I was talking to an instructor who teaches at my facility from time to time about how sad we where that we are in the last week of tomato season. You all know that there is nothing like that first beckon of summer, when you are presented with the sweet, acidic, salty scent of a vine ripe tomato and the silky skin tingles your hands with its fine, dusty hairs. I have so many memories of my grandparents kitchen being flooded with Beefsteak tomatoes and eating them with nearly every meal. To this day my favorite sandwich is plain Beefsteak tomato on Pyrenees Sourdough bread and slathered with Best Foods mayo, salt and pepper. Throw in some ice cold tea and you've got yourself a nice fat stack of summertime.

I love the summer and everything that entails: BBQ's, swimming pools, tan skin, fireworks and a tall cold one to wash it all down. As summer lulls away into autumn, so does the bounty of wonderful produce that comes with it. Soon we will be carving pumpkins and warming ourselves up with a hot bowl of Grandma's signature beef stew. Before we know it, we will awaken abruptly from turkey coma and hop to making tamales and wrapping gifts. The end of summer is just a precursor to the flood of holiday hustle and bustle that all of us hate to love. So today I will sit back, relax and soak up the last warm rays of sunshine, slice up a couple a 'maters and take it all in with a tall cold one.