Happy Sunday

The fun started early this afternoon by joining Rhonda, her Mom and a new friend of hers Alan, for lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. It was a great lunch. We spent our time mostly talking about food and recipes. Alan likes to cook...and we like to eat...so it was delicious conversation! It was nice to get to know both Rhonda's mother and Alan. I had heard so much about them both. And, yes Rhonda...Alan is a keeper!!

After lunch, I stopped first at the grocery store then rushed home to make a couple of Kenny's famous tomato pies. I realize now what a labor of love those were for him. They are very time consuming.

A few years ago when I arrived home from work, he surprised me with a hot tomato pie fresh out of the oven. He had seen the recipe on Paula Dean's show and decided to try his hand at making one just for me. When I walked in the door, his newest masterpiece was sitting there on the stove. Boy did our house smell delightful and you should have seen the grin on Kenny's face!! He was sure proud of himself. He had never baked any kind of pie before. And well, I was floored! Even better...the pie was delicious! And the most amazing part is that Kenny couldn't stand tomatoes, so all that work was just for me!!









From that day on those pies became his specialty and yet he never tried a single one of them. But the rest of us sure looked forward with anticipation to a savoring bite of Ken's tomato pie.

In honor of Kenny, I took my pies to a barbecue this evening at Teresa's house. Several other people from work were there. Teresa and her husband Mick live in an old civil war era city. It's the next town over from mine.

Their house was built in the 1850's and it sits on a charming little street that's lined with big mature trees surrounded by old vintage homes. Some of the houses are Victorian style, others are Craftsman-style, and some are bungalows. Theirs is a center-hall colonial and at one time it had been a finishing school for girls. She and Mickey have been renovating it since moving there about three years ago and it's coming along nicely. It's within walking distance of the town square; just my kind of place!

We drank Sangria out on the patio and talked and laughed about all sorts of things. We listened to the birds and an occasional train roll by. The warm weather made it an absolutely perfect Southern evening! She and Mick have landscaped their yard beautifully and it was heavenly sitting out there among the fragrant flowers, and the lush bushes and trees. There is something unique and lovely to see in every square inch of their yard. It's simply paradise!

And yes, everyone raved about my tomato pies! And this morning I promised Rhonda's friend Alan that I would confess to using Mrs. Smith's pie crust. Here's my confession...so OK, I cheated just a bit!! By the way, if you click on the title to this blog it will take you to the Food Network web site for the tomato pie recipe!