Homegrown tomatoes

In Few Chapel at Croasdaile Village Retirement Community, there was a recent Thursday evening Vepsers service in which the theme was homegrown tomatoes.  Our preacher for the evening was Mel Williams, retired pastor of Watts Street Baptist Church, Durham who now works with a non-profit addressing issues of poverty in Durham.  His message was one of living in the present moment, and the way he showed that was by describing a homegrown tomato sandwich.  We had tomatoes on hand after the service so that residents could make their own tomato sandwich!  Below is a picture of the chapel with the tomatoes.

I had never heard of a homegrown tomato sandwich in the way that is familiar to many who grew up in the South.  So, for others who don't know, here's the recipe:

2 pieces of WHITE bread (not whole wheat or some other "healthy" bread)

1 tomato (the size of the palm of your hand, hopefully big enough to cover the bread with a single slice)

Mayonaise (there has been much discussion about what brand - Dukes, Kraft, Miracle Whip, etc. and I've heard that some people use peanut butter instead of mayonaise...)

Salt & Pepper to taste

[Note: apparently additional items such as bacon and basil are considered contraband!]

Spread mayonaise on both pieces of bread, cut a thick slice of tomato and place it on the bottom piece of bread with mayo, add salt and pepper, carefully place top piece of bread on top with mayo facing tomato.  Move over to the kitchen sink, take a bite, let the tomato juice run down you hands and arms and elbows, enjoy being in God's presence!