Garden Fresh Bruschetta

Hey, everyone! This week I bring you bruschetta straight from the farm. It really can't get any better than this.

Garden Fresh Bruschetta

Ingredients:

8-10 Roma tomatoes (about 3 cups chopped)
2 tbsp. roasted garlic (recipe can be found here)
2 tbps. minced onions, if desired
1 tbsp. salt
3 tbsp. olive oil
6-8 leaves of finely chopped basil
Baguette toast for eating

Preparation:
Finely chop the tomatoes and salt. Add onions if desired. Stir. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain well. Add roasted garlic and basil leaves. Stir. Let sit for 15 more minutes for flavors to blend. Add more salt if necessary. Serve on top of toasted baguette slices.

Oven Roasted Garlic (aka Crack)

This stuff is amazing. And so simple. And so quick. If you haven't tried this, then you don't know what you're missing.

Oven Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

Garlic cloves left in paper, any amount desired
Olive oil


Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. Take the cloves of garlic out of the garlic bulb and leave the outer paper on them. Coat with olive oil until glistening. Place in a glass or ceramic pie pan in the oven. Roast for 25-30 minutes until garlic is starting to brown and is very aromatic. Remove from oven, let sit until cool enough to handle. When cooled, the paper on the garlic will come off very easily.

Summer Fruit Mini Cheesecakes

These are the perfect little dessert to add to your arsenal to impress all of your friends at your next BBQ or cookout.

Thanks to my good friend Katrina Z. for the recipe and photo!!


Summer Fruit Mini Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

16 oz. cream cheese, softened (not the low-fat kind, sorry!!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
12 Oreo cookies (or other cookies that you like! You can also use brownies here)
Summer fruit of your choice: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, fresh pitted cherries, melon, kiwi fruit, etc.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer until it is blended. Add eggs and mix.
Line a muffin tin with paper cups. Place a cookie (or brownie or cake, etc.) at the bottom. Top with cream cheese mixture.
Bake 20 minutes or until cream cheese has set. Cool and then refrigerate until cold. top the mini cheesecakes with berries and fruit.

The South's Best Coconut Pecan Pie

Mmmmmm, coconut pecan pie. This is a southern favorite with a twist and a taste of the tropics!


Thanks to Kathy M. for the recipe!


Coconut Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 stick of real butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup sweetened coconut
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 unbaked deep-dish pie crust

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375F.
Beat first 6 ingredients together. Add pecans and pour into pie crust.
Bake for 45-55 minutes. Use a pie guard if pie browns too quickly.