Adjustments.

I don't know if anyone noticed this at all, but today it was very cold outside. Also, super snowy. I noticed this from all the windows in my house whence I checked out conditions whilst waiting for it to be safe for me to drive, or for the approaching hour of my first meeting, whichever came first.

Meanwhile, a mouse ran up and down the corridor, considering with apparent interest the humane mousetrap with a fresh peanut butter-coated saltine in it, without ever actually crossing the threshold of it. Without becoming "trapped," as it were. Running up and down the corridor, in plain view. All, "I love this corridor with its fresh scent of peanut butter and saltine. So much better than that cold-ass field out back!"

Meanwhile, I checked all the humane mousetraps every twenty minutes or so. I have so much faith in them! And so many mice to trap!

I'm still getting used to going outside again, after my long confinement in the House of Contagion. Very cold, for one. Snow-packed. Disorientingly bright. I need a pair of those Victorian sunglasses, the kind that protect your illness-addled brain from The Brightness.

Meeting, meeting, and the drive home. I came home to find that we had caught the (a?) mouse. I made dinner for the second night in a row, so that's something. We ate the very last one of the Chad-procured tomatoes. I let it sit quietly nestled in its bag for days and days, which turned out to be the optimal condition for it ripening to absolute perfection. We ate it with our baked penne and it was a last lucky hit of summer. The ne plus ultra of tomato, in December, on a snowy night.

Meanwhile, another mouse has been running up and down the corridor, disdaining the humane mousetrap while admiring its fragrance, congratulating itself on its excellent taste in shelter.

Attack of the killer tomatoes.

Predictably, there are so many tomatoes in my kitchen right now, I could plotz. Awhile ago, I made a deal with myself that I have mostly kept, not to eat tomatoes except when they are in season. That means that from August through September, there are tomatoes galore at the market, which I buy in unreasonable amounts, because when you can only eat them for two months, you want to get your fill.

I buy them from the Tremonton farmers (aka Tremonton Girl), our regular farmers, Chad, and the Savages. The ones from the Savages are the ones I use for roasting--they're good, round, red tomatoes that aren't too fancy, and the Savages sell 'em pretty cheap. Today I roasted 15 pounds of them, and that takes care of a lot of tomatoes.
But there are still lots of them! Lots! In every possible color, shape and size. For lunch, I had a slice of bread with slices of yellow tomato on it, very delicious. Tonight, we had gazpacho, which can use up a bunch of tomatoes; roasted green beens with a tomato/garlic/basil dressing; and a corn salad, also with some tomatoes in it. And there are still! lots!

Tomorrow I am going to make some caprese salad, a tomato topping for bruschetta, and a frittata, which I will top with sliced tomatoes. I predict that I will still not have used them up. But by golly we will eat them all, and have a good time doing it, because when they're gone, they're gone, and no hothouse tomato will take their place. It will be a long tomatoless winter, so now is the hour to get our fill.