Sun Dried Tomatoes

Have to many tomatoes? Don't know what to do with them? In my opinion, you never can have too many home grown tomatoes. I dry my excess tomatoes in the late summer sun and store them in plastic containers for use during the winter months. Here's how to do it. Purchase some 1 X 4 lumber and a role of 3 foot wide plastic window screen. Fashion two identical trays (size is optional) that will be stacked one over the other. I staple the window screen to the 1 X 4s. The lower tray will hold the tomatoes and the screen overlying the top tray will keep the fly's off the tomatoes while they are drying. I place my sun drying trays on saw-horses over a cemented area in the back yard that gets particularly hot during the day. Select large ripe tomatoes and slice them in half. Cross hatch them with a sharp knife so that they will flatten out. Salt and pepper generously and transfer the tomato halves to the drying screen. If the weather is hot they will take only 4 to 5 days to dry. They will last forever and there is a zillion ways to use them in the food you cook. Look for sun dried tomatoes the next time you go shopping. You will be amazed at the prices they charge for something you can make so easily at home.