Recipe: Tomato Bruschetta

Right about now, I am missing the abundance of my backyard garden in Happy Valley, OR. As it turns out, we didn't realize just how easy gardening up there was until we moved back here to the Valley of the Sun. Eh, I guess everything has its trade offs right? One of the specific things that never ceased to amaze me, was just how many tomatoes one average sized tomato plant could produce....I mean seriously, we have the suckers coming out our ears. I roll my eyes at myself now when I think of all the times I grumbled to myself crankily as I harvested yet another crop of those garnet red beauties....or maybe the grumbling was due to the fact that I was pregnant for a significant chunk of the time we lived up there....but that's neither here nor there.

My long and rambling point here, is that I would give my right arm....well, maybe my left one....for that garden today. Maybe a toe or two also....

And if indeed, that sacrifice came to fruition, this is the recipe I would make...like right now....tonight.....

Fresh Tomato Bruschetta

Mama Chef Extraordinaire: Laylita (www.laylita.com)

 

When to Introduce: These are one for the whole family. Tomatoes are fairly acidic, so you may want to wait until after 12 months to introduce to your little ones. Obviously, a fair amount of steady hand is needed to enjoy these beauties, so if you do share with the toddler/preschool set, expect to have some tomato on the floor....that's what dogs are for right??

 

Why we Love It:  It is just about as fresh and beautiful as a food can be! And it is a light, cool, summer meal that doesn't involve heating up the entire house with your over. Yumminess in it most pure state. 

Ingredients: 

4 cups of cherry tomatoes, heirloom or regular

3-4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed but still whole

2 tbs olive oil

Handful of fresh basil leaves or 2 tsp dried crushed basil

Salt to taste

Lightly toasted bread slices rubbed with garlic and fresh basil/thyme to garnish

 

Directions:

1. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on their size.
2. Mix the cut cherry tomatoes, the lightly crushed garlic cloves, olive oil, basil and salt in bowl.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is ideal.
4. Remove the fresh basil leaves and garlic cloves. Serve on top of lightly toasted bread slices that have been rubbed with a garlic clove. Garnish with fresh basil or thyme.

Servings: This will make about 8 generous appetizer servings.....but why not make it a meal? If you do that, count on about 3-4 servings!

Riding the wave of a Pinterest high

It is summer in Phoenix....it is hot. Way too hot to do much outside between the hours of 9am and 6pm....unless of course, it involves copious amounts of water. Coincidentally, summer in Phoenix also means that it is a full house here during the day. Preschool is out for the break which means I have an over-eager four year old nipping at my heels all day just waiting for the next scheduled "activity time." Indoors of course....

Enter this mamas current BFF....."Pinterest." I know most of you are probably already on it, but if not, seriously?!!? Jump on that wagon today...like now....go.....now....

I will admit openly, that I am a bit overambitious in my Pinterest life. I have multiple-thousands of "pins" ready and waiting for me to tackle them. And I am willing to make a pretty steep wager that I will complete approximately 0.0047% of them by the time Pinterest is a thing of the past. But, on days like today, I am feeling quite accomplished in my pretend Martha Stewart/Bobby Flay/Mary Poppins inspire life.

Behold.....the melted bead sun catcher.

Take some dollar store plastic beads, pop em in some muffin tins (or any size non-stick pan really) in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes and let them cool. Turn said pan over and Wha La.....a melted bead sun catcher! Obviously I used some fishing wire and an old dowel to turn mine into a little mobile, but you could do whatever. Sweet R insisted that if we hung hers in her room, it would help her "dream better" at nap time (hence the weird, kid-in-a-bed photo above). I claim no credibility on that part....by the sounds of the tiny feet running in circles above me, I think it is pretty safe to say, there is no magical dreaming power to be had here. Maybe if I had sprung for the beads at the craft store instead, it would be a different story eh?

Anywho, a Pinterest success is a major achievement and sadly, these days, that equals a little, mini, mama-high for me. I will ride it out all day long....or at lease the rest of nap time.

Thank you all for indulging me! :)

Kids and Dogs....Not So Different.....

I don't know about the rest of you, but any time I return home after being around a dog other than my own, my two four-legged kids are all over me. They Velcro their wet noses to my legs sniffing uncontrollably and deciding whether or not they approve of this outside intruder. As they are making their judgement, they sneak peaks at me from the corner of their eyes trying to determine if my visit was simply a chance encounter or if they are indeed being "replaced" in the family hierarchy by a newbie. After a few minutes, their sniffers settle down and they go back to their daily routine....satisfied that they still have a secure place and a warm fluffy Costco supplied dog-bed (or four..) in our home. Life is once again in balance and all is good.

