Oh Yum!!

before:

Last week our dear friends Gordon and Ivona shared with us from the bounty of their garden. Ivona sent Gordon and the kids on a mission to bring me a HUGE bag full of cherry tomatoes. They are some of the sweetest tomatoes I have ever eaten. What I didn't have the heart to tell them is that there is no way I can eat my way through that whole bag since I'm the only one in the house who really eats tomatoes! So, what's a girl to do? OVEN ROAST THEM!!! I have found my new favorite candy! So, I lightly coated the tomatoes in a little bit of olive oil, tossed in some whole garlic cloves, sprinkled the whole mess with Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, a shake or two of dried basil (or was it oregano? Now I don't know!) and laid sprigs of fresh parsley on top (also from Gordon and Ivona). I then roasted them in the oven at 220º F for 4 hours, plus whatever cooling time at the end of that (I had the oven turn off after I went to work.). When I got home the house still smelled so good! I had hoped they would be just a bit more shriveled, so as I was pre-heating my oven for some dinner rolls tonight (up to 325º) I left the two pans of tomatoes in there. Just as I put the bread in, I pulled the tomatoes out. They are so yummy to eat just straight, but I did add them to the fresh green beans and red onions that we did in the BBQ wok tonight to go with the steak I got for Kent and the oh, so delicious and fresh (caught just yesterday) salmon that my co-worker MaryJo gave to me! What a TREAT!! I have put the rest in small ziploc bags in the freezer so that I have some "sun-dried" tomatoes to use through the winter -- or just a super snack to enjoy!!

after: If you do this without DeMarle pans you will need to put foil on your baking pans and then spray that so they don't stick! It will also make for easier clean up!