Tomato Tart - Tasty Tuesday!

I am not a pie lover.  Shh, don't tell anyone.  Most pies are ok, but it's rare that I'll voluntarily choose to eat pie.  That said, I love making and eating my apple pie (which is really a crisp).  And peach pie is one of my favorites, but I'd rather go savory.  I'm much more of a quiche girl, which really is just pie as a meal instead of pie as a dessert.  So does it surprise you to learn that I made a tomato tart last week and ate almost all of it by myself over the course of three days?

I didn't think so.  But hey, tomato tart.  That's healthy.  Ish.  Kind of.  Ok, more so than French silk pie, right?  Help me justify.  I need to, because it was that good.  And I'll probably do the same again.

Is it the prettiest pie you've ever seen?  No, but if you'll recall, this was the pie dough I made last week when I had my migraine.  And that food processor pie dough is pretty darn tasty.  Even if it wasn't so pretty this time around.

Tomato Tart

Ingredients:
1 pie crust, my recipe, your recipe, or another method
6 large ripe tomatoes with lots of flavor, preferably something heirloom
3 cloves garlic
2 T extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/2 c bread crumbs (again, I've used Panko for 15 years, and it's still my favorite - and no one's paying me to say that... yet!)
1 T herbes de Provence
1 1/4 c Parmesan cheese, shredded (shred your own, it melts better and tastes better) - and I just might have not even measured this and just put on enough until I liked it.

Directions:
Start by preparing your tomatoes.  You can go ahead and put  your crust into the pie pan or tart pan, but then stick it back in the fridge so it stays nice and cold.  You want to peel, seed, and dice your tomatoes.  It's not nearly as hard as it sounds.

To peel your  tomatoes, you need to quickly blanch them.  Get a pot of water simmering on the stove.  Then cut a shallow X on the bottom of each tomato.

Have an ice bath ready for the tomatoes for when they are done blanching.  Easiest way?  Get a decent size bowl, fill it with a bunch of ice from your freezer.  Add water, swishing the bowl as you do so to ensure that the ice doesn't freeze into a giant block and instead stays separate cubes.

Now your're ready to blanch the tomatoes.  Using a slotted spoon, carefully place a couple tomatoes into the water.  Let them sit for less than a minute before you fish them out.  Immediately place them in the ice bath.  I get into a rhythm with this where I will have two tomatoes in the ice bath, two tomatoes in the water, and two tomatoes being peeled and the timing of it works for me.  Figure out what works for you.

Once the tomatoes have cooled for a couple minutes, pull one from the ice bath.  You'll notice that the skin around where you had made your shallow X is peeling back by itself.

Simply take the skin, and pull it back. You'll be amazed by how easy it is to peel.  This also works for other fruits like peaches and the like, when you need to peel those.

Now the tomatoes are ready to seed and dice.  You want as much liquid out of the tomatoes as possible.  To do this, the first step is seeding.  Cut the tomato into pieces.  For a medium size tomato, six is usually enough.  For a larger tomato, I may need 8 or even 10 to ensure that each seed membrane is accessible to me.  Pick up a slice, run your thumb on the edge of the seeds, and they all pop out.  Do this for each tomato.

Go ahead and dice them.  You want them about a quarter inch square, but exactness isn't important.  Once they're diced, I like to wait a little to get the more water out.  I'll put them in a colander and let the juices seep out for another twenty minutes or so.  Although the breadcrumbs help keep the tart from being soggy, the more juice you remove up front, the better.  While you're waiting is a good time to go ahead and mince your garlic cloves.

Now you're ready to put it all together.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Mix the breadcrumbs with the herbes de Provence and 1/4 cup of your Parmesan cheese.  Place this in the bottom of your pie crust, evenly covering the surface.

Now that your tomatoes have released their juices, go ahead and place them into a small bowl.  Add the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper to your tomatoes.  Stir it up and taste to make sure the salt and pepper is at a good level for you, remembering that you're still going to be adding a ton of Parmesan, so the salt can be a little light.

Place the tomatoes gently onto the bread crumbs, ensuring it is in an even layer.  Place the rest of your shredded Parmesan atop the tomatoes.  Place the tart into your 400 degree oven, and bake it until slightly browned, around 45 minutes or so.

This is great while still hot, or you can serve it room temperature.  Trust me, it's awesome either way.  This works wonderfully as an appetizer, or you can be like me and eat it for your meals.  Yes, it makes an awesome breakfast.  Just sayin'.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.

Who Needs Spring?

