From the roots up

BY SUSAN LANE

Greetings, friends!

Let me introduce myself: My name is Susan Lane. I have been writing homesteading, homemaking articles for approximately five years now. I write educational, informative, sometimes humorous articles based on my experiences. I grew up on a family farm, and my dad raised feeder pigs. My depression-era grandma was a very important person in my life, shaping much of who I am today.  I married a career military man, traveled the world with him, raised a large family and home schooled our kids. When he retired, we bought our farm here in Stone County and began our next chapter in life as a homesteading, farming family. Our main goal was to be food sufficient from our own land. While you may see me in the local grocery store, I would say that we have accomplished our goal. Our homestead and farm provide nicely for us. 

That being said—let me share my newest favorite, quick summer recipe. It’s been a good tomato growing season this year—plenty of rain. Yes, a few dry spells but for the most part, good rains. My vines are providing quite well. This time of year, I am always trying to find new ways to serve the abundance.

My newest addition to the recipe file box: tomato pie. This recipe is a winner. I took it to a community potluck luncheon at the Stone County Library, Galena branch, last week. We meet the first Friday of each month at 11 a.m. for a nice social get together.  If you are available, come join us. Everyone brings one dish to share and we just sit and visit, eat and share recipes. 

My tomato pie recipe       

Make a deep dish pie crust from scratch or buy a frozen deep dish pie shell and bake according to directions. Slice or chop up about three to four cups of tomatoes, blotting them dry before you put them in the shell. After putting tomatoes in shell, crumble some fried bacon over top of tomatoes, chop some fresh basil to sprinkle over top, salt and pepper to taste. Mix together in a separate bowl: ¾ cup mayonnaise, one cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese and one cup of mozzarella cheese. Spread this mixture on top of the tomatoes in the shell and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Serve warm. This makes a nice main entree for supper. Serve with a salad or some fresh cooked green beans from the garden, add some warm bread and butter for a complete meal. It’s a quick, easy and low cost meal.

For the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing recipes using fresh veggies from the garden. Farmers’ markets are a great place to shop if you do not have your own garden.  This time of year, adding fresh vegetables to your meal is a great way to stretch your food dollar.  Join me next week as I share another delicious recipe!