Waiting ...

Waiting for tomatoes. There are lots of tomatoes in the garden, but they are all green (except for Matt's Wild Cherry -- those are starting to ripen). The tomatoes are getting bigger, and more are setting on, but so far, they are still green. I know they will ripen soon (the smaller ones first), but it is hard to wait! Waiting ...

In our modern society, we don't like to wait. We have fast food, microwavable dinners, instant coffee, and all types of ready-to-eat or quick-fix meals in the grocery store. We even get fresh produce (including tomatoes) year-round. Why wait for vegetables to be in season?

Why make your own pasta sauce when you can open a jar from the store? Why make your own fresh salsa when you can buy good salsa (even fresh salsa) at the store? Why can tomatoes when you can buy canned tomatoes at the store? Why? Because you can make it better. You can use fresh ingredients for the pasta sauce and let it simmer to blend the flavors. You can make the salsa from garden-fresh vegetables, hand-picked for best flavor. You can use your favorite variety of tomatoes to make your own canned tomato sauce. You'll also know exactly what went in your pasta sauce or salsa or canned tomatoes.

Make it yourself, and you can make it your own. Change the recipe to match your tastes! Add more basil to the pasta sauce. Or more garlic. Leave out the oregano if you don't like it. Customize it! Add more cilantro to the salsa, or leave it out completely. It's up to you!

Yes, it takes longer to make it yourself, but it tastes better when you're done. I'm willing to wait for better quality, better tasting food. That's why I'm waiting for the tomatoes -- because heirloom tomatoes fresh from the garden are much better than the tomatoes at the grocery store.

So I wait.