Matt popped down to the grocery store yesterday afternoon, we were out of tomatoes, big crisis here - and came home with some Kumato tomatoes. Never heard of them before - they are virtually brown in colour. This website
Kumato will tell you about them; it appears to be a European site. It is obviously a fairly new product in this part of the world. They are grown by Mastronardi Produce in Kingsville, Ontario although funnily enough there is nothing about Kumato on their web site. They also grow the Heirloom and Campari tomatoes which we like very much so as these are supposed to be very sweet too, here's hoping.
Isn't amazing, I have been bitching about the quality of tomatoes in this
area for a few years now and suddenly there are some tomatoes with taste available. Three cheers. It turned out that the Kumato were much sweeter than the normal grocery store tomato and we will probably buy them again although they are quite expensive, I cannot decide if I like them better than Heirloom tomatoes or not. As Heirlooms are not so expensive in our grocery store, we may well stick with them most of the time.
Today on Good Morning America there was a segment on
Fetal Memory, doctors are now saying that in the third trimester, the fetus in the womb has short term recall, i.e. when the fetus is about 30 weeks or so. The Church of Scientology has been saying this for years!!! The article and video can be seen by clicking the above link, but the basis of their experiment was making a buzzing noise for the fetus to hear and it reacted the first time and then reacted less as it realised there was nothing to worry about. Sounds a tad inconclusive to me.
Another segment this morning covered the five most crucial health tests for
men starting with the premise that men do not look after their health properly. The listed check ups are Heart Tests, Testicular Exam, Rectal Exam and PSA Test, Colonoscopy and Skin Exam. The article is, of course, directed at US males who don't necessarily have the coverage to pay for such exams, but in countries with socialised medicine, or if you have good medical insurance, it is a good idea to follow such advice
given here as much as possible.
I have mentioned that I love lamb chops before and Eating Well have come up with a good recipe.
Herbed Lamb Chops with Greek Couscous Salad
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ teaspoon salt
2 ½ pounds lamb loin chops (about 8), trimmed of fat
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup whole-wheat couscous
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
½ cup crumbled feta
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
1. Put water on to boil in a medium saucepan.
2. Combine garlic, parsley and salt in a small bowl. Press the garlic mixture into both sides of lamb chops. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the lamb chops and cook to desired doneness, 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium. Keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, stir couscous into the boiling water. Return to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes; fluff with a fork. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add tomatoes, cucumber, feta, lemon juice and dill. Stir to combine. Serve the couscous with the lamb chops.
Salad Tips
Cover and refrigerate the salad (Step 3) for 1 day.
Have a great day.
Yesterday, I booked our hotel in Virginia for our one night stop on our travels to North Carolina going and coming back. It is so easy these days to find what accomodations are available where and for how much. Then with just a couple of clicks you can book, get a map and directions and check out anything else you may want to know. This is the pool at the hotel which I don't suppose we will have time to use, but it looks nice doesn't it? I don't understand people who don't use the internet and I know they are legion. People I speak to at bowling, for instance, often say they are too old to learn - poppycock, you are never too old and anyway its not that difficult. Matt is the same, he just doesn't want to learn - mind you as he points out, its just as well as we would both be fighting for the computer although maybe he could make do with my older laptop LOL.
Banking online is another thing, paying bills ordering products, there is, as 
you know, no end to what you can do. Some people question giving one's credit card number on the net, but they don't hesitate to let a waiter disappear with their card. I often go to get our mail and other people comment on whether or not they have received bills in the mail - we rarely get bills in the mail, only on line.
On GMA this morning they had a segment about mosquitoes, with a discussion on bug sprays click here and particular emphasis on getting rid of standing water in your yard, anything, but anything, which has collected rainwater should be emptied - if you have a birdbath it should have the water changed regularly. We had one in NC which had a dripper so the water was continuously changed. It also had the advantage of being very attractive to birds and we had them drinking and bathing all the time. All kinds of natural repellents were discussed, however, they have to be applied more often; those containing Deet, although effective, are not recommended.
Having written about Kumato the other day, I wrote to the local growers Mastronardi Produce who kindly sent me some information about the fruits and also a couple of recipes. Obviously I had to share the recipes with you. Having written this, they then sent me some recipes for Heirloom tomatoes as well.
Sunset Kumato Caprese Salad
4 Sunset® Kumato™ brand tomatoes, sliced 
8 oz balsamic vinegar
8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced (chiffonade), with 8 whole leaves reserved for garnish
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
coarse sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper
1 Procedure: In a small saucepan, heat the balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced to half of its original volume, and it becomes thick and slightly syrup-y.
2 Cool until ready to use.
3 On individual plates, stack the tomato slices alternating with the mozzarella slices, starting and finishing with a tomato.
4 Each plate should have 4 slices of tomato and 3 slices of mozzarella.
5 Sprinkle each tomato/cheese stack with sea salt and cracked pepper, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with basil.
6 Artfully drizzle a stripe of balsamic reduction on the side of the tomato stack and garnish with basil leaves.
7 This salad is remarkably simple, but impressive in its presentation! Dazzle your friends with this dish as a gourmet starter to a meal
Servings: 4
Source: Mastronardi Produce (Sunset)
Have a great day.
