Tomato Pie

This is one of my favorite recipes for summer!!! It is very easy to make and always is a hit at any family picnic or summer party. The pie turns out best when using ripe garden fresh tomatoes and basil.

Tomato Pie
1 Deep Dish Pie Crust
2-3 Spring Onions
6 Fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Pepper
Bacon (optional)

Preheat Oven to 350.
Peel large tomato, slice, salt and drain on paper towels or in colander. (It is important to drain to ensure the bottom of you pie crust doesn't become soggy from the tomatoes).
Cover bottom of pie crust with sliced tomato, chop onion and layer over tomato. Tear basil leaves and layer over onion. Mix mayonnaise, cheeses and pepper. Frost cheese mixture over layers in pie crust. Bake on 350 for 30 minutes. Allow to set and cool before cutting and serving.

 For extra summer time flavor, add crisp bacon on top of the tomatoes.
Enjoy!

Wild Flowers: To Brighten The Day

Some days are just extra gloomy and today turned out to be one of those days! We have had LOTS of rain in this part of Virginia lately! It seems every day this week we've had clouds and rain. This afternoon, I was feeling down so decided to take my youngest daughter, Abby on a walk to pick some wild flowers. We each made a bouquet to fill our tables in the house. We had a great time doing this and definitely brought some cheeriness in on this gloomy day!!!! Thank you Lord for these beautiful flowers and a beautiful daughter to brighten my day!!!

Wild Wine Berry Jelly/Jam

Our family has been living on our "farm" for about ten years now. Every summer we drive past these berries and always wondered if they were edible. We researched and discovered last week that in fact they are! These berries are known as wine berries and really remind me of a red raspberry. They are a little tart, but great for pies or jelly. These berries usually grow in wooded areas or along roadsides. They look very similar to a blackberry or red raspberry plant. They have a white color on the underside of their leaves and are an invasive species. The plant puts out a shoot and where each shoot touches the ground, another cane (stem) will then develop.

Our family goes through lots of jelly, so I decided to make some with these berries. The first batch was with the whole berry (mashed). Since there are SO many seeds, we didn't like the way that jam turned out. The second batch we decided to just use the juice from the berries. It takes a little time to drain them and takes quite a bit of berries for enough juice (4 cups) for one batch of jelly. We used the same recipe that we use for Red Raspberry Jelly. The jelly turned out great!

First, prepare your jars and lids. Make sure they are clean and dry.

Next, start your water for boiling the jars. I just use a large pot with a lid, lined with jar rings in the bottom (as a rack).

 

Then, wash your berries and drain (unless you are just using the juice) then you would drain juice with cheese cloth or towel to collect only the juice (straining the seeds and berry pulp).

 

This is the way we collected the juice (just let it sit and drain), then we'd press and drain more.

This one the mashed berry for jam.

 
 

Bring berries/juice to boil along with butter and box of pectin until it comes to a full rolling boil (that doesn't stop when stirred).
Then add sugar and return to full boil for exactly one minute. Remove from heat, ladle into jars, wipe rims of the jars, and place the lids on. Boil the jars for 5 minutes. Let set for at least 24hrs and you have your jam or jelly! YUMMY!!!!

Recipe:
4 cups Wine Berry juice or berries
1 box SURE-Jell Fruit Pectin
1 tsp. butter or margarine (this keeps it from foaming)
6 cups sugar









 I also made a pie, and we picked plenty more to freeze. The kids LOVE them and they are a nice
summer treat! Be sure to check before eating wild berries to be sure they are safe and not poisonous!

A New Day

We all have days when we just don't feel our best. Life and stress can set in and really work on our self esteem, mood, and spirit. I had one of those days yesterday. I had to just step back for some "quiet time" and recognize all of the things that I have blessed with and am thankful for. We live in a time that is depressing. Every where you look, seems like bad news and sad stories. I love this verse in John 16:33 that says, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." This gives me great comfort on the days that life looks so "gloomy".

I am so blessed and am so thankful that I can live out here in the country, I have a beautiful garden that is starting to yield many fresh veggies for me and my family, I have 5 beautiful children in my home that are healthy and daily brighten my day, I have a wonderful, supportive husband who takes great care of us, and I have my faith in God. He is the one who sustains us and blesses us with all of these good things!

So, today is a new day! There is much to be happy about and I am choosing today to be a smiling, happy, encourager instead of an unhappy, depressed Mom today! I hope this post will bless and encourage you today.

Perks of "Country Living"

How blessed we were to be able to see this beautiful Bald Eagle on Saturday morning. My husband had cleaned some catfish that he caught Friday night and threw the "scraps" out in the field thinking some animal would enjoy them and this is what it lured in. We were able to watch from our windows and my husband was even able to sneak out on the front porch to capture this picture! What a majestic and beautiful site! Thank you Lord for creating such beauty for us to enjoy!