Fried Green Tomatoes

I have ALWAYS wanted to try fried green tomatoes.  I have always wanted to grow tomatoes.  Well, for the first time this summer...I bought a Topsey Turvey tomato growing system (and by the way...YES, they REALLY do work!) and I grew some Better Boy Tomatoes!  They are coming in quite nice, I might add!  So exciting to me to see the "fruits" of my (little) labor, teehee!  Little did I know that Better Boys don't get very big...so while I was waiting for them to get bigger before picking them for my fried green tomatoes...three of them started ripening!  So I ran out there today and found three of the "biggest" green ones I could (they're still quite small, LOL!) and brought them in.

Aren't they cute!

I have to thank my cousin Tiffany for giving me the recipe/instructions on how to make them.  I would have had no clue what the best recipe would be.  But they turned out just great and Evan and I LOVED them!  Jamie and Nate won't touch too many veggies.  And Jamie is especially freaked out that I actually grew them in the back yard.  If it doesn't come from a grocery store, he doesn't think it's edible.  He's afraid of bugs, chemicals, dirt, etc.  I said, "There's worse on the produce you buy at the store than on my tomatoes!  Mine are all natural!  No chemicals and I washed them thoroughly!"  Still...no dice.

Tiff instructed me to soak them in buttermilk.  So I put a little salt and pepper in there and soaked them in there.

Then we mixed up a bowl of flour, corn meal, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, a dash of garlic powder, and cayenne pepper (I saw those two in a recipe online).

So we breaded them...heated a little vegetable oil in the skillet and fried them up!

They fried up pretty quick!

We just waited until they were nice and golden brown.

They looked so delicious!  I couldn't wait to try them.  I was a little nervous because I had been waiting years to try them.  I was so afraid I wouldn't like them.  But THEY WERE DIVINE!  Evan dipped his in ranch dressing.  But I just put a little salt and pepepr on mine.

And while we were at it...Evan suggested we throw a couple dill pickles in and deep fry them.  We both had always wondered what they tasted like.  And although they were tasty...I have to say I liked the tomatoes better!

I guess I am a true southern girl at heart! ;)