My husband and I had dinner on Saturday in a place that is rural, rustic and rambling.

This hilltop farm is so off the beaten path that asphalt roads end miles before you get to it. One dirt-and-gravel one leading to it is posted with a sign -- "No winter maintenance."

Not many people would want to live in this place. It has water and electricity, even internet access, but time stands still there in so many ways. The main residence is an 1830s log cabin, retrofitted for modern living where necessary, left to be or restored to touches of mid-18th century living where wanted.

It was all so damn perfect.

On this hot and humid evening, under a partly cloudy sky, with a rumble of thunder in the distance, 20 of us dined on a long, handmade table, on dish after dish of homemade food, with sips of great wine, beer and a nip or two of Crown Royal.

Sweet cantaloupe charged up with a bit of cilantro and crisp corn. Swiss chard pancakes with a swoosh of basil coulis. Tender chicken and sausage grilled to perfection. Plum tomatoes stuffed with an asiago cheese mix, and homemade pickles.

Cakes, Greek-yogurt-and-pear tart, pizzelles stuffed with raspberry cream, and chocolat followed.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to a twinkly-eyed 3-year-old, who thanked me for my Black-Eyed Peas and Tomatoes. I teased him that we'd have black-eyed peas and cake for dessert. Or maybe black-eyed peas and ice cream.

"Noooooooo!" he said, grinning.

We had a tour of the pretty veggie-and-flower garden, planted inside a picturesque picket fence by the resident chef. We toured the resident artist's studio, a small, reconstructed 1800s log cabin, where he works in oils.

The colors on the canvases -- swirls of greens and deep blues depicting this rural life in a remote corner of hilly Western Pennsylvania -- were as bright as the conversation, as rich as the food.

Somehow, they drew the night's story.

Ah, what a venue.

What a perfect event.

I've included the Blacked-Eye Peas and Tomatoes recipe. Do not serve it with cake.

You also can find the recipe for Spicy Cantaloupe Salad on the web at post-gazette.com/food.

We and the other guests thank you, Miriam and David.

We had heirloom tomatoes, too. To get some for yourselves, go to West Overton Museums, Scottdale, Westmoreland County, on Aug. 28 for the sixth Heirloom Tomato Festival. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Featured: Mountain View bluegrass quartet, Doug Oster, the PG's Backyard Gardener, and award-winning quilts from the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky. Tomato tasting and other culinary samplings, artisans and crafters. Admission: $10 for adults, free for those 16 and under. Westovertonvillage.org or 724-887-7910.

Much farther south and older: The 28th Mason-Dixon Frontier Festival holds forth from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m Aug. 28 and 29 at Mason-Dixon Park in Greene County. Church service at 9 a.m. on the 29th. Music, antique engine show, tractor and antique auto parade, pre-1840s encampment, 1860 cowboy encampment -- if it's rural, rustic and historic, it'll be there. Also food galore: baked goods, cornbread and beans, sassafras tea, whiskey jams. E-mail keeperoftheland@aol.com; masondixonpark.com; 304-879-5500.

More rustica: The National Road Heritage Corridor's fifth Frontier Dinner will be held Aug. 27 at Christian Klay Winery, Chalk Hill, Fayette County. Hors d'oeuvres at 5:30, dinner at 6:15. The five-course gourmet dinner by Chef Joe Carei of Caileigh's Restaurant, Uniontown, will be served in the barn and feature appetizers from a 4-H pig purchased at the Fayette County Fair. The menu, emphasizing locally grown and made products, includes Butternut Squash Bisque (Volkar Farms), Eberly Farm Quail in house-made prosciutto, Manicotti in Vodka Sauce (featuring Emerald Farm cheese) and Duda's Farm produce, Trax Farms peaches, Jackson Farms and Sand Hill Berries products on Chocolate Creme Brulee. Silent auction, including Penguins club seats, Pitt and Penn state sports tickets, Whitewater Adventure rafting for four, and so much more. $65 per, benefitting the nonprofit's mission to preserve resources along the National Road (U.S. Route 40); nationalroadpa.org or 724-437-9877.

