vine-ripened tomatoes are here!

The first 5 years we were married, Morgan and I lived in a little rustic guest house in Malibu.  It was the perfect place to start our life together.  We could walk to our own private beach where we enjoyed a big ole slice of heaven on earth.  Looking back, we have nothing but the fondest of memories.  In fact, we’d probably still be there, if only it wasn’t a tiny one-bedroom. 
The guest house was situated on the back of a large rural property.  The owners (Jim & Shirley, a retired couple) lived in the modest front house.  There was plenty of space and privacy between us- including a long driveway, a little art studio, and a wonderful summer garden.  Every summer, we had the luxury of never having to buy tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, or lemons from the store.  The harvest was always plentiful and we were free to pick all we wanted. 
That’s when this city girl truly understood what tomatoes were supposed to taste like!  Since then, all other tomatoes have just been blah. 
That is, until now!  There’s nothing quite like a homegrown, organic, vine ripened tomato!  They are divine to eat, all by themselves, with a little sprinkle of salt. 
The girls were really excited to actually see the fruit ripen enough to pick and then eat.  Needless to say, I’ll be thinking up lots of yummy ways I can use these ruby jewels in my cooking this summer.
This week, the tomatoes inspired me to make this…

Bruschetta Chicken from the Pioneer Woman.  It was simple and so good! 
And not one morsel of tomato was left!