Tomatoes!

I recently spent a lovely Saturday afternoon at the Union Square Greenmarket with the toddler and the spouse. If you don't have kids, then you don't know that this is a real treat. Why? Well, it's a huge production.

You plan to leave at 9:00 a.m. but inevitably, after battling tantrums, diaper disasters, oatmeal bombs, and ill-timed naps, your outing begins around noon. Normally, a noon start isn't so bad, but that is the beginning of prime local-food hipster time on a Saturday. The local-food hipster prides him/herself on knowing, and tasting, the differences between Columbia-county raised pigs and Washington-county pigs, grain-feed beef and grass-fed beef, cultivated mushrooms and wild mushrooms. You get the gist. They love the farmers' market, but they also love sleeping in after doing whatever it is hipsters do at night. They tend to dislike strollers, preferring slings and other carrier-contraptions. Perhaps as a result, they do not step aside for strolling children, forcing the toddler and the spouse to experience the Greenmarket very, very, very slowly. This makes both the toddler and the spouse cranky. Not good since they are usually already annoyed by the subway trip to Union Square (though the spouse is getting nice arms from carrying that "lightweight" Maclaren up and down the stairs), and one or the other is probably hungry, thirsty, tired, or otherwise uncomfortable.

So, imagine my surprise when no one complained, cried, or had an unexplained meltdown on our latest trip into the belly of the beast. Everyone was in such a good mood that I joyfully sampled jams, cheese, bread, and fruit without being told to hurry up or without hearing any whining. Truly amazing. Moreover, the spouse did not even look embarrassed when I engaged several folks in conversations about ripeness, recipes, and the such.

It was during one such conversation that I noticed Gail Simmons next to me buying some tomatoes. Me and Gail at the same tomato stand? Too much. Of course, I bought everything that she did. Yellow something or other and some funky striped cherry tomatoes. Who can remember what they were called? The toddler, the spouse and I ate them all within a few hours, and that exceptional day inspires the tomato edition of the Last Gasp of Summer Series.

This week, I'll try making stuffed tomatoes, a tomato flatbread, gazpacho, and, of course, tomato ice cream. In the meantime, you can get your (heirloom) tomato, Greenmarket fix courtesy of New York Magazine.