So Long Summer, Hello Fall

Happy first day of fall (ya'll)!

The beginning of fall is one of the more exciting, if not stressful produce seasons.

Now, I'm not saying fall produce is better than summer, that would be insanity. Rather, I feel an obligation to pick, buy, and cook any and all lingering summer ingredients before I'm relegated to nothing but winter squash and various forms of cabbage.

If I really had my act together, this is when I would be pickling and canning the bounty that my garden produced throughout the summer. Unfortunately, that would yield a few jars of tomatoes, a single pickled cucumber, and a few bunches of dried herbs.

Let's just say, I have a long way to go before I'm living off the land.

While this may have been the least productive garden I've had, the tomatoes are experiencing a renaissance.

But instead of turning these beauties into sauce, I can't help but pretend that summer is never ending and gorge myself on tomato sandwiches.

The recent influx of homegrown tomatoes in my life is VERY exciting. So, I don't know if that's the reason, but I have tomatoes on my mind all the time lately. And it's heavily influenced what we've been eating the last couple of weeks.

I don't even care if they're fresh from the garden, or really, fresh at all. Canned tomatoes have also been coming in, and delicious tomato-y meals have been coming out.

If you don't like tomatoes, well, I'm surprised that you've read this far. But not to worry, the temps are bound to drop below 60 soon enough. And when that happens it'll be nothing but braised meats, mashed potatoes, and all the cozy dishes you can shake a stick at.

Now, since I've got nothing but tomatoes on the brain, here's a simple and delicious tomato sauce that you can use for just about anything. I recently made it for the pizza you see up there, but it has so few ingredients that you can easily adapt it for any of your saucy needs.

Basic Tomato Sauce

• 1/4c        Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2x 28oz cans     San Marzano Tomatoes
• 8cloves     Garlic, rough chop
• 1t          Oregano
• 1t+          Kosher Salt
• 1/4t+         Black Pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a roasting pan or casserole dish.
2. Leave uncovered and place in a 350 oven for 45-minutes to 1-hour.
3. Remove from the oven and scrape into a blender or a container for use with an immersion blender.
4. Blend, taste, and adjust seasoning.

Do you love tomatoes, hate tomatoes, or simply tolerate them? And what are you're favorite uses?