Eggplant

I never would have thought in a million years I'd be saying, "I didn't put enough eggplant in the garden."  
It's something my mother, aunts, and grandmother never thought about raising.  I'll bet I was a teenager before I even knew what an eggplant was, and I was married with a couple of toddlers when I first tasted it.  I wasn't impressed, simply because I didn't know what to do with it; I think I may have steamed it.  
Then I discovered ratatouille and understood what this mysterious eggplant could do for a dish.  
The Russian Gourmet gave a recipe for eggplant salsa in his blog a couple of years ago, and in the spring of 2009, I decided to put one eggplant plant (that doesn't look right) in my garden so I could try it.  
I loved the salsa, and I rediscovered ratatouille.  I made Eggplant Parmesan, and it was good.     
This year I put four plants in the garden.  They can't keep up with my usage!  
Today I had to make a choice between eggplant salsa and ratatouille because the eggplants aren't producing so well now.  I almost had to flip a coin, but finally settled on ratatouille because I had a couple of zucchinis to use.  So far this year I've made this dish five times, a double batch each time, and I've personally had perhaps two cups altogether, because everybody else likes it too.  If we have any of it in the refrigerator, Cliff wants to take it for his lunch at work.  And he would take it ever day, I do believe.   
He's gone for the day, so this will be my chance to eat my fill.  Ha! 
So next year I suppose I'll plant a half-dozen eggplants and hope for the best.