Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com
‘The place that has it air
After 27 years, Tomato House still serving
up everything you could ever want in a jar
Tomato House Farms
Where: 22 Stephens Circle,
Murrayville
When: 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. every day
Contact: 706-867-8052
She (Times
gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, November 21,2018
BY LAYNE SALIBA
lsaliba@gainesvilletimes.com
There’s something unique
about Tomato House Farms
near Dahlonega in Lumpkin
County. Maybe it’s the rows
upon rows of jars filled with
seemingly endless varieties
of salsas, pickles and pre
serves. Maybe it’s the fresh,
local produce throughout
the market or the butcher
tucked into the back corner.
Maybe it’s the classic,
country look to a store
that, despite almost three
decades of growth, has
always tried to stay humble.
Whatever it is, it’s been
drawing customers to the
side of Cleveland Highway
for 27 years, and it doesn’t
look like things will be slow
ing down anytime soon.
The market at 22 Ste
phens Circle used to sit
about a mile down the road
from its current location.
Tomato House Farms out
grew that spot and moved
its gift shop — a collection of
country trinkets and decor
— to its present home about
nine years ago. The produce,
butcher and jar operation
followed about seven years
later.
“We built a gift store and
we’ve been busy ever since,”
said Jeffrey Grindle, owner
of Tomato House Farms.
Every day, customers like
Eileen Leary stop by to pick
up items she said “you can’t
find anywhere else.”
“I think it’s just unique,”
said Leary, a Hiawassee
resident. “If you just want to
get something different, this
is where you come ... It’s a
traditional farmer’s stand —
much bigger, though.”
And that’s the way Grin
dle built it. When the mar
ket was down the road,
everything was open-air.
That little building grew and
grew as his son, Casey Grin
dle, built more walls and
expanded the roof.
It would get too hot in the
summer and too cold in the
winter, but Grindle kept
the market open — Tomato
House Farms is only closed
on Thanksgiving, Christmas
and Easter — because he
knew that’s what he had to
do.
“People depend on us to
be here,” Grindle said.
But those people changed
over time, and the business
has changed with them.
Customers “loved the
open-air market, but hon
estly, people’s shopping
methods changed a lot
because people like to shop
inside too now,” Grindle
said.
So now, instead of that
open-air market, Tomato
House Farms is bonafide
store: It’s enclosed with
air conditioning, heat and
plenty of lighting to see
everything it offers.
“I saw this place grow
when he moved,” said Angie
Grindle, Jeffrey’s wife. “It
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Customers shop at Tomato House Farms in Lumpkin County near Dahlonega on Saturday, Nov. 17. The country store has grown over its 27 years but has
managed to stay close to its roots.
‘We don’t buy
nothing but top
quality ...We
cut and pack
everything here,
the way it used to
be. That s the key.’
Jeffrey Grindle, owner
really, really took off. It’s
been growing because he
got into gourmet, and he got
into other foods and started
expanding his lines.”
Tomato House Farms
added a butcher, which is
something Grindle knows
quite a bit about. His parents
owned a country store and
were in the meat business.
“There are not many
places you can go and
request to have something
cut,” Grindle said.
“We don’t buy nothing
but top quality... We cut and
pack everything here, the
way it used to be. That’s the
key.”
There’s an entire wall
toward the back of the mar
ket lined with hot sauce.
Everything from four ami
gos hot sauce to fireman’s
hot sauce. There’s even John
McCain-branded sauce and
a clear Fairhope Favorites
moonshine hot sauce.
Then there’s the pickled
items: Old fashioned lime
pickles, sweet fire relish and
pickled eggs.
“Most everything we do is
home-canned,” Grindle said.
“We don’t do it at home, but
we have people who do it for
us.”
That’s because Grindle
doesn’t want to deal with
all the regulations that
come with operating a can
nery. Tomato House Farms
comes up with the recipes
and someone else does the
rest.
“We sell anything local
we can get, too, if it’s good
quality,” Grindle said.
“We’ve got a lot of local
farmers who bring us stuff
during the summer and we
sell it. Anything I can get
local is good.”
Those farmers keep the
produce fresh, but when the
growing season in the area
is over for certain produce,
Grindle has to go some
where else. That’s why he
travels to the Atlanta State
Farmers Market in For
est Park two or three times
each week.
At first, the market can
seem overwhelming -- it’s
an ocean of different fla
vors and types of items -- but
a huge, eclectic amount of
variety is just the way Grin
dle has come to like things.
He said he’s not afraid to
purchase something and see
if it works in the store.