Mister Man turned to me this weekend as we took a walk through our neighborhood.  Mom?  What season is your favorite?

A discussion ensued.  I enumerated the benefits of all the seasons from snow and hot cocoa to relaxing days at the pool to football and leaf piles to green and warming weather.

He looked at me as though I were insane.  Really, Mom?  You like spring?  Why?

Well, I replied thoughtfully (because that's what we do as moms in all situations), I like spring partly because you can see all the beautiful flowers blooming.

Flowers? he scoffed.  Who even likes flowers?

Well, kiddo, I smiled down at his indignant head (yay, he isn't yet 9 and I still have time to smile down at him before he begins to tower over me), there are lots of people who like flowers.

How do you know? he demanded skeptically.

People buy flowers all the time, Mister Man.

He shook his head in disgust.  Really?  Then, Mom, people get ripped off all the time.  All they're good for is sneezing.  Sheesh.  Some people....

Remind me not to buy him flowers anytime soon.  Oh my stubborn boy who sees the world in black and white instead of shades of grey.  My child who beats to his own drummer and heeds his own clarion call.  How could I ever resist him?

In the interest of full disclosure, this was part of the From Left to Write book club where we write posts inspired by the books we read rather than reviews of the books.  I did receive a copy of this book as part of the book club.  That said, all opinions remain my own.

The book we read this month was "The Bloodletter's Daughter" by first time novelist Linda Lafferty. 

Reunions. Ugh. Should I Go?

This week's #VlogMom prompt comes from Rajean Blomquist at B Cause I Said So.  She has her 30th high school reunion next week, so she wants to know about ours.  She wants to know if we have gone to any and why or why not.  And then... there are the reunion stories.  That's the best part, right?

So I have my 15th college reunion next month.  I still haven't decided if I'm going to more than the football game (which I would do anyway, since I already have season tickets).  But really... I just want your best reunion stories.  I know they're out there!

BlogHer Book Club: Daring Greatly

I heard Brene Brown speak a couple years ago at a blog conference.  She stuck with me - and not just because she has such a unique name.  She had a commanding presence, and she has a powerful viewpoint, one that continued in her just-released book Daring Greatly.

We spend so much of our lives trying to proves to others and to ourselves that we can do it all, that we can be everything, that we are strong.  And we aren't, always.  Nor should we be, which is the main point of her book.  Daring Greatly dares us to embrace our vulnerability, to admit where we aren't as strong as the face we put to the world.

Using 12 years of research, Dr. Brown makes the case that our vulnerability is actually what makes us strong - when we acknowledge it.  Vulnerability is what allows us to live our lives, from experiencing the deepest pain to soaring with the highest joy and everywhere in between.  Without allowing vulnerability in our lives, we aren't really living our lives as fully as we ought.

This is a powerful book.  It isn't really a self-help book, but it's visionary.  The book is footnoted throughout with Dr. Brown's and other research, but she also puts her own self and life across the chapters, giving us examples of exactly what she's talking about and making it that much more real.

Life isn't a guarantee, much as we want one.  In this book, Dr. Brown encourages us to go with the lack of guarantee and take on that feeling of vulnerability to live more fully and - ideally - more happily.  I dare you to do it.

Brene Brown is also doing a book tour this fall.  If you can, don't miss the opportunity to see her in person. It's worth it!  Want to keep the conversation going?  On BlogHer, we're talking about her book for the next month.  This week, we're talking about vulnerability hangovers.  Have you ever had one?  Do you even know what that is?

In the interest of full disclosure, this was part of a compensated campaign as part of the BlogHer Book Club.  That said, all opinions remain my own.

Food Processor Pie Crust - Tasty Tuesday!

I had grand plans for this week's Tasty Tuesday.  I was going to make one of my favorite late summer dishes that I hadn't made in forever that most people haven't had before.  Have you ever enjoyed Tomato Pie?

I didn't think so.

Unfortunately, I've been down with a migraine since Sunday, so I haven't been able to make all of this.  I made the pie crust last night, but today the thought of food is just not appleaing.  So next week will be the conclusion of Tomato Pie.  This week, I bring you the incredibly easy Food Processor Pie Crust - with my secret ingredient to a flaky crust.

Food Processor Pie Crust

Ingredients:
2 c flour
1 T sugar, optional (if I am making a sweet pie, I'll add the full 1T; if a savory pie, I'll add just a little)
pinch salt
3/4 c butter, chilled
1/4 c shortening, chilled
1/4 c ice water - less 2 T
2 T vodka (that would be the secret ingredient)

Directions:
This makes two pie crusts.  For prep, you need to chill your butter, shortening, vodka, and water.  I measure my water into a measuring cup, remove just a little and add ice cubes to keep it cold.  You also need to cut off two longish sheets of plastic wrap to wrap the dough in at the end.

