Where has the summer gone?

So I first read about this FABULOUS idea for a summer list from Amy's Notebook (momadvice) and her subsequent post showing her family's summer list. I keep a running list of things I'd like to do with my daughter in my planner, but wasn't satisfied that I was doing a good job of working through our activities. I thought this was a great idea, so of course I started mine right away!

Since Sweetpea is still too young to actively participate in creating the list, ours started as a full page in my planner and was transferred to PowerPoint and subsequently printed. It hangs on our refrigerator as a reminder to get out and have fun!

You can check out Amy's summer list here: http://www.momadvice.com/blog/2008/06/summertime-planning.htm/

This idea was my first introduction to the fabulously creative Megan Duerksen. You can check out her summer list here: http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2008/06/the-summer-list.html
and an update she did recently here: http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2008/07/catching-up.html

What do you do to help plan your summer adventures? Have you tried a summer list? What activities have you most enjoyed? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Wordless Wednesday

Truly wordless: Sweetpea signing to Mommy!

For other Wordless Wednesday posts, check out http://www.5minutesformom.com/3893/wordless-wednesday-23/

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

If you grow tomatoes and you're like me, you will wait impatiently, even longingly for the first ripe tomatoes of the season. By the end of the season, I'm trying desperately to pick as many as possible and wondering what to do with them. For full sized tomatoes, I like to core and freeze as many as possible for use during the winter in gallon freezer bags. When you pull them out of the freezer, simply run them under hot water and the peel comes right off!

With cherry tomatoes, there are two options I love to employ. One requires a food dehydrator, which many people don't have. (if you're interested and do have one, however, half them and dry overnight at a medium setting for something resembling a sun dried tomato) The other option is roasting - deliciousness intensified!

Roasting cherry tomatoes is easy and not overly time consuming. I'm surprised that most people I talk to don't realize how easy it can be. I love all roasted vegetables, but tomatoes are particularly delicious this way.

In order to roast cherry tomatoes, slice a bunch of them in half longways. Spray a roasting pan with cooking spray, or for easier clean up use aluminum foil. Place sliced tomatoes in a large bowl and add a few teaspoons of olive oil. Toss the bunch to coat and place them skin side down in your roasting pan. Bake them for 1-2 hours at 400 in your oven or until the juices are nearly evaporated (the time will depend on the thickness of your tomato, the grape variety is particularly well suited for this). They are wonderful alone, in soups and pastas, stir fries, sandwiches, etc.

These will keep for quite a while in the refrigerator, and I like to put them in freezer bags to keep even longer over the winter.