The Light Lunch and Bruschetta Breads

I get bored from time to time, so I'll go out, walk the stores, check out what's new.  I went to Marshall's the other day, needed some new towels, and right next door is Aldi, so I popped in there to see what was new.  I found these interesting bruschetta breads.  I already had planned to make bruschetta this week to use up a bunch of tomatoes, so these went into the cart.  On the shelf were oregano and tomato flavored breads, I couldn't choose so I got both.

 I made my fresh bruschetta (see this blog 6/15/15 for recipe), loaded up a small bowl and 3 of my breads, I sprinkled a little grated Pecorino cheese on top, and that my friends was my lunch.

 How good does this look and it's easy on the waist.

40th Surprise Birthday Party and Italian Pasta Night - 2015

Our Annual Italian Pasta Night dinner was held this past Saturday, it was also a combined 40th surprise birthday party for my oldest daughter.  And what a surprise it was, she made all the pasta!  It was a cucina pazzo (crazy kitchen) for a couple of days, but was so worth the time and effort to see 34 people sit down and enjoy a meal that was all homemade.  I had a lot of help from my daughters, nieces and my sister making all this food, without them I could never have done it on my own.

So here it is, Benvenuto! (Welcome), to our Italian Pasta Night Dinner/Birthday Party.

 We were very busy making braciole, meatballs and sauce.

 The birthday girl and my niece Kristin made the Lasagna noodles.

Here comes the 3 pans of lasagna, cheese and sauce.

 The appetizers - Two very large platters of anti pasta, mussels cooked in a white wine and garlic broth with tomatoes done on the grill, and homemade artisan pizzas on the grill. 

Homemade bruschetta, gotta have that on the appetizer table.

 Table set up for the drink bar.

 Next up were the salads - Panzanella, which got eaten before I could take a picture, and a deconstructed Caprese salad with balsamic glaze and a little olive oil.

 The sauces - red for lasagna, vodka and alfredo for the fettuccine - all homemade!

And the birthday girl concocted quite a few bottles of homemade Limoncello.  We also had a huge variety of Italian wines on hand to go with our meal.  Me on the other hand, stayed with the Italian Cream Soda's.  They were delicious by the way, like dessert in a glass, refreshing and not too sweet.

  So the theme I picked was white, blue and yellow for the party.  We couldn't really decorate for a surprise party, because my daughter was here the whole time making pasta and other food.  I tried to keep it simple with a little bit of a Tuscan feel. I used blue delphinium, baby's breath and fresh herbs from my garden for small vases of flowers to use on the tables.  I also had black lanterns, votive cups with white candles, and ran lemon leaves and lemons, all the way down the center of 7 tables that were covered with white tablecloths.  The picture frames have Italian sayings with the English meanings that I set up going down the tables.  Italian torrone candies were also scattered throughout the tables.  I used white china plates and paper lemon decorated napkins with my everyday flatware.

 This is a photo from one end of the table to the other.  Lots of mixed up chairs, but that is all I had to use, so my goal is to have all matching chairs by next year.  Fortunately for me the weather cooperated, it was a beautiful day and a lovely evening.

 San Pellegrino Sparkling Water, plain and flavored.  I also used plunger type canning bottles with chalkboard labels for lemon water.  For dessert I purchased blue, white and lemon decorated paper plates and used yellow plastic forks.

 Oh No, The Big 40!  On the dessert menu for the birthday girl - Italian Rum Birthday Cake.....

Ricotta Cookies, made by my niece Tara, they were so good there are none left!  There were seven dozen, you can't eat just one.....

 and of course a delicious Tiramisu, it was fantastico!

So there is our party, hope you enjoyed all the pictures.  It was such a fun night and everyone had a wonderful time.  There is nothing better than sitting down to a meal with family and friends.  I am already planning for next year!

Oh, My My, Tomatoes!

