Tomato Pie

Might I suggest a delicious recipe for your summer tomatoes? I made tomato pie tonight for supper and I have to tell you it is the best thing that we have eaten in a while. The great thing about this pie is it is as easy as 1-2-3 to make. Start with about 4 ripe 'maters, seed them and add a little salt then set aside. Gather these ingredients...

1 1/2 cup cheese
3 tbsp mayo
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Mix the mayo and cheese and set aside. Put a layer of tomatoes in a 9" pie crust and sprinkle 1/2 of the Italian seasoning on top. Add the next layer of tomatoes and the rest of the seasoning. Put the cheese mixture on top and place in your oven at 425 degrees. Now go outside and play...



After about 30 minutes you should have really worked up an appetite so...return inside, wash your hands, remove the pie from the oven, and, if you can wait, let cool for 10 minutes.

We served this...

with hamburgers, fresh corn and cantaloupe for the perfect summer meal. Make it if you have a chance - you will not be disappointed!! Stay tuned because I can't wait to tell you how we get such great summer veggies. Have a great night!!

The Park and a Taco

We spent this morning enjoying the sweltering heat at the park. We had to pass by the neighborhood pool on the way there and I could have jumped in clothes and all. I did manage to get a few good pics in though before we packed up and headed back to air conditioning...



I was carrying Lily in the Baby Bjorn at the park so I did not get any pictures of her. While Hannah napped today I decided to have a little mini-photo session with her to make up for it. My little Lils had lots of fun rolling around the bed playing with my sunglasses.



We ended our day today with one of my favorite suppers...fish tacos. Bekah requested this recipe so I thought I would post it for anyone who might be interested. It is super easy and very tasty.

Start by making a quick sauce. You will need these...


Mix 1/4 cup sour cream with 2 Tbsp lime juice (any kind is fine) and salt and pepper to taste.

Next chop about a 1/4 of a small head of red cabbage and 1/4 cup of onion (you can also use green onion)...


Mix the cabbage and onion with 1/2 of the sauce mixture...

Cook about 1 lb of tilapia in some olive oil for about 5 - 6 mins...


Put the fish in a tortilla - top with cabbage mixture, some of the remaining sauce and a little chopped cilantro...


and enjoy!...

Just Peachy

I could also have titled this post "A Little Slice of Heaven" and I will tell you why in just a minute. First I need to backtrack to this past Sunday. We ventured to Montgomery for some family time with Matt's parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins. Here is Matt with Grandma Brown....

Danny, who I mentioned here owns his own bbq restaurant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, cooked us up some of the most delicious chicken I have ever tasted! Here is Danny doing what he does best...


As Matt's dad said, it was "like having the Food Network come to your house" and he's not kidding! Danny spent the morning mixing, basting and grilling and it was wonderful. Here is the final result...


Now I am nowhere near as proficient as Danny in the kitchen but I did whip up a few things of my own this week. On our way to Montgomery on Sunday we stopped and bought these...


I sliced up some of the peaches and added some yogurt, granola and berries and made this for breakfast several times this week...


Hannah was a fan and so were my mom and Bekah. It would also make a tasty and healthy snack during the day.

Next, I saw a recipe for a peach and blackberry coffee cake in Southern Living that I had to try. This is where my "little slice of heaven" blog title would have been appropriate. Warning: Do not make this if you are trying any sort of portion control with food. It is good - really good and was gone literally within 24 hours.


You can find the recipe for this yumminess here. You may notice that my cake looks a little different than the one pictured with the recipe. I did not have a springform pan like the recipe calls for so I used my bundt cake pan. My cake did not hold together as well as it would have with the other pan but that is probably the only difference.

Finally, we took several of the remaining peaches and had some family time in the kitchen making peach ice cream. Hannah dressed for the occasion...


She helped mix the ingredients together...


and was the family taste tester...


She gave it a thumbs up and was definitely ready for seconds. Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Recipe and Weekend Project

I purchased this several months ago for $15 on Craigslist...

It was wobbly and not very attractive but the price was right and I had a plan. I finally had a little time this weekend to start this transformation project so after Matt tightened some loose screws for me, I began by priming the entire piece white...


My assistant, Hannah, helped me paint two coats of flat white paint over the entire piece...

I added these knobs that I purchased last month on sale at Anthropologie and voila...

I have a new dresser for Hannah's room. This really is about the easiest kind of project you can do. I love the hunt of finding a bargain and transforming it into something modern and pretty. All it takes is a little patience while looking for just the right piece, some pretty knobs, and a couple of coats of paint.

Oh and here is the recipe for the blueberry crisp that I made last week. I found this recipe in this month's issue of Martha Stewart and had to try it. I was not disappointed...


For the filling...

6 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse salt

For the topping...

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat over to 375. Mix all the filling ingredients and place in a 8-inch square baking dish. ***The dish will be really full*** Make the topping: Stir together flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and fluffy. Stir dry ingredients into butter. Use your hands and squeeze the topping pieces into clumps. Sprinkle the topping over the filling. Bake about an hour...until bubbly in the center and brown on top. Let cool for 30 mins.

Just fyi...i think you can get away with using 5 cups of berries instead of 6. I plan on trying this next time. Also, you can make batches of the topping and freeze it to use whenever you have fruit on hand.