Lindsay Smith Photography Blog

The love of my life is returning from the desert in 30 days. So far during his deployment, we have celebrated all the major holidays early. Like 2-3 weeks early. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and now Valentine’s Day. But not New Years… for obvious reasons.

Interestingly enough, my birthday is on February 13, the day before Valentine’s. So, in true Lindsay-and-Michael fashion, he sent me my Birthday and Valentine’s Day gifts early. And I opened them early.

I am going to wear this bracelet on my wedding day. And the earrings? I have the perfect dress to match! And my heart? Thankful.

I have one little sister named Lauren. She is my only sibling, and she has been my best friend my entire life. She is the only person that shares childhood memories of all the places we lived, treasures we discovered, and trials we faced.

So here’s a shot of my beautiful sister, and a collage of all the things that remind me of her.

Kato, I love you!

Moms rock. My mom has especially rocked her role this week. When I call my mom after not talking to her for several days, she answers the phone as if she already knows why I am calling. Because, enviably, whether she receives my call of frustration or aspiration, she’s a good listener. She has life wisdom.

Mom – I love you. Thank you for taking my box to the post office this week since I work during post office hours. Thank you for offering to make that new recipe I want to try since I don’t have time to watch over my slow cooker for four hours. Thank you for signing for my Fed Ex box so I don’t have to drive 30 miles after work to pick it up. You’re a great mom for many reasons. I am blessed to have you in my life.

Not all food stories in my book have happy ending. This is the story of the casserole that didn’t. Didn’t taste flavorful. Didn’t earn acclaim. And didn’t earn the right to be called a casserole.

I started out with wheat noodles that were originally going to be used in a tuna casserole. I boiled them in water for about 15 minutes, until I realized the tough texture wasn’t getting any softer. When I made peace with that fact, I drained the pasta and dumped a jar of alfredo sauce, a can of peas, and two cans of chicken into the pot.

Placing the concoction into a casserole dish, I sprinkled cracker crumbles on top. And with a dash of salt and pepper, I called my creation complete. There was just one small element missing. Flavor. It was as bland as a slice of overcooked squash.

So, the moral of the story is, not every recipe you try is a one-hit-wonder. Some recipes are more like the compilation CDs sold on a late night infomercial. A lot of OK ingredients mixed together becomes an edible meal… but not worth cooking again.

My house church meets on Sunday night. Over a 5 o’clock potluck dinner. At 4:15 I was frantically searching the isles of the grocery store for fresh basil. Standing in front of the fresh dill and fresh parley, I visually scanned and rescanned the herb display for a sign of the hidden seasoning. And thus began my adventure of making fresh bruschetta in 15 minutes flat.

This all began when I Googled a good bruschetta recipe. Like any pro chef, I picked the recipe with the least amount of ingredients and the least amount of prep time. Oh, and a recipe that did not require a food processor. Note to self… get one of those appliances one day.

I finally found an easy recipe from General Mills and Muir Glen, so I put on my Ugg boots and headed to Meijer for some fresh ingredients. As I stated before, fresh basil was just not going to happen. I settled on freeze-dried basil instead. Additionally, I picked up a loaf of fresh baguette, EVOO, organic diced tomatoes, and one garlic clove.

To begin, I turned my oven to 425 degrees. At 4:25pm I began cutting the french baguette into angular inch-thick slices. My goal was to make 16 slices from the loaf, and cutting it at an angle just wasn’t working out.

So, I began cutting it straight across and this loaf cutting story had a much happier ending.  I arranged the sliced bread onto a cookie sheet and placed it in the oven for toasting.

The recipe I had said to drain the diced tomatoes. When I opened the can of tomatoes, they were sitting in tomato juice, not water like I expected. So, I drained them anyway.

Moving on to the stickiest part: dicing the garlic clove. At that moment I was wishing I had a garlic press, but I still think it was a good learning experience to peel every. single. little. garlicette. (My term for the little balls of garlic that surround the clove.) Once diced, I added the garlic to the drained tomatoes. Adding 2 tablespoons of basil leaves and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the bruschetta topping was complete.

After 5-8 minutes in the oven, the warm bread was fully toasted. I estimate 5-8 minutes because I forgot to set a timer, and only knew the bread was ready because of the burning smell coming from my oven. What can I say? Confessions of a lazy amateur cook.

Add a spoon-full of topping to each slice of toasted bread, and voila! Bruschetta for all!