“It’s just always worked,”
Grindle said. “I think there’s
a market for it, you’ve just
got to find it. And you’ve got
to have stuff to get people in
here. That’s the whole key I
think.”
And if enough customers
request it, he’ll try to get it
in the market: That’s how
the beer and wine sections
came to be.
Left: Tomatoes
are, as you might
expect, how Tomato
House Farms got
its start in Lumpkin
County. The store
still trades in
tomatoes and the
two other goods
that launched what
was originally a
roadside stand:
jams and jellies.
Below: Jeffrey
Grindle, owner
of Tomato House
Farms, stands in an
aisle of his store on
Saturday, Nov. 17.
Casey Grindle said
Tomato House Farms, with
over 200 different craft
beers, has the biggest selec
tion in the Dahlonega area.
He said they also have the
biggest selection of local
wines, too.
But no matter what’s
added to the store in the
future, its heart will always
be in the trinity that got it
started in the first place:
tomatoes, jam and jelly.
Grindle said he’s focused
on making things more
comfortable for his cus
tomers while sticking to
the roots of where Tomato
House Farms came from.
“Everybody got used to
the old store, like the nos
talgic look, and that’s the
reason we try not to get too
fancy in here,” Grindle said.
“We keep it country. That’s
why we didn’t paint no ceil
ings. And that’s just what
I’ve always been around.
That’s what customers like.”
Some last-minute ideas for sides to save your bacon
Happy Thanksgiving! We are offi
cially into the holiday season. It’s
truly the most wonderful time of the
year, and it’s time to get cooking!
Everyone needs a signature
dish; the one dish that you’re asked
to bring to every event. This broc
coli casserole is one of my daugh
ter Emily’s signature dishes. It is
a great side dish and the broccoli
makes it healthy.
The crunchy cranberry salad
recipe is from my sweet grand
mother and a staple at our Thanks
giving table. It’s best made the day
before, which is extremely help
ful when the crazy rush of the day
comes around. Last, but certainly
not least: a great dessert. This toffee
pecan caramel pound cake—there
just aren’t words to describe it.
From my kitchen to yours, I hope
you have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Emily’s Broccoli Casserole
Ingredients:
2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli or
2 (12 ounce) bags of steamable
broccoli
2 bags of Boil in the Bag Rice
3 large eggs
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1 large can fried onions
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish
and set aside. Cook broccoli as
directed on package and drain.
Cook rice as directed on package
and drain. In a large bowl, beat
the eggs; then add the soup and
mayonnaise. Mix thoroughly and
add the cheese.
Add the broccoli and rice to this
mixture and sprinkle with salt and
pepper. Spoon the mixture into the
prepared casserole dish. Cook at
350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle fried onions on top of
casserole and return to the oven
for 5 more minutes or until onions
are golden brown.
Crunchy Cranberry Salad
Ingredients:
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry
gelatin
1 (3 ounce) package raspberry
gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (10 ounce) package frozen sliced
strawberries, partially thawed
1(15 14 ounce) can crushed
pineapple, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can whole berry
cranberry sauce
1 cup chopped celery
14 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Dissolve gelatins in boiling water
and let cool. Add strawberries,
pineapple, cranberry sauce,
celery and pecans.
Spoon the mixture into a 12x8x2-
inch pan or your favorite mold,
sprayed lightly with cooking
spray. Cover and chill until firm.
Unmold onto a lettuce-lined
platter. This recipe is best if
prepared the day before serving.
Toffee Pecan Caramel
Pound Cake
Ingredients
1 'h cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup white sugar
5 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
14 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 (8-ounce) bag toffee bits
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup prepared caramel sauce,
warmed
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and
generously grease and flour a 12-
cup nonstick Bundt pan.
Beat the butter until creamy and
then add sugars, beating until
fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time,
beating until just the yellow
disappears after each egg. In a
medium bowl, combine the flour,
baking powder, and salt.
Gradually add the flour mixture
to the butter mixture in thirds,
alternately with milk in between
each third. Beat until just combined.
Stir in toffee bits and pecans and
spoon into prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes
or until a wood pick inserted
near the center of cake comes
out clean. Watch it carefully to
prevent excessive browning. The
top of the cake may need to be
covered with foil near the end of
the cooking time.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Remove from pan and let cool
completely on a wire rack. Drizzle
caramel sauce over cooled cake.
Crevolyn Wiley is a Gainesville
resident with her first published
cookbook “Cooking with Crevolyn”
available at J&J Foods. She can
be contacted at crevolyn.wiley@
jandjfoods.com.
