Tomato, Corn and Cheddar Pie

I have been dying to make this pie for three years now.  The thing is, I forgot that I had been aching to try it until last weekend, when I was combing through my list of potential and future dishes to make for this blog.  As soon as I saw “Tomato and Corn Pie”, the yearning sensation came flooding back and all the other ideas I had in mind for that weekend’s kitchen festivities were thrown out the window.  My mind was on one track and one track only: Tomato and Corn Pie.

I don’t know what took me so long to actually make this pie.  It is a relatively simple process and it makes use of two of summer’s most bountiful harvests: juicy, ripe, red tomatoes and sweet, golden corn.  I first came across this pie on Smitten Kitchen’s site in August of 2009 and I remember thinking to myself how glorious and Southern this pie sounded, even though I had never heard of it before.

Peach Ice Cream

There are so many reasons to love this time of year, despite the blistering heat and lack of rain that has left our herb garden sad and shriveled. Summer promises golden tan lines (and freckles for moi), pool parties, barbeques, vacations, slip ‘n slides and blockbuster movie releases. More importantly, however, is the fact that along with the arrival of summer comes peach season, and there is just something so special about biting into that first ripe, juicy, sweet and succulent peach of the year.

I must say, that of all the fruit fillings that are available to fill a flaky, buttery crust- and let’s face it, the options are pretty much endless- the simple filling of peaches, cooked down with a little water and sugar, is by far my favorite. I don’t think there are many other things in this world that can satisfy me and put such a smile on my face like a plate of good ol’ fashioned peach cobbler. Peach desserts don’t need the addition of any bells and whistles. If you buy them ripe enough, you hardly even need to add sugar. Peach cobblers, peach pies or whichever way you prefer to eat your peaches- they’re better off when kept simple, allowing the peaches to really sing.

Spicy Pickled Carrots

I spent the early part of my childhood moving around from city to city: born in Oklahoma, grew up young in Arkansas, briefly settled down in Seattle and moved to Texas at the end of my 4th grade year. So it’s no surprise that I (proudly) consider myself a Texan. After all, I did spend the majority of my life living there. Enough with the history lesson however, my point is this: I’m no stranger to Mexican or Tex Mex food. In fact, I was raised on it. My mom always swore, and still does to this day, that she could eat chips and salsa and an enchilada lunch special every day of her life. I feel the same way. It’s something I could just possibly never get sick of. We must have spicy salsa running through our veins… So, with 27 years of eating Mexican food, most often on a weekly basis, it comes as a surprise, to myself and Jon, that I had never heard of Spicy Carrots- that is until I moved to Arizona.

Jon likes to eat breakfast burritos most weekends and we usually get them at cheap, shack like places titled something along the lines of “Fiesta Burrito” or “Super Burrito”- so you know they’re classy. For those in the know, they ask for a side of Spicy Carrots to go along with their egg, cheese and potato burrito. When I first moved here, Jon could see the quizzical look on my face- the one that gave away that I had never been exposed to these tangy, spicy, crunchy pickled carrots. He was in disbelief. How had I, a long time lover of Mexican food, never experienced this traditional Mexican accompaniment?