Tomato-Zucchini Pie

It's was hot summer day and I still wanted to turn on the oven and bake. I have tried sewing instead, but I love to cook, so I allowed myself to indulge! Today's recipe is a mash up of several, but it comes mostly from the current July 2019 issue of Southern Living. I tweaked it, so it's really a Marci, other recipes and Southern Living Tomato-Zucchini Pie! This is similar to quiche, but southerners call it pie! Less eggs, no milk, but still very tasty! Enjoy!


Ingredients:
3 tomatoes, sliced, then spread out on paper towels to absorb some moisture--sprinkle with salt.
1 large zucchini, sliced, and treated the same
1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise
1 healthy tablespoon sour cream
1 egg
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese,
 plus about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, also grated.
1/4 cup scallions, shallots or red onion, Your choice, or use all!
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
garlic, salt, pepper, basil and chives, to taste-fresh or store bought/dried.
One pie crust. I used the refrigerated section's roll out crust.

Preheat oven to 395 degrees. Roll out crust, add to pie plate, and precook for about 10 minutes. Most folks weight it down but I usually lightly prick with a fork and shove it in the oven.

Next, mix mayo and all the following ingredients together. Take pie crust out and add a thin layer of the mayo-cheese mixture. Then add a layer of zucchini, then cheese, then tomatoes, then sprinkle a bit of extra cheese and chives/basil over the top. Reduce oven to 375 degrees and cook for about 35-40 minutes. YUM.

That sun WILL come out again!

The sun will come out...tomorrow, ....bet yer bottom dollar....you get the idea. I found a picture that I took a year or so ago, while visiting Dad at the beach. Nice, huh? He lives right there, two blocks from this picture. He never visits the beach. But he calls the beach "paradise". I visit the beach as much as possible when I visit him because it is peace, personified for me.

Why am I writing this blog today? I don't know, really. To get out some angst, to cry, to laugh, to lament or maybe all of the above. I am in a unique spot, these days. If I do too much, I'm showing off, if I do too little, I'm heartless, or lazy or something. Do you know that feeling? Lately, nothing seems right, yet everything IS right. The sun rises, as shown in the glorious picture. The day is full of useful activity for me. The planner has dates in it, of things I must do or I'd be missed. Yet...there's a nagging feeling because I get the idea that folks are judging me. I'm probably mistaken! I am a very sensitive person, but intuitively I feel when things are amiss and it just feels like that for me lately. When did this begin? As I sit and ponder this, I imagine that I'm talking to Mom or Meme and we'd cook something wonderful and discuss life. They'd lament too, about Dad not eating properly or other relatives who just need a stern talking to...from them! Eventually, they'd look over at me and say "Thanks for being our tough cookie." Well...this is a recipe for grace blog spot, so I'm using food references! Well, I'd tell them this: I'm a little tired of being a tough cookie. Can someone else be tough for awhile?  Yes, that's what I'd like, for someone to run the show, say the bold things, be the tough love gal.

We all feel this way at times, I am quite sure of that! Sometimes, it just needs to be whispered, out loud....then maybe written about, then maybe posted. Yes, the sun will come out tomorrow, and you bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun. And I'll be here, Lord willing, to feel better about things. Besides, it's almost Valentine's Day and I am blessed with Terry, Allie &,Jordan and Stephen, four of the best humans a gal could want! So you see, thinking of blessings, of grace, can turn a bad feeling into a life filled with promise and love.

 A cold and rainy evening like this calls for pizza and wine. I guess this tough cookie had better start cooking! Or maybe I'll ask that blessing of a husband to take me out for pizza. I hope your sun comes out tomorrow too.