Bruschetta, Slobbery Success, and Craft Projects

Today I scored almost ten pounds of cherry tomatoes from my friend Shannon's garden.  ((Oh the stories we have on each other.  Holy shit.  We could blackmail each other for the the rest of our lives.))  Do you have any idea how many tomatoes that is?  Like a million and twelve.  More or less.  They seemed perfectly suited to making a huge vat of bruschetta topping for a party tomorrow...

What you need:

A crapload of cherry tomatoes ((or maybe like 4 cups worth))
1 small to medium red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 handfuls of fresh basil
2 tablespoons EVOO
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Sea salt
A loaf of Italian bread or pre-made crostinis

What you do:

After thoroughly washing everything, commence the tedious process of chopping the cherry tomatoes.  I was cutting each into 8 pieces.  ((Yes, it took until twelve minutes after forever.))  Dice them up as finely as you have patience for.  Don't freak about the seeds.  A lot will come out as you cut them, but no big deal.

Chop the red onion finely, mince the garlic, and cut the basil into strips.  Take a minute to recognize how fracking deee-lightful fresh basil smells.  

Throw everything into a large storage container.  Add the olive oil, the balsamic, and give it a couple of cracks of sea salt.  ((Now, I love me some balsamic.  Actually, any vinegar, but balsamic in particular.  Accordingly, I put a lot on.  You can use less.  In fact, you can adjust anything you want!  It's basically a free country unless you are a woman, a minority, a non-heterosexual, have a disability, or are just generally kind of weird.  Anyway.))  Toss it all together and then cover tightly and refrigerate overnight for the flavors to get all lovey dovey together.

When you are ready to serve, smear a couple of spoonfuls on top of sliced Italian bread.  Throw them under the broiler for a couple minutes.  You can also buy pre-made crostini thingies.  I also think this would be good on grilled chicken, a salad, or really most anything.  See previous comment regarding the freeness of this country.  I don't think "freeness" is a word.  Again, refer back to previous statement.

Nutritional Info:  This is basically a freebie...  2 tablespoons ((without bread)) would only be about 60 calories.  Go wild.

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As I mentioned yesterday, I delivered the Slobberloaf packages yesterday.  Dog #1 went insane and then proceeded to spit all the dry kibble out and follow me around the house until I left.  Dog #2 ((who is toothless)) loved it and took some out of my hand as I was crumbling it into his bowl.  Dog #3 wrote me a love letter on Facebook.  I have another 6 pounds cooking right now and I cannot get my dog to quit staring at the oven.  I actually think this batch will be better because I used a slightly fattier type of ground beef.  Once it cools, I'm going to figure out how to package it and get it delivered for sale tomorrow!  

*****

I have an assignment for you.  You need to make these:

Yes, that would be a mason jar super-glued to a candle stand.  BRILLIANT.  I shall be scouring Goodwill stores for candle stands in my free time.