Fresh Tomato Pie

I'm not sure how I missed eating a tomato pie in my lifetime, but now that I have eaten one, I love it! This pie makes good use of summer tomatoes. It's a little like eating fresh tomato pizza - the cheese mixture is like a hot cheese dip, and the tomatoes retain their shape, firmness, and juicy, tangy sweetness. When I first thought "tomato pie" I imagined it would be watery, but it isn't. It smells wonderful while baking and tastes good freshly baked as well as when it has cooled down!

I requested the recipe from @filisfay after she posted a photo of hers on Instagram. I halved the recipe and made a biscuit-type crust, added green onions and lemon thyme from my garden, and used a bit of pepper jack cheese along with cheddar. I'm thinking that additions of Gruyere as well as bacon would be good!

Fresh Tomato Pie
by “Filisfay” on Instagram, tweaked by me

Pre-baked pie crust (I didn't pre-bake mine and it was still great)
5 tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick (I used 2 big beefsteaks for my 8-inch pie plate
Salt
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil or other fresh herb
2 cups shredded cheese, any variety
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup diced sweet or green onions (my addition)

Slice tomatoes, place in a colander, sprinkle salt over them, and let stand 10-15 minutes. (This is supposed to "pull water out" of the tomatoes") Blot tomatoes with paper towel and place in pie crust. Add basil on top of tomatoes. Mix together cheese, mayonnaise, onions, and garlic powder, drop in dollops over tomatoes and basil, and spread evenly, covering tomatoes. Bake at 350 degrees on bottom rack until cheese is bubbly and a little brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing. Store any leftovers in refrigerator or freeze in individual slices.

Pie Crust
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tablespoons shortening
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
Cut shortening and butter into flour. Add milk & stir lightly with fork. Turn into floured board and knead a few times. Roll into circle for 8 or 9 inch pie.

I realize this may not look as good as it tastes, but trust me on this!

Patchwork American Flag - New Projects and Old

There is a wall space in my kitchen that just begs for something quilted, and I think this patchwork flag is going to fit nicely. Julie of Running Stitch Quilts posted her Scrappy American Flag Quilted Wall Hanging, and this is my version.

Julie is working on a pattern, but I am impatient and worked it out myself using a photo of an American flag and a photo of Julie's wall hanging. She used Freedom by Sweetwater, so I ordered six mini charm packs from Fat Quarter Shop and got them for $4.48 each. I picked out the ones that were in the right color scheme, and now I have enough left over for other projects!

Photo from Fat Quarter Style

Yesterday I was looking for some fabric I had purchased back in early 2016 for a quilt called "Tapestry" that is in the Fat Quarter Style book. I found the fat quarter bundle, but I am missing the yardage I purchased for this project. It is possible that I used it as cushion for packing something else when we moved last July, but I've looked in as many unpacked boxes as seem reasonable, and I still can't find it. I am hoping it is hiding somewhere I haven't looked yet, because it makes me sad.

Farm Girl Vintage blocks today

The start of Farm Girl Vintage in May 2015

However, while I was looking I came across the Farm Girl Vintage blocks I started in May 2015, and I happily put them on the design board to see how they all look together. I started off making 12-inch blocks before I realized that if I wanted to use all 45 blocks in a quilt, I needed the 6-inch blocks. When I lay out the blocks for a quilt I will try to have a mix of both. I still have about 10 blocks to go, so I pulled and cut fabric for them and will try to finish those up this month.

I have to include photos of some of the harvest of our first garden here on our acreage. It was an experiment to test the soil, and it is a success. We have 7 tomato plants, and they are loaded with juicy beefsteaks! We have 2 squash plants, 4 pepper plants, and onions that have produced, and corn, okra, and green beans that haven't matured yet. We can't wait to increase the size of the garden and quantity of veggies next spring.