My tomato plants are finally producing tomatoes, and I can't wait to pick them.  There is nothing like a fresh tomato that you grew from your very own garden.  I remember growing up, my grandparents grew all kinds of vegetables in their garden, and we would pick fresh tomatoes right from the plant, sprinkle with a little salt and bite right into it, ahhh those were the days.  In my garden I planted beefsteak, big boy, plum, grape and yellow grape tomato plants this year, and I hope I get a bumper crop.  I will need them, since one of the big box stores I go to stopped selling my favorite bruschetta.  Now I have to make my own, so having all the tomatoes will help, I won't have to buy them,  I had to purchase some yesterday, my tomatoes are still green but growing, to make homemade bruschetta.  I could eat this stuff everyday for lunch it's so good!  Recipe below.

To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

I started with a box of plum/Roma tomatoes, they are the best I think, very meaty.  Fresh basil and parsley from my garden and a few other ingredients.

 I like using red onion because it gives the bruschetta pretty color.

 My plums or Roma tomatoes as they are called.

 I scoop the seeds with a teaspoon.

 Slice them down and then dice them, so they look like this.

Toss all the ingredients in a bowl.

 Scoop it on top of crostini and it's a meal for me.  If there are any leftovers, I store it in a canning jar.

 Homemade Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients

12 plum/Roma tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, minced

10 basil leaves, cut chiffonade style (roll leaves up and slice)

1 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Slice all the tomatoes in half, then scoop the seeds with a teaspoon and discard them.  Slice the tomatoes lengthwise then dice them. Toss the tomatoes into a medium size bowl, with the remaining ingredients and mix together.  Store in a covered container.  Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

Beginning and End of a Great Meal

We had family over for dinner on Saturday and I made homemade bruschetta for an appetizer. It's quick and easy and it was very tasty, if I say so myself.  Summer tomatoes are the best to use if making this dish, they are rich in flavor, juicy, and the color they get from the summer sun is beautiful.  I made this bruschetta with campari tomatoes, they always taste like a summer tomato, no matter what time of year it is. The recipe is below so start chopping!

1/2 chopped sweet onion - such as vidalia, 5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small box of campari tomatoes, quartered then chopped

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbsp balamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

1 baguette, sliced to top with bruschetta.  Can you say yummy!

I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream!

I also made Raspberry Ice Cream for dessert. Get out all your ingredients, whole milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla and frozen raspberries.  You also need an ice cream maker.  Recipe is below.

Pulse frozen raspberries in a food processor or blender

They will look like little beads when you are done

Beat eggs and 1/3 cup of sugar until a thick stream drips from beaters

Milk, cream and 1 cup of sugar in a heavy saucepan

Combined milk and raspberry mixture

Pour into a bowl

Cover the very top of it with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours or more

Pour into frozen barrel of ice cream maker and churn

Pour into a container with a lid and freeze for about 8 hours or overnight. Oh baby this stuff is soooo good! Rich, creamy and tasty and full of raspberry flavor.

RASPBERRY ICE CREAM

6 cups of frozen red raspberries

2 cups whipping cream

2 cups whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1.  Place the 6 cups of berries in a food processor or blender.  Pulse until raspberries are like little tiny beads.

2. Combine cream, milk, vanilla, 1 cup of sugar and the salt in a heavy sauce pan. Heat on medium, until almost boiling, then remove from burner.  Bubbles will form around the sides of the pan and it will be steamy.

3. In a separate bowl use a hand mixer to beat the eggs and remaining 1/3 cup sugar until a thick stream drips from the beaters.

4. Pour 1 cup of the warm milk into a bowl and slowly drizzle in the egg mixture.  DO NOT pour all of it in the milk.  The eggs have to be tempered with the warm milk, otherwise you will have scrambled eggs.  Then, add the rest fo the milk mixture and stir.  Pour the egg/milk mixture back into the clean pot and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens, about ten minutes,  while stirring constantly.

5. Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the raspberries.

6. Pour mixture in a large bowl and put in the fridge with plastic wrap placed directly on the top.  Chill for 3 hours or more.  Pour mixture in the frozen barrel of an ice cream maker, it takes about 20 - 25 minutes to churn it.  When done scoop out of barrel, put it in a container and freeze for 8 hours or until firm.

NOTE:  This recipe will have to be made in 2 batches depending on your ice cream maker. To check to see if ice cream is done churning, it should be thick and churning over the top of the blender part of the ice cream maker.