Pickled Tomatoes (Remember That Larriland Trip)

Beginning pickles can be pretty harsh, but it's always a nice lesson where you eat the results.

The pickled cherry tomatoes above were my first attempt preserving a little summer in the fridge.  Those are just refrigerator pickles -- a brine of vinegar, water and spices poured over jars of Larriland Farm tomatoes.

After a few weeks, I gifted four small jars to friends and popped open one of the two big ones.  Let's be honest: The vinegar is on the front end when you pop one of these babies in your mouth.  (It's on the front, middle and end, says Mrs. HowChow.)  But I like them.  The vinegar is balanced a bit by tomato sweetness and especially by the still-firm texture of of the cherry's flesh.  I think they'd be best served with other strong flavors, maybe as a pungent note on a cheese plate or an antipasta.

The other option is using the pickled tomatoes as an ingredient.  Cut them into a pasta or tuna salad.  That's my plan for next week.  Either way, my two jars will carry my tomatoes through the fall -- until I'm ready to break open the tomato sauce and the pickled green tomatoes biding their time in my closet.