It's tomato season and I just had my first tomato sandwich with homegrown tomatoes (No, not homegrown by me, but by a sweet little lady who has a roadside stand).

Anyway here's my question.  Do you chill your tomatoes?  I do, but a friend of mine says it takes away the flavor.  Hmmmm, don't know about that, I just love homegrown, cold tomatoes!

Room temperature for me!

According to the Food Network you should always eat tomatoes at room temperature. The cold takes the flavor away. You can keep them in the fridge if you want, but bring them to room temperature before you eat them. We started keeping ours out of the fridge and it made a HUGE difference in flavor. Jan: Try one "side by each" and do a taste test. Cold vs room temperature and let us know the results.

That is what my friend says about the flavor.  I just had a sandwich with room temp tomatoes (because I just got them).  It was good, but I just love cold tomatoes!  Maybe I will do that taste test -- hey, it's a good excuse for more 'mater samiches!

i like the peel on the tomato...to give it some structure I guess....otherwise, to me it's just mush if it's ripe

hmmmm.....I like tuna and I like tomatoes, but would I like them together?????  If it's easy, send me the recipe, PLEASE!!!! 

I'm not what you'd call a fan of the tomato.  A little chunk or two in a salad is ok, and a very thin slice on a burger or a bacon sandwich is ok---other than that, I dont like them much.  Shane has a huge tomato plant that has about 30 on it right now, and they are still green---except for one that just started turning a little bit red yesterday.

I haven't had one since I lived with my parents, but if I remember correctly, my mom would gut out the tomato so it made like a little bowl.  Then salted the inside.  Then stuffed it with whatever kind of tuna she felt like making.  Sometimes just plain with mayo, other times she would add things like celery, onion....  But it always came with a side of saltine crackers to dip the tuna out!

Wow, now I really want one!

My favorite thing to use tomatos with is Bruschetta... Thin sliced Italian bread, slight wiping of Olive oil on the surface, tomato thin sliced or small chunked, bacon bits or tiny pieces of cooked Italian Sausage then some cheese on top. Bake in oven on 450 or broil for a few! Yummyyyy!

This is NOT helping me with my eating light and healthy plan! 

For those who like peeled tomatos... I can my own Salsa as Christmas Presents and it takes many many tomatos. It is best to peel them first and to do that just put them in boiling water just to when you see the skin split and scoop them out. Run some tap water over them to cool & then the skin will peel right off. You can place them in a container & refridgerate if you like them cold!