The Magic of Tomato Pie

Bringing peace and understanding one pie at a time

Earlier this week, my friend, Matt, sent me this video:

We send each other lots of video and voice memos, and it’s always good to hear his voice and see his adorable face—and the face of his adorable husband, Chris.

But tomato pie?

I wasn’t convinced.

Matt explained that he’d been talking with a friend the day before, and she’d sent the recipe to him. He was not sold, either, and she simply said, “Trust me.”

An hour after they got off the phone, Matt told me an Uber driver dropped off two bags of groceries with all the ingredients to make the aforementioned meal. Matt’s friend lives in North Carolina, and Matt and Chris live in Cincinnati.

SHE WAS SO SURE HE’D LOVE TOMATO PIE, SHE BOUGHT AND SENT HIM ALL THE INGREDIENTS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

“It’s so good,” Matt said. “Kinda like lasagna.”

“Your friend is so sweet,” I commented on Facebook when he posted about their dinner.

“I know!” he said. “What kind of friend does that?”

And I thought, What kind of friend does do that?

Not me. Not yet.

But that’s the kind of friend I want to be.

It was such a simple, unexpected gesture. And how lovely must it have felt to have a friend take the time to arrange for a food delivery so you could prepare a meal she was sure you’d enjoy?

I bet it felt like a warm hug.

Warm hug friends are my favorites. You know, the kind that always make you feel like you’re in the presence of the sun. That’s the kind of friend I aspire to be. My friendship may not necessarily involve tomato pie, but I want to bring warm hugs into the lives of the people I meet.

Perhaps the most important thing to note about this whole story is that Matt and his friend are on polar opposite sides of the political spectrum. She reached out to ask him a question about a hot button issue because she wanted someone to talk to her without judgment or condemnation. She wanted to better understand a viewpoint she didn’t share.

And here’s what Matt had to say about how the whole experience transpired:

“Turns out, we had a beautiful conversation. Afterward, we both remarked that we all should be speaking to each other on social media this way. Not judging, but listening. Seeking to understand. Treating each other with respect, even when we disagree. ESPECIALLY when we disagree. I think it is such a beautiful thing that our convo ended not only with love and respect, but with gifts. With groceries. With tomato pie. The world is good when we make it good.”

When I asked Matt if I could share his story with my friends, he said, “Of course. Tomato Pie is bringing people together.”

Indeed, it is.

If you’d like spread the tomato pie love, here’s the magic recipe:

https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/tomato-pie

Let’s go make the world good.