Bruschetta

Each summer I try my hand at growing tomatoes. And each summer my tomato plants don't seem to last throughout the summer! This year, I purchased two cherry tomato hanging plants from the farmer's market and was able to harvest many cherry tomatoes. As I was searching for cherry tomato recipes, I kept finding recipes for Bruschetta so I decided to attempt creating my own Cherry Tomato Bruschetta Topping.

Cherry Tomato Bruschetta Topping
Cherry Tomato
Olive oil (or vegetable oil)
Salt
Roasted red pepper (store bought or make your own)
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning

Spread tomatoes on a cookie sheet and coat them with oil. Sprinkle with salt. Place cookie sheet in 350 degree oven until cherry tomatoes begin to burst and turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Once the tomatoes are cool, put them in a food processor with the roasted bell pepper. Process until smooth. Add salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste. (I am a true cajun....I don't have exact measurements. I kept on adding the spices until I like the taste.....well until Tom liked the taste! LOL)Once my topping was completed, I put in mason jars and stored in my refrigerator. I was able to get 2 pints of bruschetta topping.




Bruschetta

Baguette (I made my own but store bought will work fine)
Melted Butter
Cherry Tomato Bruschetta Topping
Parmesan Cheese

Slice baguette and place onto cookie sheet. Brush melted butter onto slices. Place under broiler until edges of bread are light brown. (This will take only 2 or so minutes so don't leave them unattended.)





Spoon one teaspoon of the Bruschetta topping onto each slice.



Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.



I like crushed red pepper so I added this to my share!



Return to the broiler for just 1-2 minutes! Remove from oven and enjoy them while they are nice and warm!

Lisa Pierpont's Sweet Iced Tea

Summer is the perfect time for many different cool beverages! Many like lemonade and other citrus based drinks but my favorite is Sweet Tea!

Growing up, we never drank Sweet Tea. I know that's hard to believe being that I'm from Southwestern Louisiana but Moma always made us Root beer using McCormick's root beer extract. I'll save that for another post.

I have tried many different ways of making Sweet Tea....boiling the tea on the stove, sun tea, etc. But I tasted the best Sweet Tea recipe when I visited the America's Freedom Lodge in Ohio! After tasting Lisa Pierpont's recipe, I have made it my own! If you are looking for a great tasting sweet tea, try this one!



Lisa Pierpont's Sweet Iced Tea

1 gallon water
3 large size tea bags (Lipton or Luzianne)
1 cup sugar (adjust sugar for your taste)

Fill 1/3 of the pitcher with boiling water. Add sugar to water and stir to dissolve completely. (I believe that the secret to this recipe is to completely dissolve the sugar). Fill pitcher with cold water. Add tea bags and place pitcher in refrigerator for a few hours or until tea is ready to drink!