Tomato Goodness

Recently, my mother emailed me the recipe for Tomato Pie, as served for decades by Mary O'Brien at Chaiwalla Tea Room in Salisbury, CT (where I grew up). She had found it in a book I loaned her years ago by Laurie Colwin called More Home Cooking. I won't bore you with all the details (today), but I've been awash in memories from my Lakeville days, my introduction to chai, my love of that little tea room, my love of Laurie Colwin and my sadness (shared by many) that her life was so short.

So, naturally, I made tomato pie for dinner tonight. It was delicious. We had steamed sugar snap peas on the side. Loved it. Will make it again.

Here are some other good things from today. My pie-making assistant. She rolled out the dough to make the top crust all by herself and did a fine job.

Some kids are too cool for school in their shades. Even when they have stolen them from MAJ McBeary, our build-a-bear. (Shades also make stair practice all the more challenging and enjoyable.)

Today I unpacked a box. (I am trying to do a box a day, Monday through Friday, from our garage until is done. I'm trying to document my coolest finds, because believe me, most of what I am unpacking is going right into the recycling, the trash, or the goodwill bin. And I need all the motivation I can get in order to get through these dreaded boxes.)

Anyway, I found a stash of photos I love. Since I can't display them all in my home, I made the executive decision to de-frame most of them (chucking worn-out frames, saving favorite frames, giving away the rest) so I can integrate the photos into my family photo storage drawers.
I am SO GLAD I took the beat-up frame off of this adorable picture of my Dad, because behind it I found this even older picture. I'm not sure yet if it is my Dad or someone else, but I bet it is he. I also bet it was my Nana who frugally covered up this cute baby with the adorable boy above.
I can't wait to find out who this cutie is, and yes, I'm sure I'll scrap about it.

Yours in gutsiness,

The GM

PS: If you want to make the tomato pie, just google "Laurie Colwin tomato pie" or "Chaiwalla tomato pie." And yes, I realize people all over the south, Paula Deen included, have been making tomato pie since the dark ages. But I favor the nuances of Mary O'Brien's recipe.