We’ve turned the corner on seasons here in the Hudson Valley – those 90-degree days are behind us and the feel of fall is in the air. But I have to share with you the last bang I got out of a recent string of 90-degree days that was so hot, I probably could have fried an egg on the pavement, but instead decided to try sun-drying tomatoes – in my car, that is.

It worked famously! Cookie sheets laden with slices of plum tomatoes in the back window ledge of my car took about 9 hours to “cook.”

Call me crazy, but I had a smile on my face the whole ride into work and back home, enjoying the heady aroma of warmed tomato slices wafting through my head.

I used the luscious San Marzano plum tomatoes I had grown in the garden and sliced them in thirds, laying them out on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. I drizzled them with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled them with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and a chiffonade of fresh basil.

Some of my co-workers might have thought it a bit strange to see tomato slices spread out in the back window of my car. Those who know me figured I was just cooking up something as usual.

I figured if they could sun-dry tomatoes outdoors in Sicily, I could take advantage of these unusual hot days and dry some tomatoes in the comfort of my car. With all the plums I had harvested, I was considering turning on the oven to slow dry some of them, but it was too hot for that. These were created using no electricity or fuel – only the sun and a closed-up car.

By the end of the day, after nine hours in the car, the outdoor thermometer I had placed inside the car was off the scale at about 130 degrees. When I started the day, the thermometer read 80 degrees. I had to use a pot holder to touch the cookie sheet when I checked on them after six hours in the sun. It was like sticking my head in a hot oven! I bet it was close to 200 degrees in that closed-up car. If I had used a candy thermometer, it might have given me a more accurate reading.

These were the most delicious sun-dried tomatoes I have ever tasted.

When I got home, M greeted me at the door and asked what I had on the cookie sheets. He started eating them right then and there. I stored the rest of the dried slices in a jar and layered them with extra virgin olive oil and put them in the fridge. Three cookie sheets of tomatoes produced more than a pint of dried tomatoes.

We’ve been eating them like candy – on top of homemade pizza, on bruschetta and with pasta, tossed with garden pesto.

So while summer may be leaving us behind, I am actually looking forward to another round of 90-degree temps next season. And hopefully, I will have the garden tomatoes to make more of these energy-efficient sun-dried, car-oven tomatoes.