Better Living Through Bacon

From the bottom, up 

Toast

Mayo

Locally-sourced smoked bacon

Garden tomato

Lettuce 

Mayo 

Toast 

Frilly toothpicks too 

Heaven...... 

 

The Garden Chronicles

As tough as gardening has been this year there have been several standouts.  Raspberries, asparagus and tomatoes.  Plenty of berries to pick and eat with the surplus frozen for the future.  You've likely been bored to tears with the spargel story.  And the tomatoes are doing terrific with red and yellow cherry varieties for snacking, San Marzanos for pizza and these beauties; all acquired from Sully's Greenhouse this spring.  

First time purchaser from this garden center and I guess I'll have to go back; namely because the heirloom beefsteak variety above can no longer be ID'd.  The name on the tag faded!  These are absolutely fantastic.

Anyway, my tomato plants are about half of prior years but the yield is good enough for some canning in my future.

Meanwhile there are BLTs to eat.

 Pretty good chow if you can get it.... 

You Say Tomato; I Say Tomato

Recent travel to visit with family found us in Mobile Alabama for a week with an opportunity to become temporary Mobilians and soak-up family time, history, food and ambiance of this coastal city.

From the neighborhood Farm Market there were fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes. Big ones too. 

 

Daughter fried-up some of her homemade smoked bacon to fashion toasted sourdough BLTs.

 

 

My own tomato plants are looking good but we're nowhere close to sandwiches....

Good Eats

Sourdough boule #3.

 

Me thinks I have the recipe figured-out. 

And because there are garden tomatoes continuing to ripen in the garage, the other night delivered BLTs. 

Some of my friends tell me that Nueske’s is the Gold Standard of bacon. Nonsense. Marchant’s bacon is. 

And by the time December rolls-around home-grown tomatoes will be a fond memory.

 

Lunch

In keeping with my Mad Scientist streak, among other things I baked a sourdough loaf yesterday.  I'm getting better at it and even signed-up for a sourdough class at the local community college.

 

Started the dough over the weekend and woke to this upon rising yesterday morning.

 

 

Lettuce and vine-ripened tomatoes from the garden, locally-sourced bacon, mayo and frilly toothpicks to hold all of this summertime goodness together.

 

 

Enough of the same for lunch again today.

 

There's another 1200g dough doing a longer cold proof in the garage fridge.

The science continues....

 

Official Arrival of Summer

 

Baked a French boule yesterday at the request of The Missus.  We were thinking alike and looking ahead 24 hours.

This evening there was this....

Toasted French bread, real mayo, Marchant's bacon, fresh-picked tomato and lettuce from the garden all held-together with frilly toothpicks.

The arrival of the first BLT of of 2022 signals the official arrival of summer.

 Boom!

 

Close of the Weekend

I haven’t seen a single whitetail the last two days of hunting. Sigh.

 

Sunset today was spectacular. 

 

 

And there were BLTs constructed with homemade brick oven bread, locally-sourced bacon and garden tomatoes. 

 

 

Yes, garden tomatoes. 

 

On balance a terrific weekend……

 

Tomato Avalanche!

 

The tomato avalanche continues with another five dozen ripening in the garage.

BLTs tonight.

 

The strategic bacon reserves is now depleted and I have to pandemic caution to the wind to make a bacon run.

First world problem.

Summertime Treat

For breakfast today.

Take two slices of organic rustic white bread and toast.  On each slice spread a thin layer of mayonnaise.  Add a generous layer of Marchant's smoked Door County bacon.  On top of the bacon add sliced, vine-ripened garden tomatoes.  Add to the tomatoes a layer of fresh-picked garden Bibb lettuce.  Top with the remaining slice of toasted bread.  Enjoy with a steaming cuppa joe.


When the cold and blustery February winds beat-upon your home and rattle the windows in six months you will remember fondly the deliciousness of this moment and fight the urge to commit some crime for a handful of fresh garden tomatoes.....    

BLT

When you have as many tomatoes as I have you eat a lot of these.  It is the right thing to do.

click on the sandwich to enlarge

Like almost every day. I even had another for lunch today.  There is no sin in having a BLT for breakfast either.  Put a fried egg in there for good measure.

Between the toasted marble rye of this model you will find Hellmann's olive oil mayo, lettuce, sliced heirloom tomato, romaine lettuce and Marchant's smoked bacon (sliced thick).

Yum!