From Scratch: Roasted Tomatoes ( Plus my favorite way to eat them)

From Scratch: A new series here on the blog! Ever since I got married and had my own kitchen to cook in, I've been interested in making things from scratch, that I would ordinarily buy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't grow up in an overly processed foods family, in fact, my Mom would refuse to buy certain things I begged for at the grocery store on Saturdays, saying oh I can make that for us. And she did! I've been trying to take that a step or two or three farther over the years and I now have an ever growing arsenal of my favorite recipes for things I would have normally bought before. So I'd like to share some of those here from time to time.

It's that time a year when cherry tomatoes are about to come in and take over our lives. I kid, well kinda. I actually made roasted tomatoes in the winter for the first time because cherry tomatoes are really the only edible looking/tasting tomatoes in the grocery store during the cooler months and this brought some cheer to my winter meals. But now that my tomato plant is full of little green cherry tomatoes it reminded me to share my favorite way to use them up!

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes ( spread over ricotta toast)

cherry tomatoes or other small varieties
oil
rosemary
salt + pepper

Toss these together on a rimmed cookie sheet or oven safe bake-ware. Roast at 425 for 20-30 minutes until they begin to pop and "deflate"! That's it! Now you can puree them into a lovely fresh tomato sauce, add them to a store bought tomato sauce for some added flavor, or spread them onto crusty bread with ricotta and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Ricotta Toast

Good crusty bread
whole milk ricotta ( it's the best, I'll never go back to part skim)
garlic
olive oil

Slice bread and arrange on a baking sheet. Slice a clove of garlic and rub on each toast. Bake until slightly crispy. Spread a generous spoonful of ricotta, topped with some slightly cooled roasted tomatoes and finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. YUM!

Bumble Bee Baby Shower Cake + Cupcakes

 This has definitely been the year of the baby shower cake for Snacky French! That's just fine with me. I have certainly been able to play around with quite a few themes and ideas for each cake or cupcake order I've received! 

This hive and bumble bee cake was especially great to make! I love these bee invites! Their heart wings and honeycomb design ( on the back) were a great inspiration for my design. The cupcakes have a fondant hexagon on each cake to look like honeycomb. Topped with bees and their buzzing trail and a few flowers mixed in for variety! The hive came together nicely, especially with the addition of the "flying bees" hovering around the cake. It was my first time suspending anything above a cake, so I was delighted that it worked out, just how I was envisioned it.

 I also had the pleasure of being in attendance to this shower, since it was a relative, which made it that much sweeter!

                                                         ^^^  (a closer look at the bees) ^^^