Grab a cup of coffee and read the results of my cookbook survey and find out my favorite products for beating the summer heat. 🌞 🐝
In this week’s newsletter: tomato pie, quilts, and thigh chafe... must be summer
You Say Tomato, I Say Pie
When I was 19 I lived in the San Diego area and frequented a place called Piret's a couple of times a week, mostly for their tomato tarts. To say they were amazing would not do them justice. The closest I've come to recreating the experience of those perfect little tarts is baking a tomato pie with the very best tomatoes I can find.
Early 1980's Southern California was a pretty exciting time for food. I was a live-in nanny and was lucky enough to be able to shop for baby eggplants and squash blossoms at the legendary Chino Farm's Vegetable Shop. Read about the world's most famous farm stand here.
My go-to recipe for tomato pie is by Vivian Howard. Believe me when I tell you that roasting half of the tomatoes is worth it. And don't skimp on caramelizing the onions. It is also worth the effort. If you must cut a corner somewhere use a store-bought crust. No shame in that game.
Also, use Duke's mayonnaise, and gruyere and cheddar is another favorite combo.
How is Judy Davis still such a badass? And why is it I always forget she's Australian? The landscape of the Australian Outback, particularly the aerial views, and the soundtrack are stunning. You can watch Mystery Road on Amazon Prime
In Stitches
I've started to get the itch to quilt and sew again. I had never thought about quilting even once before I visited an exhibit at the Austin Museum of Art in 2006. I visited the exhibit three times and cried a little when I was able to meet the quilters and have them sign my book. Read more about this traveling exhibit here and see my original post here.
Because I am in an argument with my jeans right now I find myself wearing more skirts and dresses this summer. Pardon my familiarity here, but I think you know what I'm talking about when I say this poses a real summertime problem... thigh chafe. Let me introduce you to your new best friend, Megababe Thigh Rescue. MTR made all the difference while judging parade floats this past hot weekend. In a skirt. You can find Megababe online or at Ulta and Target.
Our survey said...
I recently read that the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook was the number one cookbook in the U.S. It made me wonder why I didn't have a copy of it or the Betty Crocker's Cookbook for that matter. When I was first interested in learning to cook the cookbook in our home was The Joy of Cooking. I was 13 or 14 so it would have been around 1978. I've been curious... can we determine which cookbook someone used to learn to cook by their age?
This sunset from space!
My Gazpacho Recipe here
This album by Calexico and Iron & Wine Years to Burn Rolling Thunder Revue Watch this perfect music documentary!
ICYMI Mexico's National Sound Library may have found the first known recordings of Frida Khalo's voice. Read about it here
Next newsletter... Some WIP and upcoming popup events, and a favorite Summer recipe.
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