In our family...

In our family....we do second chances...we do grace...we do real...we do mistakes...we do I'm sorry (and I forgive you)...we do loud really well...we do hugs...we do family...we do love.















Monday, August 16, 2010

All things tomato

Earlier this summer, we were up north at my sisters, bringing the little’s to stay for the week, and her and her husband, who are both wonderful cooks, made us a wonderful meal which included Bruschetta. It was so yummy, as is anything either of them make.

There is no way I could ever compete with any of my  3 older sisters in all their talents of cooking, baking, decorating their homes, crafting, sewing, gardening, photography and an endless list of their talents. Am I jealous? Sometimes. Am I proud of these super women and all they accomplish? Your damn right I am.

I wasted way too many years of my life trying to be like these super women and have come to accept that I don’t have to be them to be okay.

Now I’m not saying I don’t do alright doing some of these things but I do say that by the time I was born most of the talents had already been handed out and I got the leftovers. Hey, left over's are good too. :)

Nonetheless I love cooking and  baking and do most of these things from scratch and try to use fresh ingredients. It’s the way I was brought up. We grew and raised everything that we ate. We drank milk from the cows that we milked. I don’t remember eating too many things that came from a box or a can. As I recall this time in my life, the only thing I remember struggling with was my moms homemade catsup.

There have been times in my life that I just ate what I could in order to survive but for the most part I have eaten like I was brought up.  Honestly, when I am eating this way I feel the best. I like to feed my family now in much the same way as when I grew up so we eat mostly whole foods, and very little processed foods. If I cannot pronounce an ingredient listed or if there are too many ingredients listed it is very unlikely that we will not eat it very often, if at all. 

Anyways, back to the bruschetta…as soon as my husband and I got home the next day, we went and purchased the ingredients and made it ourselves. I hadn’t written down their recipe so had to go on my memory which isn’t all that good. :)

So I made it but with a few changes of my own and we loved it!

Our good friends were coming this past weekend so on Saturday morning, I made whole wheat French bread so that I would have it for making this appetizer later in the day. They loved it! Since we had another loaf just laying around, my husband talked me into making it again the next day. 

I chopped up tomato from our garden and onion from a friends garden and threw in some fresh garlic and then I squeezed a half of a fresh lime in and then drizzled some olive oil in. Sprinkled in some sea salt and pepper. Stirred it up a bit, had a taste(so far so good) and put it in the refrigerator to chill. If I would have had fresh basil I would have thrown that in too.IMG_3482

I then sliced up the  French bread and brushed it with olive oil and garlic.

I had a little helper that loves to cook.

IMG_3486  I then, put it on the grill. I love the smell of garlic on the grill.

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We topped the toasted bread with the tomato mixture and some feta cheese.

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It is so light and fresh tasting. It is suppose to be an appetizer but we’ve almost eaten it as a meal.

This little girl had such a big smile about eating it. Don’t you just love her wild hair? :)

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Both of the little’s LOVE tomatoes and other veggies which is a good thing except when I am trying to cook and their little hands are stealing my ingredients.

Thankfully our garden has done pretty well in spite of all the rain and the little’s help which consists of watering it  and picking things they are not suppose to pick yet.

We planted only one cherry tomato plant and so far not one tomato has made it into our home. Any guesses as to why? :)

I guess next year we will be planting more of those. 

Does the way you eat now differ from the way you grew up? Do you have a garden? Do you go to farmers markets? Do you enjoy cooking with fresh veggies?

Until next time, love & hugs, Lori

15 comments:

I Am Woody said...

OMG, that looks delicious!! Went to the farmers market on Sunday:)

Buckeroomama said...

I love fresh tomatoes... perfect summer food! They taste so cool and refreshing!

I wish we have a real farmers' market nearby... We buy most of our veggies from the fresh market, but I gotta say nothing beats the taste of freshly picked veggies (like the ones we had from my friend's garden)!

Brian Miller said...

ha. my boys love sherry tomatoes...and i knw why they dont make it to the house...lol. love fresh tomato..your bruschetta looks wonderful! and love the look on ms. wild hairs face...lol.

Jeannie said...

My mother bought very few processed foods. Her cooking was quite plain - but good. She canned fruits and froze veggies. She baked. We always had good food around the house.

I don't buy much processed food but my husband does.
My kids were raised much as I was but with a little more junk. They prefer "real" food but I notice they are a little lazy and tend to eat processed foods when left to themselves.
However, my son made bruschetta last week - after I chopped up the onions and tomatoes and told him how. He was pretty pleased with himself. He's 25.

I think it likely you are every bit as talented as your sisters in at least some respects. You likely just felt you couldn't compete as they had years of practice ahead of you when you were young.

Busy Bee Suz said...

This looks so yummy...I love brushetta and salsa and caprese salad...ok, I love 'maters a lot!!
You are doing a great job with your kiddos...feeding them all the good stuff. (I did not like tomatoes or any veggies until I was almost 30!)
So, no I don't eat like I did as a kid...we ate a lot of junk food at home. My mom worked 2 jobs and was not home much. We ate what was in the fridge/pantry. :)
And as far as the garden goes, I think you have heard me ramble on about mine...it is full of weeds now, too hot for anything in the summer.

Anonymous said...

Ah, this is one of those dishes that makes me miss bread...

I eat very differently now than I did growing up - my mother considered processed food a miracle and we were fed instant rice and mashed potatoes and frozen and canned vegetables/fruits on a daily basis. These days, everything is as fresh and local as I can manage - our meat is grass-fed and/or pastured and we buy our fruits and vegetables from the farmer's market or grow them ourselves.

I'm loving it, now if I could just find a good, reliable source for raw milk.

Jan

Unknown said...

I love bruschetta and eat it as a meal all the time. Have never even thought about making it though--how lame am I? :) This looks delicious!

And that little angel's hair is a riot--gorgeous!

L

CiCi said...

You did a great making it and the picture makes me hungry for some. I will have to get some French bread. Hubby makes our whole wheat bread and it would probably be good too. Yum.

Mike said...

Looks like you can cook to me!! Yum!

Michelle said...

Isn't it funny and sad how often we judge ourselves on others? Instead of striving to be a perfect "me" we try instead to be someone else.

I did that last week. I bumped into someone I could call a "student" in that she was a kid I tutored a long time ago. Now ten years on she's rich and zooming up the ladder in the stuff I taught her... and I can't make a dime or get a job doing what I taught her to do.

Yeah, I did feel very depressed for a day. It whacked my own self confidence right out. Now I'm realising that my talent is the fact I'm good at teaching/inspiring others. I'm feeling way better about myself (although I still wish I could make a bit of money! LOL)

Michelle said...

PS Totally forgot to add your post had me drooling.

I'm trying to check blogs and do other stuff - multi tasking is NOT a talent I possess! :-X

Colleen said...

Mmmmm, that sounds heavenly! Perfect summer meal! From the looks of that huge beautiful smile on your little blond angel's face, I think it sounds like you have a talent for making your family very happy with the delicious food you make! Have a fantastic day!

Liz Mays said...

That looks so tasty!!! I tried it for the first time not long ago and really liked it a lot!

I think it's so great the kids are popping cherry tomatoes like snacks, but probably a good idea to plant more next time! :)

Debbie said...

That looks so yummy! And I love her photo with the big smile:)

Jo ~ said...

sweet precious faces, Lori! it looks light and delicious! gotta stop with those processed foods, those are the weight producers on one's body.