Mmmm Monday -- Country-Style Tomatoes

Yay! It is finally the time of summer when tomatoes are ripe! After lamenting over the pathetic tomatoes at the grocery store that we buy for most of the year I simply can't get enough of fresh grown tomatoes! Taste of Home had quite a few tomato recipes in last months issue and I couldn't wait to try a few. This weekend I made country-style tomatoes and they were so good! Now, my family didn't all agree with me but they enjoy fresh tomatoes and will eat them like an apple and so cooked tomatoes just don't appeal to the majority. Thankfully we had company and they helped me eat these up and I also did halve the recipe.

I can't get enough of garlic and so the filling was just perfect!

Country-Style Tomatoes

4 lg. tomatoes
1 8 oz. pkg.creme cheese, softened
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1- 1/2 tsp. minced fresh basil
1 garlic glove
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup flour
1 cup panko (Japenese) bread crumbs
1 egg
1 T. milk
3 T. butter
3 T. olive oil

Cut each tomato into four thick slices; place on paper towels to drain.

Beat the cream cheese, parsley, basil, garlic, and salt until blended.

Spread cream cheese mixture over eight tomato slices and top with remaining slices making a "sandwich".

Place flour and bread crumbs in separate bowls. In another bowl, whisk egg and milk. Coat the top and bottom of each sandwich with flour, dip into egg mixture, then coat with crumbs. (This is a little messy!)

Heat butter and oil over medium-hot heat in skillet. Fry tomato sandwiches in batches for 3 -4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Show & Tell Friday -- Girly Hair

Missy Blue has the most beautiful long blond hair. Her hair has been halfway down her back since she was 3. I don't think I have ever had hair that long in my lifetime! Having a girl has been fun and I always enjoy doing something with her hair, at least when I have the time for it. While I can do the common pigtails and braids I wanted to find some new ideas and came across a wonderful blog of little girls hairdos complete with picture instructions. If you have a little girl and would like some new ideas visit  Girly Do's By Jenn .

Here was my first attempt at a hairstyle earlier this summer. The only problem is Missy has very fine hair and so it doesn't stay in place very well and she always has wisps of hair around her face. She doesn't always want to sit but I have been able to occupy her by giving her make-up brushes, jewelry, and all sorts of girly things to tinker with. Missy is very happy to model her new hair for her brothers who have been quite impressed and of course Daddy always enjoys his beautiful little girl when her hair isn't falling all over her face.

I really like the look of the knots in the front and they are so easy. I can use that with other hairstyles as well.

This is not a Sunday morning hairstyle! :)

For more Show & Tells visit Mary at Raising 4 Godly Men.

Racing -- disappointed again.

For those of you who are interested in John's racing here is a quick update. He raced in Bark River, MI this past weekend which is his favorite track. Of course in keeping with how the season has gone he was working hard the past two weeks in-between races to fix various problems. (I probably forgot to blog about the Oshkosh race but he had amazing races that weekend with a podium win for one of them!) After his practice run on Friday night two bolts from the power steering were sheered off. That was an easy fix though as he replaced the bolts.

Saturday's race John had a great start getting himself up into fourth in the first lap coming on strong but that didn't last long. Another car spun out in front of John causing him to run into the car and come to a stop. He was stuck there for a short time trying to restart the engine. After he got it going he was going much slower. As it turns out John had lost power steering and had to "muscle" his way the rest of the race. Meaning that the wheel is shaking all over the place and he has to hold tight to keep it straight in addition to shifting, etc. He was able to finish in 5th but was disappointed and had very sore arms. He again replaced the bolts that had sheered off hoping it would hold.

Sunday's race started off good again. He was going strong and was in fourth place about halfway through when they called a "competition yellow" which bunches all of the cars up to make it more interesting for those watching. It can be a good thing if you are in the back but if you are up front, not always. This time for John after the slow-down those bolts sheered off again and he lost his power steering. He pulled off the track not finishing the race as it was too much to try and muscle through again.

John and I have talked about how good and seemingly easy the past years have been and are stressing to the children how life will not always be easy and that we need to accept the bad right along with the good.

In looking the car over John would need to replace a part with the power steering that he does not want to spend the money on and so that is the end of our race season. :( He is still contemplating what to do in the future but at this time he is planning a year off.

I can't image a summer without racing as it has become a way of life that began even before we were married -- racing 17 years. It is a good family time, (at least when Daddy doesn't have to spend as much time on his car) and the boys will miss it. His dream situation would be to drive for a team where a crew works on his vehicle, most likely a truck, and he gets paid to drive. We'll see what the future holds.