Place the flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of your food processor.  Make sure your butter and your shortening are well chilled.  If your fats aren't cold, they won't have pockets in the dough, and it won't be as flaky.  Trust me on this one.  Cut your butter and shortening into pieces, and toss them into the bowl, too.

Pulse five or six times, until the mixture has pea sized clumps, some smaller some larger.  It's important not to overmix this, as you want the dough to have those clumps of fat I mentioned earlier that will make steam pockets when it's baked and create the nice, flaky layers.

Now is when you want to add the liquid.  The vodka goes in first, and ideally you have this chilled, too.  Why vodka?  Well, mixing water and flour makes gluten which makes for a touch pie crust.  Using alcohol - and a fairly flavorless one with vodka - reduces the water and creates lessgluten nd ergo a more tender crust.  Ta da!

While you are pulsing, add the vodka.  Next will go the water.  I'll be honest that I measure my water, less a little from what I need and put ice cubes in the measuring cup with it tokeep the water extra cold.  Depending on the humidity, you may or may not need all your water, so watch carefully as  you are adding water.  As soon as you see the dough come together, stop.  Don't add any more water, and don't mix it any more.

You can test if there is enough liquid by picking up a small handful of dough and squeezing it.  If it stays together, you're good to go.  If it falls apart, you need more water.  You want to err on the side of slightly more than slightly less water, as you can't add water when rolling it out, but you can add flour.  This was my biggest mistake when I first started making pie crusts - I was too afraid I would add too much water and so never put in enough.

At this point, carefully remove the dough from the food processor, and place half onto one sheet of plastic wrap and the other half on the other sheet.  Using the plastic wrap to cover it, carefully press the dough into two disks.  Make sure they're sealed in the plastic wrap, and place them in the fridge for 8 to 24 hours.  Once they have fully rested, you can roll them out for pie.  If I am making a double crust pie, I will make one of my disks slightly larger than the other.  If not, I keep them the same size.

Can you see the fat pieces in the dough?  That's good pie dough right there!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.

It's Time To Purge

I hate garage sales.  In theory, I love them.  Put out all your stuff and watch it disappear while you make money.  And if you need or want something, you can get it cheap.  In practice, it never seems like that.  It's a pain in the neck from pulling all the items out to haggling with people who want your brand new but never used items that cost you $100, but they only want to pay $0.25.  Or less.

I was going to do a garage sale this summer.  I have so many items that I'm not using anymore that really need to go, from the baby items of the wee ones that I'd never parted with (I still have my pack 'n play and high chair) to all my riding things (I've finally given up on the idea of ever seriously riding again, so it's time for my tack trunk to find a new home) and beyond.  My mom had a garage sale, and I brought a bunch of stuff over there.  I'm amazed by how much went during that time, but I was surprised at how little money I made from it.  I'm pretty sure items walked off by themselves or my sister and her brother in law "accidentally" kept the money for themselves when I was running the wee ones home from summer school and the like.

I was going to have my own garage sale after that since I already had everything priced.  Then the heat wave hit.  There was no way I was going to sit outside in 100 degree heat and 95 percent humidity for hours on end with no shade to save me.  Call me a wimp.  I'm fine with that.

And so my garage has sat full of items that I can't quite bear to part with for nothing all summer.  And I hate it.  Then the brilliant Melissa introduced me to a Facebook group in our area that is a buy/sell/trade group.  It's like Craigslist, but you see pictures of everything, you know it's people in your area, and you can see who is buying a lot of stuff and who is offering for things and never showing up (yes, that happens - and I've already been on the receiving end of this one).

I'm in heaven.  While this group was in my area technically, the people who are primarily active in it tend to be further from where I live, so it was hard to make arrangements.  I was crushed.  Then I searched and found another group near me that has people who are right by me doing the same thing.  I rejoiced internally.

Every day, I've been taking a half hour or so to photograph items that need to leave my home and upload them into an album in Facebook on the group.  I describe the item and its condition and how much I want for it.  And generally within minutes, I start getting responses from people who are interested in one thing or another.  Not all my items are ones people want, and it's crazy to me what people do and don't want.

But it's Awe.Some.

This morning, I have people coming to pick up what feels like half my basement from things I listed yesterday.  And I am still getting messages from people asking me to let them know if the sales fall through.

