Bruschetta with Golden Tomatoes

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If you are a farm stand junkie like me,  you need a few quick recipes to utilize all the produce that you end up with.  Not to mention the tomatoes, herbs and peppers in my own garden.

This year I planted my one and only gold tomato plant with great anticipation and then it surprisingly produced some sort of red tomato.  I was so disappointed.  I even went out and checked the tag.  Mistakes happen.  I love these gold tomatoes. I picked up a couple that looked really good at the market.  My favorite way to have garden fresh tomatoes is with bruschetta. This is one dish my no-fresh-tomatoes-for-me kids definitely eat and can't seem to get enough of.  They aren't little kids either.

Bruschetta is grilled bread that has been brushed with olive oil and rubbed with a garlic clove.  The name comes from the Italian word bruscare that literally means "to roast over coals".  There are many ways to serve bruschetta but a typical way is with fresh tomatoes.

A Farm Stand Sandwich for a Festival

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That's right.  A sandwich made from farm stand produce for an evening picnic at a local music festival.  Minimal refrigeration needed and local brews are available at the festival.  Sounds like a good plan to me.

I love going to music Festivals.  Most take place in the summer expecially up here on the east coast.  Who wants to go to a music festival in the snow?  Well, I am sure there are a few amazing fans that would show up, but it probably wouldn't be me.  This year to start the summer off, we went to Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Delaware and saw Chick Corea, then midsummer we went to the Xponential Music Festival and saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and this weekend we went to the Riverfront Blues Festival and enjoyed some really awesome blues including the Bernard Allison Band starting off their set with a stellar version of Voodoo Child.

 Here are a few shots from the festival.  The weather was perfect and it was a nice evening for an outdoor event. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Tweet I know brussels sprouts invoke shivers and revulsion for some.  I do not have a history with them.  In fact, I have no history with them at all, but I trusted the stories and stayed away anyway. It is a sad story but true.  When I was growing up, my family just did not go there.

On one beautiful morning there they were, fresh at the farmers market and they looked so darn cool. I could not resist. I am always up for a challenge and wanted to give them a try.  But with out much effort (so much for the challenge) I found out I love these tasty, roasted morsels.  In my family, they disappear fast and I literally have considered counting them out for each person so the feel as if they have been treated fairly.  We covet them.  There never seems to be enough.

It is the end of their prime growing season (they tend to like cooler weather), although they are available year round, just not locally.  I was excited to find these.  They were on the large size which usually means they will have a stronger flavor.  This was not a problem for me because I have never met a roasted brussels sprout that I did not like.