Life goes on....

Ahhh well, life does go on, thank goodness. Thank you to all who emailed and commented. I appreciate your good wishes and they did cheer me up. Pauladeen was special to me and I am grateful you all allowed me to mourn a little for her publicly.

Life on the farm does not stop for mourning or anything else. Animals still need to be fed and watered, new things are happening and there are challenges to be met. The new chickens have decided to start laying (a little sooner than I was expecting) and that is a welcome addition to our food supply. I found the first chocolate colored egg on the floor of the chicken pen, but by the next day the hen had figured out she should lay inside the nest box. (I imagine that the hens are somewhat surprised when that first egg pops out!) And guess which box she chose? Right, the same one the old chickens laid their eggs in. What is it about that one particular box? Wish I knew. The Cuckoo Maran hens are the ones that lay the chocolate colored eggs. I've always had brown egg layers (along with the Araucana's bluish-greenish ones), but have never seen eggs as dark as these.

I don't dare miss a day of picking zucchini and cucumbers and the tomato glut is on right now. I've been freezing a lot of the Roma tomatoes and passing out some of the rest whenever I can find anyone who will take some. Dinner tonight will be Tomato Pie, which is a recipe from my friend, Teresa. The only way to make it is with really fresh tomatoes, so now is the time to enjoy it. Here's the recipe. Hope you enjoy it.

Tomato Pie-

Ingredients-

1 pie crust

tomato slices

sweet onion

fresh basil

cooked, crumbled bacon (optional)

1 cup Hellman's Light mayonnaise

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Bake an empty pie crust and cool. Dip tomatoes in boiling water and peel, then slice and place on paper towels to drain for a few hours. Saute sweet onion slices in small amount of olive oil.

Layer tomato slices with onions and basil between (can also add crumbled bacon at this point). Top the pie with mixture of 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese.Bake at 425 degrees until browned and bubbly. Let set for 15-20 minutes before serving.

(This is how the pie looks before baking.)