It feels so good to purge, and I love that my items are going to a new home.  We take care of our belongings, but I'm still amazed by how many toys we've had for up to eight years still have all their pieces.  The fact that many of my items are in really good condition helps - but I had four offers on my very well loved mini jumper that I listed on a lark, figuring I'd have to throw it out.

Someone wants every last bit of dress up clothing that I have, bought and given as gifts in the mistaken notion that Little Miss would be a girly girl.  Although friends of ours have worn the clothes, Little Miss has mostly ignored them as they sat in the basement.  That gold dress on the right?  It is a really nice one and has matching cloth heels, and the selling price of $15 isn't questioned.

And another grandmother who watches her two grandchildren is making her second trek to my house in just a few minutes.  She wants to get toys for them to play with when they're at her house, and I'll be collecting close to $100 from her for all her new treasures - yet we both feel like we're getting a great deal, which is what this is all about.

Another woman is coming tomorrow morning and wants all my board books, plus any Dr. Seuss or Sesame Street books I can find.  Oh, and she also wants my angelfish rocker.  Sweet.

I've done garage sales.  I've tried consignment sales.  Nothing is working anywhere near this well.  With the consignment sale, I sold way more items, but after the seller fee and the percentage kept by the consignment sale, I didn't make that much.  Today?  I'm going to collect 100 percent of the proceeds, and the work was way less.

It can be frustrating sometimes.  I had two women who were going to buy all my 2T, 4T and 5T girl clothes and my 5T and 7 boy clothes.  That's a ton of stuff that I'm happy to have go to a new home.  At first they were coming one Wednesday and one Thursday.  Then both Friday.  Then they decided I was too far to drive and canceled entirely.  Then they offered to meet me halfway (which I was happy to do since they were buying so much), and I haven't heard from them since.  But that seems to be the rarity, and I know now to avoid that particular buyer.

Best of all, these Facebook groups aren't just by me.  I searched a few other areas, and each one I searched had a Facebook group like this.  As one of my sellers told me - and I agree completely - this is way better than Craigslist.

So what are you waiting for, or are you already doing this?  Tell me how you purge your house of unwanted items when it's time.

My Friends Are Brilliant

Like most of you, I tend to commit myself to a lot.  There is so much that I love to do and so many opportunities out that that it's hard to say no.  I've gotten better at it, and when a friend of mine approached me a few weeks ago to ask if I was interested in joining her new club she was forming, my instant reaction was, "No, I've got enough on my plate."

Then she explained it further.  And I was so in.

The woman is brilliant.  Four of us get together once a week at a house, rotating through the four of us, and we work.  We fix and we ... complain for two and a half hours.

You know those projects that you don't do because ohhhh they are overwhelming or you don't know where you start or you just don't know enough to do it right?  That's where we come in.  Four people working for two and a half hours can get so much more done that you'd imagine.

The first week, we reorganized a friend's office.  We got rid of a ton of books on the shelves that shouldn't be there.  We went through the photos to decide what stays and goes.  We cleaned all the shelves.  We took charge of the tangle of cords and got them organized and put away.  By the time we left, it looked really put together.

This morning, we were at the second house.  While my friend who has an art history master's degree - among other artist credentials - went with her upstairs to help choose paint colors and decor, my other friend and I got to work in the kitchen.  We recovered four of her kitchen chairs and cleaned the wood on them.  Neither of us had ever done anything like that before, but with directions we did it.  It went so much faster having help because removing the cushions and putting them back on is just not a one person job.

And we also figured out how to remove some mold from the edges of the windows of my friends too well sealed house.  Australian tea tree oil - which I love for all sorts of magical properties - apparently has another use, as well.  It kills mold naturally.  You know I'm going out to buy another bottle of this.

By the time we left, my friend was thrilled that she knew what she was doing with a decor - and in realizing, thanks to my artsy friend, that she had a theme in her house already - and that she had gorgeous new kitchen chairs that "had never been so clean ever and that her windows were now mold free.  And we left feeling pretty good about ourselves, too.  We got a lot done, and we're all ready to tackle the day after this.

Next week is my house.  We're going after the jungle that was once a garden in my backyard.  If the weather doesn't cooperate, we're organizing my bathroom cabinets.  Next up is going through my closet to get rid of items that don't belong there.  My basement is up next, particularly the room that used to contain the gift closet and now is just overrun.

I.  Can't.  Wait.

This was the best idea ever, and I'm thrilled to be part of this club.  Because my friends are brilliant - even though I was the only one who knew what the word "slake" meant.