Sunday, August 03, 2008

Tomato Tart and Book Sale at the Jewish Family Center

My friend Annie scans the internet all week for any promising weekend plans (she's the one who found out about the Jane Austen festival), and this week she found a used book sale at the Jewish school here in Louisville. Of course, the sale was on Sunday, so we had to wait to check it out until the afternoon.

For a quick lunch, I had fixed everything last night, including a tomato, onion and zucchini tart that I'd seen a recipe for in the newspaper this week. I'm on a tomato spree, endeavoring to eat them in all 3 meals each day. I'd say the tart turned out well, though I think I'll add even more tomatoes next time.

***EDIT: See end of post for Tomato Tart recipe.

I found a nice handful of books at the sale (the Judica and language books were rather picked over, according to the Hebrew scholars in our group). I was excited to find a good little variety of stuff I'm not already familiar with, like Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore in 1931 or Daybreak at Sampey Place by Frances Fitzpatrick Wright published in 1954. I'm eager to peruse, and I anticipate being unable to put down The Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman (books about books are just amazing!). This little collection of reviews of the greatest books of all time is dedicated to Mortimer J. Adler, author of How to Read a Book.

Finally, I do like to grab books purely for their aesthetic quality. For instance,
when I saw the spine of this particular copy of Rudyard Kipling's Kim, I knew at once that it would be perfect on this shelf with these other books. It coordinates with the wallpaper! Similarly, I envisioned the illustrations of Will You Take Me to Town on Strawberry Day being matted and framed in a little girl's room, for their red and pink hues in every picture (we'll see if I ever get around to it. It's a cute book nevertheless).

Tomato and Onion Tart (please forgive -- I give out recipes the way I remember them)

  • Saute 1 1/2 sliced onions in a little butter and pinch of sugar until they start to carmelize (medium heat). Set aside and let them cool.
  • Prepare a pie crust, roll it out and bake it in a tart or pie pan (I WISH I had a tart pan) for about 8 minutes so the bottom can toast a bit.
  • Layer the tart with: Carmelized onions first, 1 medium sliced zucchini, and 3 whole sliced tomatoes. I added garlic salt, basil and oregano in between layers as well. Top with your favorite cheese.
  • Bake 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. You may cover the crust with foil and bake longer if you want to make sure the veggies are nice and done.

10 comments:

....t said...

Gret, books are one of my main objects for decore, because i have so many. i will set a small lamp on a stack of maybe 2 or put a small grouping of similar framed photos on 1 or 2 books that carry out the theme of the pics. All very simple but can be very endearing. In other words like my g,ma Jones used to say "po people have po ways" (po--poor)love you....t

....t said...

Also---would love to have your recipe for the tomato tart. We LOVE tomatoes at this house. Thanx sweety....t

sara said...

That tomato tart looks REALLY good :)

Donette said...

Yes, please post the recipe! I'm salivating!

James and Christen said...

I too LOVE to decorate with books! I was just able to add a bunch of old books to my collection from the MK school library here. I just read "Not my Will," which is apparently a Christian fiction classic that I somehow missed!!

I was a great read and I was challenged to be more submissive to God's leading in my life.

Anonymous said...

Great finds! I love books too and have so many good ones to read. Speaking of books, I received my four copies of the Jesus Storybook Bible today. Thanks for mailing them. I trust you received my check. :)

Anonymous said...

Oooh, Gretchen, if you're trying to eat tomatoes you should try them the Chinese way, stir fried with eggs! (I forget if you eat eggs or not . . . )

Here's how: put a small amount of oil in your wok or frypan. Heat until hot, then add (if you like) a tiny bit of minced garlic, green onions, or ginger (or all three). Add 2-3 chopped tomatoes and stir-fry until they are softened and have released their juices, but still have some form to them. Remove them to a clean bowl. Then add a bit of oil again, heat, and add about 3-4 beaten eggs. Stir-fry (i.e. scramble), then add the tomatoes back in and stir-fry for another minute. Salt to taste and serve! This is so quick and easy, and delicious over rice. The tomato flavor really shines through!

The book fair sounds really fun; you made some great finds!

Take care,
Rachel W

Sarah said...

Yum, the tart looks so delicious! I may have to whip one up.

And I too decorate with books. I loved the library sales at MBBC....I would snatch up all sorts of old books, simply for their cool covers. :-) It is such a fun (and cheap) way to spruce up your house!

Unknown said...

Gretchen,
I made the tart yesterday for the family. It was wonderful! However, I didn't have a pie crust (and didn't want to make one)so I rolled out a pizza crust real thin and used that. It was great and used up one of my last garden zuchinni. Thanks for the recipe.

Gretchen said...

Glad you liked it, Barb!