…I mean it — boldly asking for that recipe so that you could share it with us. I, too, have been doing things as a result of my blog that I would not have seen myself doing before. Like there was this blogger guy I ended up meeting for lunch in San Francisco, now that was quite a trip… 🙂
… I’ve met him before. What a loser! GREG
I had some friends who are BIG Lakers fans drop by unexpectedly yesterday, and we decided to have an impromptu dinner while watching the game. Fortunately for me, Sup had this quick recipe for the pecan cookies and I had the short list of ingredients on hand (what… no flour or butter?). Well, I could barely get them out of the oven before the boys were snatching them off the cooling rack. We enjoyed them last night with French vanilla ice cream and this morning with our coffee. My husband proclaimed they were the best cookies he has ever had…
Thanks for the great idea!
And no butter? That makes it a healthy cookie — a sweet, nutty, nutritional cookie — just my kind! Now that you have the recipe, does this mean that you only have 3 reasons left to stop at the Harris Ranch?
there will always be their trump card. Clean Potties.… GREG
The sticky chewy interior with the crunchy pecans sounds just fantastic! I have to try these.
I loved that story! I would have lied too to get the recipe!
My hubby’s favorite pie in the whole wide world is pecan pie, so I am going to make him happy to make these for him! Thanks for all the effort you put into getting the recipe!
Good thing you asked about it. Otherwise you would never have been given that nugget of information that led to your cookie. That alone made it worth the drive.
They don’t even have that many ingredients, which is great! These could be a fun weekend recipe.
These look so damn good… and I love pecan pie and anything resembling pecan pie! And I love recipes with less than 10 ingredients!
I think this may be the first thing I’ve read about you baking, and seriously, if this is the sort of thing you bake, keep it coming!!
Char
What a fun story! I’m glad you made these cookies after all — they do look good! My family would love them as we all adore pecans.
Your incognito investigation reminds me of my man calling Brigham’s Ice Cream to trace where his favorite flavor had disappeared to. There’s no shame in hunting down what satiates your sweet tooth. These cookies appear well worth the effort.
And you said you couldn’t bake?! These look great! I grew up in SoCal, and remember well the pit that is Central California. Never tried The Harris Ranch Restaurant, though!
No#2 Pencil on here…what is wrong? Have they really kidnapped you and taken you to Portugal…I could not even read the recipe, I was laughing so hard!
Since I have tried to learn the secret of my mother-in-laws chewy and gooey chocolate chip goodness she makes every holiday, I have to ‘drop’ the whole idea of baking cookies. Mine always turn out like cake! The good side is they are not like hockey pucks; which reminds me of when I saw your map I thought I was about to visit some learning on elevation, humidity, and all that other lovely baking science in the sippitysup.com class room, but no, I see the secret is just plain ole passion, and a good distracting eyelash flutter (and the help of a t‑shirt)!
I love the story behind the cookie! They look and sound delicous. ( and yes they still make pencils and require students to use no. 2 pencils on all tests, not sure why??)
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I probably won’t make it though because three dozen cookies in a house with only two people is dangerous. However, I will be traveling up north next week and will stop by here for a COOKIE!