Monday, June 25, 2012

Tomato Pie

I just got back from a fantastic vacation to Jackson, Wyoming for my cousin's wedding.  It was exquisite.  We also spent a lot of time in Yellowstone park which means we ate lots of picnics along the way.  Lots of sandwiches and snacky things.  It was fine.  It fit what we were doing, but when I got home, I decided, I wanted real food.  My in-laws met us at the airport with a bag of tomatoes from their garden and our truck so we could go home.  I knew immediately what I would make with those tomatoes---pie!  I made mine based on a recipe by my Aunt Mandy.  The only thing I changed was the cheese.  She uses cheddar. I just happened to have some goat cheese in the fridge and I wanted to give that a try!

Here goes........

For the pie-
1 9 inch pie crust - bake according to package directions
About 2-5 tomatoes sliced
Salt and pepper
2 T fresh chives
2 T basil
1 t thyme
1/4 cup mayo
5 oz ball of goat cheese with herbs
8 slices of bacon cooked crisp and crumbled.

Note, I didn't actually measure any of this stuff. I am an "eye-baller" when it comes to things such as this.  I save precision for baking!

So, while the pie crust baked, I sliced tomatoes and chopped herbs.  Yes, I used store crust.  I use Pillsbury.  They tend to do fine in quiches and things like this and I have no patience for rolling out crust.  Sue me.  It is just not my thing.
When the crust got done, I filled it with tomatoes and herbs.  I just layered them in.  See, not so hard.


Then I mixed the mayo and the goat cheese and smeared that on top....................

And then I baked it for about 20 minutes at 350.  When it got done, I covered the top with bacon crumbles.


I believe it looks good enough to eat!  And when it is 100 degrees outside, I am happy to have my oven off for the day at 2:30!  
P.S.  I will tell you more about the wedding and Yellowstone later.  I have about 1200 pictures to WADE through before I can blog on that!  Just know, it was fantastic! 


Monday, June 11, 2012

New Projects!!

I am back from Big Cedar and rather than unpack or clean, I am starting some new sewing projects.  I did enjoy reading last week, but I am happy to have my rotary cutter back in my hand.  I love cutting out projects.  It is one of my favorite parts of the sewing process.  My least favorite part--pinning.

My first project is for my daughter's dance teachers.  It is a wine tote using a pattern by Atkinson Designs.
I usually avoid zippers like the plague, but I am going to give it a whirl.  I love her fabric more than mine, but I am still happy with what I was able to find.  Not a lot of laminated cotton running around out there!


The floral is my outside, the stripe is the liner, and the green dot is the binding.  I love the dots.  As usual.

The next project I am working on is the Michael Miller Clubhouse block of the month in the Cabana colors.  That is the blues, whites and creams shown at the top left. Again, I love the dots.  It is a theme for me.

 I love/hate the block of the month format.  I love that it is not overwhelming and there is only a little to do bit by bit.  I hate how slowly it comes together.  I get bored easily.  I have project A.D.D.  I have been known to be done with a project like this long before it was finished.  In fact, I have 2 BOM's that have all the blocks done that are not put together.  I cannot do that to myself again.  I really need to finish those and give them away!  Because of my history with BOM's I had to really debate and ponder this project.  But I love it so!  I am a sucker for blue and white because it reminds me of my grandma.  I would have gone for the Cottage in red and white too because I love red.  I would have also done the Casino version in red, white, and blue because it reminds me of my other grandma.  I clearly loved the pattern and loved the fabric in any combination, so skipping this one would have haunted me.  Speaking of haunted, I have a Halloween quilt 3/4 done.  What IS wrong with me?  I suppose I better quit blogging and start sewing!  Good night!  

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Well, I have fallen out of the blogging loop again.  I don't mean to, but life just sometimes grabs you by the tail.  You know?!?    I finished my juice bag bags-- 19 of them because one of the early bags was not meeting my quality control standards.  The kids went wild.  I finished the teacher's quilt.  She went wild.  Well, not really, but I think she went as wild as someone who is characteristically steady and calm would.  It turned out great. I neglected, as I often do, to take a picture of the final product.
My niece was born.  They named her Isla.  She is a cute little lady and I cannot wait to meet her.  I was not able to meet her right away because of then end of school.  Just when I was ready to cut and run, we became aware of a hospital rule not allowing children under the age of 12 in to see babies.  This knowledge sparked anger and outrage in my daughter.  She wrote that hospital the nastiest letter that a dyslexic 8 year old could write.  She used words like stupid, adorable, and Dark Side.   When she stomped into the kitchen to deliver it, I was not sure if I should laugh or cry, so I did both.
Then the baby was put into the NICU for 7-21 days of antibiotics.  They found bacteria in her blood and don't want to send her out into that big nasty world fighting infection with the immune system of a 2 day old.  At this point, I was very sad for them, but rejoiced at the fact that I and my germy offspring had remained 350 miles away, and therefore, they couldn't have possibly been the source of the infection.  How crappy would that have made me feel?   How much strain would that whole "Your snot nosed kid tried to kill my 2 day old baby" thing put on a relationship?  Here's hoping the antibiotics work and they can take home a happy health girl who sleeps through the night  in the next week or so!
Oh, by the way, my snot nosed kid is not snotty anymore.  The adenoid surgery seemed to work!  We only need to go to the ENT on an as needed basis, which really stinks when you find a doctor you actually like.    

While all of this is going on, we are on our annual trip to Big Cedar on Table Rock Lake.  I am not sure who is twitching more....Me who left behind my sewing machine or Doug, who for the first time, left behind the boat.  The good part of this separation is I am catching up on reading.  I FINALLY got to pick Money Ball back up and I am continuing to enjoy it.  I may finally finish the 600+ page Forgotten Garden, which is a good story, but maybe not quite gripping enough for 600 pages.  350 pages in was too far to call it quits.  I am still interested in the story, but it does not have me like say The Hunger Games.  In between those, I am reading a collection of short stories written by a mother of 2 autistic and OCD children called "I wish I were Engulfed in Flames".  I do plan to elaborate more on these at a later date.  My very own Slice of the Rainbow book review!

And tomorrow night, we are going to erase any knowledge and insight I glean from these books by going to see the Baldknobbers.  Go ahead. Prepare your suburban dwelling selves and click on that link.  Feast your Eyes on all that toothless glory. Yes. The. Bald. Knobbers.  A Branson fixture since 1959.  The show that started it ALL.  How can something be called Baldknobbers and be a family show? I am embarrassed to say it out loud.  I am thinking it sounds more like something out of 50 Shades of Grey, which consequently, I am terrified to pick up because Access Hollywood was talking about how trashy, smutty, and dirty it is.  Really, Access Hollywood?  Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?   But, for better or for worse, I will be going to the infamous Jamboree.  I am afraid if I say the B---K------ word anymore, I will lose 3 of my front teeth.  It is once again a cry or laugh situation.  I am assuming I will choose both.