A trio of bruschetta toppings

ItaIlian cuisine - is it a cuisine? Or is it generations of devising from what is fresh and local? My cooking has greatly simplified over the last few years. A little garlic. Some herbs. Let the main ingredient shine.
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When my family went camping (I do not partake anymore - in fact the kids won't let me - I bring rain), I had bruschetta toppings for dinner. A trio of them.

I heated up the smallest amount of olive oil possible. Added a handful of sage and then some garlic slivers. Sauteed for 30 seconds and then added a can of cannelini beans. Done in a minute.

After years of making cherry-tomato bruschetta with olives and then topping it with a large slab of fresh mozzarella, I saw Stacey Snacks bruschetta topping - with the mozzarella combined with the tomatoes. Instant love. I used a pint of cherry and pear tomatoes (thank-you garden and thank-you Sadie (dog) for not eating all the candy-sweet pear tomatoes). Added a handful of basil, a handful of Italian parsley, some minced garlic, a minced shallot, 1/2 cup kalamata olives and the perlini mozzarella. I add oil to taste and a touch of white balsamic. You can salt and pepper. I don't.
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I also sauteed 8 ounces of mixed mushrooms, with a handful of cherry tomatoes (can you tell the tomatoes were prolific this year?) in a small amount of olive oil.

I added a little chopped red onion and cooked till soft. It was finished with a splash of white wine. Threw in some thyme and Italian parsley. Sauteed a few more minutes and I was done. I had all the dinner I needed.

Three bruschetta toppings. Messy, herby, fresh and savory. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning played on the CD. I had a book at hand. My evening was complete.

Toasted some bread and poured the wine.

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Meanwhile, after two years of being the butt of many jokes as I quickly snap photos before serving dinner... guess what? My daughter is snapping photos. She is our designated Baking Queen and has started a blog: Life and Dessert Brigade - if you have a minute stop by and wish her well. She will be a senior in college and her goal is to blog two times a month.

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Life these days - does what life does. Hectic, deadlines and sudden quiet. Sometimes there's writer's block.

Literally.

Sometimes the writer's block is cuddly.

Which is the reminder to slow down and smell the roses ... or slow down and listen to the purr.

A Trilogy of Tomatoes

In the Village of the Brothers Grimm...

... there was strife, calamity, disease, suffering, evil enchantment, poverty, hardship...

And a fox! All wanted to live "happily ever after." Especially the Fox who would be granted a goose to eat ... that is as soon as the geese finished their bedtime story....

... which the geese never did... in fact they are still telling that bedtime story. So the geese and in the end - all of the villagers lived "happily ever after."

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The tomatoes in the garden were my happily ever after. Twelve-hour days left me as a food metaphor. I was either "toast" or a "wet noodle." So I devised dinners based on tomatoes.

Tomatoes can break evil enchantment. After all, they are known as the Pomme D'Amour (love-apple) in France. As for me, I could dine on tomato topping for bruschetta all summer.

Four tomatoes, a fistful of chopped basil (all right - 1/2-3/4 cup), 2 minced shallots, 4 minced garlic cloves, a little bit of Italian parsley, a drop of vinegar and a swish of olive oil. Maybe salt and pepper.

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Perched on lightly toasted Italian bread - magically turned into crostini by the rubbing of a cut garlic clove and brushed lightly with olive oil. Toasted at 350 degrees F for only 10-12 minutes - so the crostini is not hard as a rock and dinner is served.

Put it on fresh mozzarella. I had more than one.

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A non-authentic panzanella salad was summer magic on a plate. Chopped tomatoes, torn stale bread that was brushed with olive oil and a little minced garlic and just thrown under the broiler for a few minutes. Add to that a few thinly-sliced red onions soaked in vinegar for fifteen minutes. Toss all with basil and Italian parsley and have a summer feast. Drizzle with a good balsamic. Luckily I had the Saporoso Balsamic from the House of Modena sent to me from Gera at Sweets Foods. Perfect!
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Bread and Tomaotes - a title for a play?

When the tomatoes are vine-ripened, just-picked - there's no need to fuss. Let the tomatoes do the talking. Don't dress too much. The tomatoes are center stage.

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And I knew the show weekend would end in "happily ever after" when I sat down to these tomato stacks from Sommer Collier's A Spicy Perspective blog.

Softened goat cheese mixed with herbs (I used a lot of thyme) and drizzled with a good balsamic and stacked.
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This may be as good as it gets.

Or maybe not. Maybe three is better. And so I now dwell happily ever after in the Village of White Bear Lake. And in case I didn't make my self clear - as for those long days with the 42 young performers. I had the time of my life.