Okay all- with gardens busting at the seams all over and our favorite goodies coming into season, what are some of the "strange" ways you all eat your fav morsels- including tomatos?

I am pretty straight-foward with juicy, ripe red 'maters- I slice'm, salt'em and down'em! But my Dad has to peel'em and then he sugars them. My Dad's wife slices'em and slather's each slice in Miracle Whip. Of course we all love BLT's on white toast.

Cucumbers? I love'm simply peeled, sliced into spears and salted... my partner used to sprinkle them w/ salt and Tobasco... Sis peels and slices'em and tosses w/ a tiny bit of OJ Concentrate, Dad likes'em peeled and sliced with onions and sprinkled w/ apple cider vinegar and sugar.

What about you?

I love tomatoes about any way I can get them.
On crackers, sandwiches, roasted and raw. I even eat them for breakfast when they are in season. Jon says if you cut me in the summer I would bleed tomato juice.
I really love a sandwich with colby cheese and fresh tomato topped off with a little mayo.
Cucumbers I like with salt and pepper or in apple cider vinegar with salt/pepper. I like cucumbers when they are smaller. I hate them when they get bigger with the seeds inside.
Im looking forward to next week. The green beans should be ready to pick.

The bestest way to eat either of those is right there in the garden, all warm from the sun and oozing flavor. Maybe with just a tad of salt to bring out the goodness.

Waddayamean you don't carry a salt shaker to the garden? For shame!

Coincidentally, tomatoes and cukes are the components of a basic salad, versions of which are found all over the world. Lately I've been making it a little differently. Instead of overlapping slices, I cut the veggies into sticks. These get tossed together, and sprinkled with a little chopped red onion. Some roasted cumin is sprinkled on top, followed by coarse salt. Then a squeeze of lemon juice, and a drizzle of evoo to finish it off.

I could eat that at every meal.

Nice, KYH...

Anyone ever heard Garrison Keillor's "Tomato Butt" tale from his "Prairie Home Companion", "Tales From Lake Wobegon"? Story about teenage brother and his prissy sister forced to work together in the garden one nice weekend. Brother is miffed by his ruined Saturday and frustrated, so to bust-up the monotony and get a laugh outta the situation he glances at his siter's brand new white shorts as she bends over to grab a weed. He happens to be holding a huge water-balloon of a ripe red tomato in his pitching hand, and.... whatd'ya think he does with it? (hee-hee!) Keillor's SUCH a master story-teller!)

It's all in the telling, Chubby. That's what makes a great storyteller.

Try tape recording one of his routines and have somebody else deliver it. What a yawn!

It's like the old story about the Fryers Club (an association of comedians). Being as there's no such thing as a new joke, they have them all classified and numbered. When performing for each other they just use the numbers.

So, one night, a guy gets up. "41" he intones. And they crack up. "12" he says. And they're guffawing all over the place. "105," he says with a frown. And they're popping their buttons.

Next guy gets up. "93," he slurs. Tears are running down their faces. "59" he goes on, and they're holding onto their stomachs. So he hits 'em with "15," and they're rolling in the aisles.

Next guy gets up. "72" he says. Nothing. Not a sound. Omigosh. He brings out "13," which is a pretty funny story if I say so myself. Not even a chuckle, nor even a smile. This is terrible.

Now, the funniest joke ever told is 201. And it's rarely used. But he figures he's dying there, and has no choice. "Two hundred and one," he all but screams. Not a single reaction. And two guys in the front row are heading for the bathroom.

All of which goes to show: Some people can tell a story, and some people can't.

Garrison Keillor is one of the ones who can---even if his children are all above average.