I am not a fan of sun-dried tomatoes. However I decided to take a little of my own advice and try making something on my own if I don't like it. Maybe it's really great, and I just don't like it because I had a couple bad experiences with
over processed products. I had beautiful grape tomatoes on hand. I haven't bought grape tomatoes for months. I think I overdosed on them a while back while we were having a million salads. I really like them, but I have been buying
roma and tomatoes on the vine lately. These little guys just seemed like more work than they were worth. After an appropriate separation period, I guess I was ready to have them back in my life, as they caught my eye again last weekend.
It's amazing to me how perfectly waxy they look raw. Nice, firm texture. Love it when produce is at its peak.
After quickly halved and tossed in olive oil, they were ready to lay out and roast.
My little sunbathing beauties were getting their tan from the oven, 225 degrees for a little over 2 hours. They smelled fantastic while baking.
In the meantime, I had made this whole wheat dough on Sunday because I couldn't find any good-looking pita or
lavosh at the grocery store. I couldn't stomach the idea of spending $4 on a package of pita that already looked hard. I wanted whole wheat, I wanted healthy, I wanted fresh. The only option was to make it myself. Basically the same recipe as my pizza dough, and pretty much the same process. I was worried because my dough seemed a little dense. For me, this needed minimal kneading, but a nice long rise time. Sometimes the rise time does what kneading can't. The fermentation process smoothed out this dough and it came together beautifully. I used a pizza cutter and cut the dough into about 10 pieces. Then I rolled each into a small ball.
Then press the ball flat into a disk and roll it out paper thin.
Pick it up gently and drop it onto a large skillet coated with olive oil spray. Sprinkle with kosher salt if you like.
Cook over
medium heat, browning on both sides. Basically like cooking a tortilla, but they are thicker, definitely bread.
Enjoy the bread with hummus,
Italian white bean dip,
pesto, or use as bread for wrap sandwiches. And just like that, my tomatoes were done. Given that it was late night, I haven't tried them yet, but I think I will use them in salads or into a sauce while cooking meat, supposedly they are great to snack on. They are resting in a little olive oil in the fridge right now. More to come on where they end up!
Whole-Wheat
Flatbread Pita Dough
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or King Arthur white whole wheat flour
1 cup of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of instant yeast, or 1 pkg active dry yeast
1/2 cup white wine
1/2-3/4 warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
If using active dry yeast, proof the yeast in the warm wine/water mixture using the smaller quantity. Once proofed and foamy, transfer the bowl of a stand mixer. Continue by
adding all ingredients except salt. If using instant yeast : Combine all ingredients with the lower quantity of water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment. If the dough looks dry, add the additional water a little bit at a time with the mixer running. Add the salt once the dough pulls together. After a shaggy ball has formed, switch to the dough hook attachment and knead for about 5-10 minutes. No need to
overknead, dough will not look smooth. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl or
sealable bag. Leave on the counter to rise for about 2 hours. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from the fridge and let come to room temperature. Cut into about 8-10 pieces and roll into balls. (about the size of a plum to an orange) If dough is resisting forming a cohesive ball. cover the balls with a towel and let stand for about 30 minutes. Once ready, press down with flour and roll out as thin as possible. Cook in a large skillet sprayed with olive oil over a medium flame until browned on both sides. Stack finished breads between two towels to prevent them from drying out.
Note: Flatbreads will not pop like commercial pita, so if you want to use them for sandwiches, wrap your finished breads around the filling instead of trying to split them in half.
Not so much this year. It was all the same boats, but you really couldn't get close to them at all unless you purchased the passport- $20 admission for each person. We weren't really interested in it enough to do that, so we tried to see what we could scope out from the shore!
And discovered some even more interesting and fun things about San Diego Harbor. (Modern sailboat in the foreground, tall ship in the background of this picture.) I suppose that having a sailboat of your own would allow you to see these historic ships from an even more interesting angle. Unfortunately, we don't have a sailboat or friends with one, but they are fun to watch from the shore, also!
San Diego has been working on keeping the Embarcadero area upkept, which is the area where the tall ships were docked. This is also the place where cruise ships take off, and if you are on a cruise that docks in San Diego for the day, this is probably the place that you would choose to get off the boat and walk around. They have added some neat artwork to the parks near the harbor. The statue in this picture is a huge replica of that famous photo from WWII. It's big! I don't know any of the specifics, but I thought this photo might help you get an idea:
And this one shows you what it looks like up close. It was cute, couples were posing in this same position to have their photos taken in front of the statue.
There was also a bronze collection showing soldiers watching Bob Hope. It is great to see this kind of thing in San Diego which is home to so many military families. We are truly grateful for the sacrifices that they make daily so we can enjoy this way of life. We enjoyed these parts of San Diego that are here all of the time more than even the ships this year. So hopefully we'll get to take you by this area the next time you are in town. I am sure you would like it as well!
Comfort on a plate... 
Once you have the vinegar, food coloring and vanilla incorporated in the egg/sugar/oil mixture, add in the dry ingredients. I sifted my cake flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder together into a bowl. Cake flour is particularly susceptible to being really dense in the package, so it's a good idea to sift it before you measure it. Scooping and leveling off the top is the safest way to make sure that you aren't adding too much flour. 
