Reality Cooking: Bruschetta

Cooking is one of the hobbies that I enjoy.  I love trying new foods and making new recipes.  It's a wonderful hobby for me because I can enjoy it at home and make good food for our family.  Since Katie has arrived I have had to adjust the way that I cook.  I can still make all the same recipes that I used to enjoy creating it just takes more time and more preparation.  Sometimes one dinner recipe can take all day to prepare just because I have to stop so often. 
One of our favorite summertime recipes is bruschetta.  Bruschetta is actually describing the toasted bread.  In traditional Italian cooking the bread is toasted over hot coals and then rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.  You can then top the bruschetta (toast) with a combination of many ingredients.  The bruschetta we enjoy includes tomatoes, basil and garlic.  We have a small garden and one of our main "crops" is basil.  It is incredibly easy to grow, needs little watering, loves the hot weather and the more you pick it the more it grows.  It adds such freshness and pop to dishes.  So here is the recipe we came up with for tomato and basil bruschetta along with adjustments made to accomodate an 8 month old.  It feeds about 3 people.  Some of the pictures are a little blurry.
You will need:
6 roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp finely chopped black olives
10 fresh basil leaves
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 loaf french bread

Step 1:  Remove baby girl's shirt and place in high chair.  Add diced sweet potatoes to high chair tray to keep her occupied.

Step 2:  Cut french bread into ~1 inch slices.  Place on cookie sheet.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with italian seasoning.  Place in a preheated 425 degree oven until golden brown (around 10-15 minutes).

Step 3:  Give baby girl more sweet potatoes.

Step 4:  Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and remove seeds.  This prevents the toast from getting soggy later on.  Chop the tomatoes into small cubes.  Place in medium sized bowl.

Step 5:  Peel garlic cloves and finely chop.  Add to tomatoes.

Step 6:  Realize that baby girl has finished her sweet potatoes.  Add cheerios to tray and continue.
Step 7:  Finely chop black olives.  Add to tomatoes and garlic.
Step 8:  Remove toast from oven.

Step 9:  Notice that baby girl is done and is in serious need of a spray down.  Maybe next time just add cheerios.

Step 10:  Remove diaper and spray down baby girl.

Step 11:  Pick basil.  To do this you need to put on a baby carrier and add baby.  Then walk outside and brave the wild beast (the gigantic bouncing german shepherd).  When you make it to the garden pick about 10 basil leaves.  Don't worry about picking too many off the plant.  The more leaves you pick the more leaves the basil is encouraged to grow.  Try to keep the baby from reaching out and pulling the basil plant out of the ground...this action will not encourage leaf growth.  (Note:  You can also go to Wal-Mart or your local grocery store and buy fresh basil).

Step 12:  Remove baby from carrier, change diaper and put down for a nap.  

Step 13:  Stack about 5 basil leaves.

Step 14:  Roll the stack of leaves.

Step 15:  Slice the roll as thinly as you possibly can.  This will create ribbons that look really nice and also brings out the best flavor of the basil.  Add to tomato mixture.

Step 16:  Add salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.  You can adjust all of these ingredients to your taste or to serve more people.  This recipe gets better and the flavor intensifies the longer it sits so if you make it in the morning it will be perfect for lunch or dinner.  Fresh grown basil does tend to have a stranger flavor than basil bought at the store.