new puppy and tomatoes galore

yes, you read that right. we are getting a new puppy! tomorrow a particularly cute cocker spaniel will be joining our family, and i am so excited. some of you might know if you watch my youtube channel that we looked after my brother's little dog Odin for almost a whole year before he went off to Morocco to become a gundog. i was the main person that walked and looked after him, and it was really sad to see him go.

so i am more than hyped about our new dog. unfortunately he doesn't yet have a name. we were thinking Wesley or Forrest, but we are so unsure... any ideas?

we pick him up tomorrow afternoon! i am so looking forward to the little bundle of cuteness, and being able to take him for walks and runs when he's a little older. but for now we get to pick him up and play with him and have him sit on our laps and sleep.

now, onto a more foodie note, i've been playing around with tomatoes a lot lately because we've just got so many of them at the allotment, in all different shapes and sizes, literally.

♥ we've had big cooking tomatoes and tiny snacking ones. medium balloon shaped ones for fun and medium regulars for putting on top of lasagne and slow roasting.

♥ when we headed up to pick them the other day there were so many we had to fill up an egg box with some. our secret to growing so many and them not getting any diseases - planting marigolds next to them. there's a little hint for all you growers out there!

♥ my first thought when i saw such a quantity of tomatoes was 'how nice would these taste sun-dried!' to which i proceeded to chop them up sprinkle with salt, pepper, fresh basil and olive oil and put in my oven at a ridiculously low heat (about 100c) for a very long time (overnight, or about 8-10 hours, or longer depending on variety and size) to create my own oven dried tomatoes...

♥ and was it a success? well, my mum loves them, which is saying something because she is not a big tomato fan. but the flavour is so enhanced and powerful, and the texture so pleasant that these little babies are just right on toast, with eggs, blended and put on homemade pizza, or just as a sneaky snack from the fridge. mmm.

♥ with scrambled eggs on toast, oven dried basil tomatoes are just perfect. 

this also means that i can store them for longer in the fridge than i would be able to otherwise, which is wonderful. i think i might try blending them up into a sauce to put with a pasta dish or on a pizza, because i think that would be so delicious!

also i am entering into Project Food Blog, as you will see from the little widget in my sidebar - it's a very exciting challenge, and I'd love your support on it.

currently listening to:  praise you in this storm by casting crowns