Prefer Greek (one of life's pleasures)? Head to the 27th East Pittsburgh Greek Food Festival today through Sunday at Olympia Hall, Electric Avenue, East Pittsburgh, sponsored by Presentation of Christ Greek Orthodox Church. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Publicity chairwoman Mary Doreza says that new this year are floyeres, rolled filo filled with almonds and cream, from a recipe given to the festival committee by Marge Tsudis of Wilkins. (I'm so there.) Also, the Ypapanti Church Grecian Odyssey Dancers will present their 1,000th performance at the festival. Greekburgh.com; 412-854-9188.

A happy hour at the Allegheny HYP, First Floor Lounge, 619 William Penn Place, Downtown, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday will benefit Lydia's Place, the nonprofit that supports female inmates and their children. Tickets are $20 at the door. Appetizers, cash bar. RSVP by Monday to angie@lydiasplace.org; 412-391-1013.

The Randyland Celebration begins at 6 p.m. Aug. 28, Jacksonia and Arch streets, North Side, with food prepared from the labors of plot owners at the Olde Allegheny Community Gardens. Foodstuffs include homemade cheese, spicy deviled eggs made from the labors of North Side chickens, house-made sausage from Right By Nature, Strip District, wine flights from Carlo's Garage at Enrico Biscotti, Strip District, and Penn's Brewery, North Side. The colorful Randyland is the home of Randy Gilson and the celebration marks the opening of his property to the public while raising money for the community gardens. Read more about him in a story by the PG's Diana Nelson Jones and on her Walkabout blog (fabulous blog with nicely done tidbits about the city) by searching Randyland at post-gazette.com. Celebration tickets: $15 at the gate, $12 in advance by e-mailing kniess1@comcast.net. Children under 16 are free.

This weekend: Chef Alex Guarnaschelli will appear at noon Saturday at Market District, Settlers Ridge, Robinson. She stars in "Alex's Day off" on Food Network. She's great on "Chopped." Marketdistrict.com; 412-788-5392.

If you're up for a late summer's trip, head on down to Hagerstown, Md., which will be celebrating Augustoberfest (say that five times fast, then say "Guarnaschelli" before you pass out). Features Bavarian food, music, dance; children's activities and crafts, too. From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Augustoberfest.org.

Quick Black-Eye Peas with Tomatoes

PG tested

At first glance, this seems like a winter dish. But fresh-picked tomatoes make it worthy of a summer farm dinner. The recipe calls for using a grill; I used my super-heavy cast-iron Dutch oven on the stove top. I topped it with crumbled, crispy turkey bacon because black-eyed peas and bacon are like peas in a pod.

-- Margi Shrum

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic gloves, minced
• 2 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 3 tomatoes, chopped (about 4 cups)
• 2 14.5-ounce cans black-eyed peas (plain, not seasoned), rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 ounces turkey bacon, cooked until crispy

Place a large piece of foil directly over heat source on grill. Place a medium ovenproof pot on foil and heat until warm. Add oil, garlic and scallion whites and season with salt and pepper. (Or, place oil in deep cast-iron Dutch oven. Heat gently, then add garlic and scallions whites and proceed with recipe.)

Cook, stirring, until scallions begin to soften, about 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes, black-eyed peas and water. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes being to break down, about 10 minutes. Add scallion greens, top with crumbled bacon and serve.

-- Adapted from "Every Day Food," July-August 2010

Spicy Cantaloupe Salad

PG tested

This recipe comes from Executive Chef Bill Fuller of big Burrito Restaurant Group and was tested by PG restaurant critic China Millman, who served it in a bowl, rather than on individual plates. No matter how it is served, it is rave-worthy.

-- Margi Shrum

• 1 medium cantaloupe
• 2 ears corn, shucked and de-silked
• 1 cup orange cherry tomatoes
• 1 to 2 jalapenos
• 1 to 2 peeled cloves garlic
• 1/2 sweet onion
• Juice of 2 limes (or more)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or more)
• 1/2 cup fresh mint
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup crushed, roasted peanuts

Peel, half, and seed cantaloupe. Slice halves thinly and fan on 4 plates.

Cut corn off cob. Place in a mixing bowl.

Slice tomatoes in half. Add to corn.

Using a Japanese mandoline, slice jalapenos and garlic super thin. Add to bowl.

Julienne sweet onion. Place in cold water and soak for 5 minutes. Drain, blot dry, add to bowl.

Dress with lime juice and fish sauce. Add herbs, toss together, and dress melon.

Sprinkle with peanuts.

-- Executive Chef Bill Fuller, in the big Burrito Restaurant Group newsletter

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