Friday, June 2, 2023

A Different Sort Of Friday


Well, look here! Someone grew up and got big enough to pick! Hurray! I am SO hoping that the dozens of tiny cukes I'm seeing will make it to fruition and a happy ending in a jar with vinegar, salt, and spices. 

As I keep saying- we shall see.

I already cut one of those up and made a little salad of it with some green beans and scallions and a dressing made with the juice from the tomatoes I cut up today to roast. And why was I roasting tomatoes? 
Well, I'll tell you.
Lis is coming! She'll be here in just a little while. You know I'm excited. 
As we always say, Lis and I, when we find ourselves alone in a situation where there may be adventures or martinis, or martinis and adventures- "I can't believe we're getting away with it again!" 

We're so crazy. 

Anyway, when she called earlier in the week to tell me of her plans, she gave me strict instructions not to do a thing. That we could eat cotton balls on toothpicks and that would be lovely. This is an homage to the night that Lis and I truly bonded. A mutual friend had invited a bunch of people over to MY HOUSE after Lon and Lis had a gig, for a gathering and party. 
I had nothing in the house for people to eat. Just- you know- mom food. But Lis got in the kitchen with me and together we did a sort of loaves and fishes thing and created party food out of thin air. So it was  a cotton balls on toothpicks sort of deal but not quite. 
And that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. 

Oh wait. I haven't told you why I was roasting tomatoes! Because instead of cotton balls on toothpicks, I decided to make a tomato pie. Lis still talks about the one I made up in Asheville one year when we'd gone up to visit Ms. Jessie. We bought heirloom tomatoes at a farmer's market that were absolutely prize-winning and it's been a tradition for me to make at least one tomato pie a year. One is enough, really, because a tomato pie's ingredients can block an artery with one bite. 


Here we have homemade pastry, tomatoes roasted with olive oil, salt, and garlic, and four types of cheese, an egg, and...MAYONNAISE! And some fresh basil and scallions. 
See what I mean? 
Of course, when Mr. Moon finds out that I've made the annual tomato pie when he wasn't here, he's not going to be happy so I'll probably be making another one before the summer's over. The tomatoes have to be garden grown, otherwise there is no way to rationalize making such a thing.

Speaking of Mr. Moon. 
When they were tying up at the dock last night when they got to the island, he dropped his phone in the water. And it's gone, I guess. This is a major catastrophe. It just is. I know we used to get along fine without cell phones, even in the time since we've owned that house on the island. But it's insane how much we depend on them now. He can use Chip's phone and that's fine, but who knows all the phone numbers these days of all the people we talk to? And he talks to a LOT of people. Fishing buddies, business people, his family. He's got one friend he's been making fishing plans with who has probably been calling him repeatedly and getting no answer, is most likely worried to death. He told me this morning (via Chip's phone) that he feels like he's missing a limb. He can't look up how to do things, he can't watch FSU women's softball (they're in the finals!), he can't check the weather, he can't take pictures and send them to his wife, he can't do ANYTHING! 
We laugh about how dependent we've become on our phones but it's a real, true thing. And there are parts of that which are truly frightening and there are parts of it that I feel are incredibly beneficial. I call them our "second brains" and by golly, they are. At least my phone is for me. 

So that's the news from Lloyd and Dog Island. Some of it good, some of it not-so-good. But at least it's been a beautiful day and there will be cucumber salad and tomato pie from the garden tonight. I am almost giddy at the thought of how surprised Lis is going to be by that pie. 

I would send pictures to my husband of both the pie and the cucumbers but they would only end up in a phone on the bottom of the bay where the alligators play. 
Not kidding about that. There are always alligators in the water by the dock on Dog Island. That's just part of the deal.

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

22 comments:

  1. Lis visits are always so healing for both of you......and with tomato pie and cucumber salad.....AND Friday Martini's......what could be better? Enjoy! And poor Mr Moon and his drowned phone. We got happy news last night, our goddaughter Claire gave birth to our second *grand god daughter* last night....Harper Noelle and her Mother are doing well and we are thrilled! Happy Lis visit!
    Susan M

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    1. PS........I MUST make a tomato pie soon! If I die by aortic blockage, that's the way to do it!
      Susan M

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    2. Welcome, Harper Noelle! And congratulations to the mama. What terrific news!

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  2. That sounds like an apocalyptic tomato pie! Sorry about the drowned phone. This is why mine is always around my neck or cross body, in a close able pouch. Bit late to tell Mr m though

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    1. I'm not even going to ask him how he dropped it. Moot point at this point.

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  3. I don't use my phone for any of those things, just text messages, a few photos and phone calls. That's it. I have very few contacts saved and they are also written down in an address book/diary, in case the phone gets lost, which for me, is highly unlikely. That tomato pie looks remarkably like what I call summer quiche.

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    1. A tomato pie differs from a quiche in that it isn't an egg-type pie. Most recipes don't even call for one egg but I do like one in mine to sort of bind it all better. Mostly it's all cheese, mayonnaise, and tomatoes.
      You don't use your phone to look up stuff? I'm constantly using mine for that. And I just downloaded an app that Lis told me about which will identify birds by sound! It's from Cornell and it's free. How great is that?

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    2. I prefer the bigger screen of my laptop.

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  4. Good god that tomato pie is a thing of rare beauty. When I make my yearly pie it is ALWAYS named Mary Moon’s Tomato Pie. I can’t believe I had never heard of it until I met you. And the beauty cakes. Love you Rebecca

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    1. That was supposed to say beauty cukes bah spell check.

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    2. Honestly, although people talk about tomato pie likes it's some old southern tradition, I don't think it started appearing until not that long ago. I had never heard of it when I was younger. But oh my Lord, it is good. I cut that first pickling cucumber and the smell of it just took me back to all my years of pickle making.
      I love you too!

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  5. You're so right about how dependent we are on our phones (and that's not even mentioning the apps that I use to log into my bank accounts)!

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  6. Like River, I now have written back up for my phone contacts. Still, I remember not having that and my phone freezing up...the horror!

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  7. Oh no! That's terrible about the phone. And they're not cheap. Is his data backed up somewhere, like the "cloud" (whatever that is)? Fortunately I mostly contact people through Facebook so if my phone gets lost I don't lose much in the way of contact info.

    That tomato pie looks amazing! Say hi to Lis from all of us who feel like we know her. :)

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    1. I sure hope his data is backed up on the cloud. Yeah- what the hell IS the cloud?
      You would just adore Lis if you met her in real life.

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  8. Damn, well that's just inconvenient as hell. at least I just dropped mine in the toilet. have fun with Lis which goes without saying.

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  9. I know just how he feels without his phone! It's crazy how much of an everyday part of life they've become.

    I would dearly love a taste of your tomato pie!

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    1. Have you ever made one? You might want to try one out this summer when your tomatoes are coming in.

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  10. AS ALWAYS I ENJOYED YOUR POST…ESPECIALLY THE DESCRIPTION AND LOOKS OF YOUR TOMATO PIE…WOULD YOU CONSIDER GIVING US YOUR RECIPE. MARY IN COLORADO

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  11. Hope you have a wonderful visit with Lis and I am sure you will!
    Sorry to hear about Mr. Moon's phone. That's awful!

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