Hi From Me Again
Its raining again so time to come in and add something to my Blog. We just got back from shopping and I bought two Autumn Sedum. I need another plant LOL.
Bill says I'm running out of room.
I remember them from last year my neighbor across the street has them in her garden and I really like them especially in the fall. I never heard of them befor but that's not unusual for me there are a lot of plants I haven't heard of coming from the city and now I'm a country girl.
Yesterday we went on a tour to the North Side to see a play
Million Dollar Quartet.
Its a musical and these guys and girl were absolutely fantastic.
And believe it or not I have never been up by that neighborhood befor, its hard to believe us coming from Chicago.
I love the neighborhood it looks like a cool place to live.
We ate at Sopranos Restaurant and we had a really great family style luncheon.
Italian of course and that don't make me sad because I love Italian food.
Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil
Ingredients
6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil
Method
1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.
2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.
3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.
Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.
5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.
Makes 24 small slices. Serves 6-10 as an appetizer. Or 3-4 for lunch (delicious served with cottage cheese on the side.)
Yesterday we went on a tour to the North Side to see a play
Million Dollar Quartet.
Its a musical and these guys and girl were absolutely fantastic.
And believe it or not I have never been up by that neighborhood befor, its hard to believe us coming from Chicago.
I love the neighborhood it looks like a cool place to live.
The two above photos give you an idea what the neighbor hood looks like.
crowded but so quaint I love it..
Its up by De Paul University.
We ate at Sopranos Restaurant and we had a really great family style luncheon.
Italian of course and that don't make me sad because I love Italian food.
That's our good friends Nate & Joanne
they adopted us when we moved out here.
So we try to go on day trips with them and visit with them at Barns n Noble.
I think that theater is the smallest one I have ever been in.
Here is a photo of the front of the Sopranos Resturant.
It doesnt look like a fancy place out side but its really cute in side.
In the back ground is Navy Pier a great place to visit.
I can remember going to Navy pier when there was nothing there except a parking lot all the way at the very end.
My boy friend at that time was the parking lot attendant. that was 52 years ago
A long time, It sure has changed.
It was run then by the syndicate.
I was so stupid then I had no Idea what was going on.
Glad I found Bill who know what would have happened to me.
Here is another photo taken on the Outer Drive.
On the way up to the Restaurant and Theater.
Here is a Recipe Share from Me
Ingredients
6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil
Method
1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.
2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.
3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.
Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.
5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.
Makes 24 small slices. Serves 6-10 as an appetizer. Or 3-4 for lunch (delicious served with cottage cheese on the side.)
that's the hood where I went to massage school and Dan attends DePaul - it's a world in its own - your thoughts on Uncle Bill tugged my heart - Wayne would love Sopranos - TFTS xo
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