Indio, California: Just after arriving to Indio for the winter, we placed two tomato plants in our irrigated container garden. The tomatoes have gone crazy. Every few weeks we have to visit the garden shop for additional staking apparati to steady the crop. Currently, the tomato plants are being held-up by 6-foot bamboo poles. The tomatoes are organic and I am feeding them with organic fertilizer... but I think Jack (in the Beanstalk) is sneaking-in at night. The tomatoes are taking over our campsite.
This photo (below) appeared on this website exactly three weeks ago. Last week that tomato turned pink. By the time we returned from our weekend in Los Angeles, it was red.
I harvested the fruit tonight - the first tomato from the vines we planted this year. (We have one random rogue Roma tomato plant from last year that is still giving us fruit every week. I don't buy a lot of tomatoes.)
Our First Tomato was the size of a baseball! There is nothing like biting into a warm, vine-ripened tomato. Especially if it is March. (Especially if we have been on the phone with our landscaper in rainy Oregon as he removed a tree from our property that fell over during a recent storm.)On the outside, the 'mater wasn't all that pretty. It had split in a few spots. Inside, she was gorgeous. Warm. Red. Sweet. Juicy.
Our salad tonight was simply the tomato. Sliced. Drizzled with Oregon Olive Oil. Sprinkled with Oregon sea salt. Topped with crumbled Oregon Rogue Smoked Blue Cheese (blue cheese, smoked over hazelnut shells!) and topped with a little basil from our herb garden.
I just love camping!In California.
Our dinner tonight was Chicken Marsala (for the fourth time in four weeks). I have been working to perfect this dish for the April RV Goddess Newsletter (sign up here) and feel it is now ready for Prime Time. I have eliminated a few steps, for RV-easy cooking, while still paying homage to My Mother-in-Law, Virginia. Years ago, while visiting Dave's family during college, Virginia made Chicken Marsala. I loved it, and she continued to make it for me on subsequent visits. Forty years have passed. Virginia doesn't cook much anymore, but Chicken Marsala is still a family favorite. I am excited to share this simpler version in the newsletter on April First.
Or maybe April 2nd. Don't want y'all to think I am fooling with you.
Chicken Marsala - over (I kid you not) Oregon fettuciniUntil my next update, I remain, your Oregon-in-summer-only correspondent.
RV PARK: The Motorcoach Country Club