Chocolate pecan sticky bars

About this time eleven years ago, I took a plane trip to Texas. It was my first flight after 9-11 and everyone was still shaky about air travel. Many of my friends advised me to postpone my trip, as they thought it was too soon to fly and were concerned about what might happen. But I had longtime plans to be in Houston to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and despite my fears and anxiety it was an occasion that I did not want to miss.

This year, I found myself back in Texas on her birthday. Last week I was in Abilene for the West Texas Book Festival, and when I learned that I’d have a layover in Dallas, I decided to extend it from a few hours to a few days so I could see my family. But as soon as I made those plans, I started feeling anxious. The airline I was on was experiencing problems, which made returning on time a shaky proposition. I began to worry.

Now, at this point I had a choice—I could fret about my plans and make myself miserable, or I could just let it go and enjoy the precious time I was spending with my family. As I did eleven years, I opted to stay the course. And it was the right decision as we ended up having a landmark time.



Sometimes I tend to over analyze events, but I do think the lesson I learned this trip was important. I often get so wrapped up in my working life that I find it hard to pause and savor those rare moments shared with those special people in my life.
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Tomato pie with bacon and jalapeños

On my refrigerator is a photo my mom sent me from last Thanksgiving. It’s a shot of a long wooden table that’s been topped with an array of pies. There are cream pies, pecan pies, fruit pies and chess pies. They’re not perfect, as the crusts may have rough edges and the meringues don’t always form even peaks. But this is what tells you that these are pies that have been made by hand, with love. There’s nothing better than homemade pie.

At family gatherings, pies are usually the way we conclude our meals, but lately I’ve been thinking about ways to incorporate pies into the beginning and the middle of the meal, as well. Tomatoes are not only at their peak right now, but it’s also starting to cool down outside—baking tomatoes into a pie just seems right.



There’s a classic Southern tomato pie recipe that calls for an abundance of mayonnaise. This is not it. While that’s a fine pie, it’s always felt like a side player to me and I wanted something heartier—a pie that could take center stage.
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