Cooking With Ease: Texas Pie Fest

Cooking With Ease: Texas Pie Fest

ROCKWALL, TX (June 23, 2021) Something very special happened a few weeks ago here in Rockwall County. The Texas House of Representatives recognized June 12, 2021 as the official Texas Pie Fest Day. Brittany Hardin of Bonafide Betties Pie Co. and I, Melissa Tate of Tate Farms, started Texas Pie Fest in 2019. That first year, […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Easy Chocolate Pudding for Mother’s Day

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Easy Chocolate Pudding for Mother’s Day

ROCKWALL, TX (May 5, 2021) As Mother’s Day approaches, I always think of my mom’s favorite things. What can I get her? What can I make her? How can I show her that I have been paying attention to what she likes all these years? As children, no matter how old we are, our natural […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Easter Banana Pudding Cups

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Easter Banana Pudding Cups

ROCKWALL, TX – April 1, 2021 – It feels like Easter 2020 was a lifetime ago and yet, we have only lived one year in that amount of time. I remember last year we were all still filled with immense uncertainty. Churches scrambling to find ways to reach their congregation without meeting in person, shelves […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Love Letter Hand Pies

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Love Letter Hand Pies

ROCKWALL, TX – February 5, 2021 — Love letters are a lost art. Email began to replace written word, quickly followed by the text message – some even giving the sender an immediate “read” so they know the recipient has seen the note. Can you imagine the vulnerability one had to have in sending a […]

Empower 7 to host inaugural fundraiser and auction at Tate Farms in Rockwall

Empower 7 to host inaugural fundraiser and auction at Tate Farms in Rockwall

Buy One Get One Offer Expires Monday, Dec. 21 ROCKWALL, TX – Dec. 17, 2020 – Empower 7 is excited to announce their inaugural fundraiser and auction, Deep in the Heart on January 30, 2021 at Summerfield at Tate Farms in Rockwall. Guests will enjoy Eddie Dean’s BBQ dinner, spirits, live music, and so much […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Tate Farms Chicken & Dumplings

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Tate Farms Chicken & Dumplings

ROCKWALL, TX – Nov. 23, 2020 – This time of year is what I like to call Chicken and Dumplings season. They are fitting for any occasion these days. Chicken and Dumplings can warm a cold body or a worried soul. They are perfect to share with family during the holidays. The best door step […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: ‘Grandbaby Cakes’ Caramel Peach Dump Cake

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: ‘Grandbaby Cakes’ Caramel Peach Dump Cake

ROCKWALL, TX – August 24, 2020 — What does “amplify black voices” mean? Well, I’ll tell you what it means to me. For years, I’ve collected cookbooks. Cookbooks from my mother, my late mother-in-law, estate sales, vacations, birthdays and holidays. If you ever wonder what to get me…a cookbook is always welcome! The cabinets in […]

Rhinestone Hoedown: 3rd Annual Sparkle Ball set for Jan. 25 at Tate Farms

Rhinestone Hoedown: 3rd Annual Sparkle Ball set for Jan. 25 at Tate Farms

The 3rd Annual Sparkle Ball benefiting the national, award-winning Dance Variations Dance Company  will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 25 at Summerfield at Tate Farms, 12992 S. FM 548 in Rockwall. The “Rhinestone Hoedown” will include live music, dinner, hay rides, silent auction, and more. Tickets and sponsorships are available at eventbrite Blue Ribbon […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: One Pot Lasagna Soup

(ROCKWALL, TX – Oct. 9, 2019) October is probably my favorite month of the year. It’s my birthday month, it’s the opening of the State Fair of Texas, the beginning of fall, cool weather and the start of soup season. I’m not really sure if soup season is a “thing”…But we can make it one. I […]

Cooking with Ease: Lime Tea

Cooking with Ease: Lime Tea

(ROCKWALL, TX – Aug. 8, 2019) A couple of weeks ago, Evan and I stopped at a farmers markets to pick up some fresh produce and on our way out, I picked up a free magazine called “Edible.” I had seen the magazine around Dallas but never stopped to pick one up. Now, you know […]