Tomato Pie - this is yummy!!!

This is the uncoooked pie, ready to go into the oven.  Here is the recipe: 

I deep dish pie shell

3-4 large tomatoes, chopped and slightly drained

6-8 fresh basil leaves, torn apart

3-4 green onions, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar and 1 cup shredded mozarella

(I used a bag of four cheese shredded cheese equaling two cups) 

1 cup mayo

real bacon bits

Bake the pie shell as directed on the container.  Mix the cheese and mayo in a bowl and set aside.

After pie shell is baked, remove it from oven and let cool for a few minutes.

  In shell layer tomatoes, basil and green onions, making two layers.

Top with the cheese mixture and the bacon bits.

Bale for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I lightly covered my pie as it baked to keep the crust from over browning.   

Old Wagon at New Salem

Another photo of New Salem, Illinois.  It was very picturesque, and primitive and beautiful all at the same time.  Gardens were everywhere, filled with veggies and flowers. 

Kidland in my upstairs...

When my daughter left our home, I had dreams of the beautiful guest rooms I would have to decorate and keep neat as a pin upstairs.  Three grandchildren later, (and a fourth on the way!) I can say my upstairs has become kidland.  A place of toys, crafts, kiddie beds, and diaper changing stations.  I am blessed.  Maybe things get messy and are definitely not HGTV quality, but I am definitely blessed.  :)

Abraham Lincoln in Illinois

I grew up in the city that was Abraham Lincoln's home before his family left on the train for Washington when he was elected President.  The Edward's place, where he courted his wife-to-be, lies just a few blocks south of my old house.  He came home to Springfield arriving at the same train station in a casket after he was shot.  New Salem, near Springfield, was his home base for many years while he was learning what he wanted to do in life.  I could tell many stories about him, but this is a photo of the town he settled in just as he was beginning to choose his future.

I can see for miles and miles......

And what I saw was corn, and corn and beautiful corn.  We just returned from our home state of Illinois, and I could not get enough of the driving the back roads, and even the big roads and seeing blue sky and cornfields.  What a bounty!!!  This year's crop is way over 7 feet already, and it is only mid-July.  God has so blessed this country with fertile fields and our time spent seeing all the farms and fields was priceless.... 

Two little sweet cocoons.....

Two little gals, wanting to take a snooze, but doing anything they can to prevent it!  Just having spent two hours splashing in the pool and running around, they said they were ready to "get warm and sunbathe (wrapped in a dry towel)."  July 4th.  (P.S. they did NOT fall asleep, though drooping eyes were very obvious!

Six kids at the house on July 4....one is napping

And the others played in the kiddie pool for over two hours...then they gathered, wet hair and all, on the couch for a new Curious George DVD (you can see Hannah is serious about having control of the remote)......gave them time to wind down.....and the adults, too!