Ripe Tomatoes

Is there a way to speed up the process of ripening tomatoes?

Ripe tomatoes are deep in color, smell sweet, and yield gently to pressure. Do not refrigerate tomatoes; the cold destroys flavor and retards ripening. Tomatoes will continue to ripen at room temperature. To speed up the process, place the tomatoes in a paper bag (tomatoes release ethylene as they ripen, which speeds the ripening process when contained in a bag). A paper bag can do only so much, however; hard green tomatoes will not develop full tomato flavor no matter how long they sit on your counter; skip the paper bag and just fry them up instead.