"My second book, Once Around the Sun, is essentially a 256 page love letter to the seasons. I spent over two years with John Hesslebarth and Kate Foster, a husband and wife photo team, capturing a year moving through the changing seasons: the moments that define them and the rituals that mark and celebrate them. In-season produce plays a very big role, what's growing in your garden or crowding the farm stands tells you where you are standing in the year.  What is July without an impossibly juicy peach? What is spring without snowdrops? What is September without a crispy, tart apple or, in our case, tomatoes? Below, one of our favorite ways to enjoy our September tomatoes.  

Although tomatoes are usually associated with high summer (and there are plenty of those at the local Farmer's Market come July) the ones we grow in our garden have a habit of arriving late. We usually get the starters in the ground towards the end of May and it isn't until August is spilling into September that the first ripe fruits weigh the snarling vines down. Save for cold hardy things like kale and sugar snap peas, most people don't start their gardens in earnest here till after Memorial Day when the danger of a last frost has passed; which means we're often picking sungolds well into mid/late September. 

I am no chef/cook so this "recipe" is less of a recipe and more of a suggested way of eating something. Because this "suggested way of eating something" is so simple the success of it hinges on using the very best ingredients: in-season tomatoes imbued with the heat of the summer sun and very good olive oil—smooth and green and punchy (hey there Wonder Valley). The tasting notes of Jay and Alison's liquid gold—green tea, apple, cut grass, apricot—make it perfect for this experience."