Happy Mother's Day {Ruthie's Award Winning Stuffed Tomato Fan-tans Recipe}

Stuffed Tomato Fan-tans

When I was 6 or 7 I have the vivid memory of going to downtown Trenton to the appliance store where a Trentonian photographer took my Mom's picture with my brother, Cholly, and I with her winnings.  Mom had won a recipe contest and won a full size deep freezer!  It was huge.... the freezer AND the moment.  

My Easter Buffet this year
a/k/a Ruthie's Birthday

The winning recipe was for her Stuffed Tomato Fan-tans.... a yummy cool summer night dinner that was a favorite in the Schmid house.  I've only made these a few times myself but Ruthie made them all the time.... I made them for her birthday a couple years back but sadly she didn't remember them so I tucked the recipe back away until her birthday this year.... I thought it would be a good remembrance and they were as delicious as ever.  With tomato season on the approach and it being Mother's Day I thought I'd share. 


Unfortunately even though the article with the picture is as clear as day in my mind's eye we couldn't put our hands on it.... this picture is in that same era though {the era of homemade matching or at a minimum color coordinating mommy-daughter outfits}.


This is a copy of her original recipe, you probably can't tell because it got cut off in the scan but she wrote an H in the top right corner. When she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease but was early stage she began compiling and organizing envelopes full of recipes for me.... and they all have the "H" in the corner. 

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO:

Bring cream cheese to room temperature and combine with all other ingredients {except tomatoes}; then cut slices into your tomatoes, not quite all the way through {approximately 3 slices per tomato} and fill with the "stuffing."

Ruthie's Stuffed Tomato Fan-tans

VOILA!  Grab your knife and fork and enjoy Ruthie's Stuffed Tomato Fan-tans.

NOTE:  It's not required but I like the stuffing to sit over night, covered & refrigerated, to "marry" before stuffing.... in fact, these can be made AND assembled the day before if needed.

I LOVE a party! {Honey Roasted Bruschetta with Ricotta & Fresh Basil}

Honey Roasted Bruschetta with Ricotta & Fresh Basil

Oh my goodness I haven't been on since Friday.... serious withdrawal over here. I was joking with David that you guys were either saying thank goodness she has given us a break or OMG has something happened to Heidi there's been no activity on Young Grasshopper for three days... this is unheard of!

Well, here's my story Barbara and I {a.k.a. The Gourmet Girls} had there biggest catering job to date! A 40th birthday party for a good friend that consumed all of my waking time last week and so while I have been cooking up a storm and racking up pictures and recipes and potential posts I haven't had a spare minute to post.

Honey Roasted Bruschetta with Ricotta & Fresh Basil

And so, despite the fact that I have a very large trial in two days and I shouldn't be on here playing with all of you I thought I might perish if I didn't share at least one recipe and so I thought I'd pick a relatively easy one that is an awesome app. A real crowd pleaser... could be for a party, a luncheon or a book club or just your lunch and that is my honey roasted bruschetta. This recipe originally came from a Food & Wine Annual cookbook and it has been a real go to for me over the years.  A lot of time I make my own ricotta, other times I don't, I'll never admit which is the case at any given moment but it's always fabulous.

The tomatoes can be made in advance and still be absolutely delicious, I usually make them two or three days ahead of time.  Leftovers can then be frozen and I have used these tomatoes to cook fish, pork and chicken as sort of a marinara type sauce.  The bread can be made a day in advance and stored in a sealed baggie.