This morning, dear friends of mine, were kind enough to let this toddler/preschooler mama get her much-needed newborn fix in. Their sweet 48 hour old peanut of a  baby girl humored me for over an hour as she slept peacefully in my arms....puckering those puffy newborn lips occasionally and letting out that tiny animal-like squeak in her sleep as only the newest of babies can do. Baby in one arm and iced coffee in the other....I can't think of a better way to spend the morning. I am still riding that high...

Once I reluctantly handed that tiny bundle back to her rightful guardians (it really is too bad for those newborn alarm bracelets they put on them....I totally think I could have outrun her parents with that venti coffee in my system....), I headed back to pick up my own not-quite-so-little-anymore kidlets. They had been playing with they beloved great-aunt for a few hours and both ran to me to excitedly tell me about their last few hours.  And then, it happened.....

As I picked each of them up and held them close to put them into their respective car seats, the "sniffing the other dog" phenomenon took place. Each of them went from hyper toddler/preschooler, to cuddly little one in about 30 seconds. Little Dude B didn't put up his usual fight to get into his car seat. Instead, he sat down willingly and reached up for a kiss as I went to close his door. Sweet R sat down, buckled herself in and said (and I quote...) " Mama, I love you SOOOOO much. You are most best mama ever." (We are working on that whole grammar thing....). Melt and double melt....and not just because it is 110 degrees out.

I swear to you....much like the dogs, they could smell that tiny little girl on me. An intruder....and in their eyes, a threat to their place in the hierarchy of the family. Once we got home, the love-fest continued with a Little Dude that fell asleep on me (which rarely happens these days) and a Sweet Girl who continued to tell me just how much she loves me all afternoon. Awesome....I will take it. In fact, maybe I need to make cuddling newborns a part of my morning routing. You know... shower, floss teeth, dry hair, cuddle another family's newborn, eat breakfast and go about my day with cuddly kids. I wonder what age that would wear off....hmmm.....

Little do those two kiddos know, that there is no tiny, burrito-swaddled, baby-animal-squeaking newborn that could EVER replace them or usurp their place in our family. They secured those spots in our home and in our hearts the moment they each entered the world...

See friends? Kids and dogs....really not so different after all.

Boy Parts

I'll be 110% honest with you all....when I found out that my second baby had boy parts....I was kinda crushed. I know, most people dream of one boy and one girl and a happily ever after. But boy parts scared me....a lot.  Baby boys were pretty much unheard of on my side of the gene pool until Little Dude B showed his, eh hem...parts. I have one sister. My mom had one sister. My grandma had 2 sisters....and so on pretty much all the way up the family tree. I just had to be different didn't I? Always the attention seeker.

Why was I crushed? After all, he appeared to be perfectly healthy and happy all snuggled up in my womb. And lord knows, the hubs was THRILLED that there would be more boy parts in the house....even our male dog is neutered. I was crushed because I thought that there was absolutely NO WAY that a little boy would want to cuddle with his mama as much as a little girl. I thought he would be all about exploring the great wide open and have no time for sad little mama sniffling as he took his first steps...away from me. I couldn't imagine a little boy snuggling his face into the curve of my neck when he was scared and needed to find his courage. Only little girls do those things right?

Oh so very wrong....again.

My little man has been the initiator of FAR more cuddle sessions over his nearly 2 years thus far than his 4 year old sister has ever been. He clings to me when he is in unfamiliar surroundings and always looks to me for support and approval when he branches out to try something new.  He looks back often...and I kinda love it. And I have felt his warm breath against that curve in my neck so many times that I can almost summon it at will....even when he is not near me.

This morning was our first round of dual swim lessons. He is still in the Mommy and Me level while Sweet R is in the Teacher Only class. While I can honestly say that I am equally proud of my kiddos for the efforts they put out this morning, I think I also had a glimpse into our future. The Summer 2030 Olympics may very well be dominated by that little girl currently not napping upstairs (I can hear her running laps in her room...), and I think that her little brother will be there cheering her on.....from my lap. Alright, that may be a bit extreme....and would admittedly be weird (although I would secretly love it), but this morning, that tiny child of mine used all 23 of his pounds to cling to my neck and not look once at the rest of his swim-class mates. He didn't scream. He didn't fight it. He just clung to my neck for dear life and sobbed quietly as we sang all sorts of toddler songs off-key and bounced up and down in a lovely water circle.

Sweet R....you know, my daughter....was off and jumping into her teacher's arms (whom she had met approximately 27 seconds earlier)...without a passing thought of glancing over her shoulder.

So there you have it. Boy Parts most certainly do not mean less of a need for mama. In fact, in our case, just the opposite. I think back and I feel so guilty for having any sort of pregnancy gender disappointment. But I am pretty sure I am not the only one who has been there.

And I am also fairly certain that the vast majority of us who have been there, look at our beautiful families as they are today and can imagine it no other way....