Bruschetta

My first post!  Yay!  And the lucky item on todays menu is... Bruschetta!  Oh, yum.

My lil' sis' taught me how to make these last year.  Since then, my mouth just waters thinking about them.  They make a great appetizer, but I also ate them for lunch today, and it was divine. 

Since I was the only one eating these for lunch, I just made a small batch.  So start by chopping your tomato.  You want small (not fine) chunks.  After this photo I cut these strips again going the other direction.  What am I saying, I know you already know how to chop a tomato.

After your tomatoes are cut, put them in a bowl with a small handful of mozzarella cheese.   Drizzle about 1/2 Tbs of balsamic vinegar, and a little olive oil over top.  Ground some fresh black pepper and salt over that.  Top with some fresh chopped basil.  Toss everything together.  GARLIC, I forgot this orginally... throw in some garlic, it's important.  :)

While the tomatoes marinate in the yummy vinegar, slice up some french bread.  I prefer a smaller loaf, even a baguette works.  Slice it fairly thin.  Line slices on a cookie sheet and butter each slice.  Pop that in the oven with the broiler on.  Watch these!  I can't tell you how many times I have burned things...  When they are a nice golden brown around the edges and the butter is bubbly, they are done. 

Remove from oven, and top with a heaping spoonful of the tomato mixture. 

(It would have been nice to have a plate full of these babies, but I was eating them too fast. 

 Just use your imagination.)

These are best when the bread is still warm from the oven, and the tomatoes are still cold.  Mmmm, the flavors make a little magic in your mouth, and it's amazing. 

Do you want to know the only thing that could have made these better??

Home-grown tomatoes.  Nothing beats a home-grown tomato.  Our little plants are working hard on growing some beauties in our back yard, but, dang!  They are taking forever.  I'm so impatient...