Best Bruschetta

I know that bruschetta is a common and familiar appetizer, but if you will follow this recipe, this will be the best you've ever tasted!

Many times, bruschetta is served very dry and the tomato pieces, although diced, are very large, mostly because large tomatoes are used. I use cherry and grape tomatoes for my recipe and it makes a huge difference. Not only are these tomatoes better for this recipe, they are much sweeter in taste.

2 boxes of Cherry or Grape tomatoes (I like to use 1 of each)
Fresh Basil chopped**
3 tablespoons of Pesto
Olive Oil
½ cup of Shredded Parmesan cheese**
Toast**

Finely chop the tomatoes into small pieces. I use my kitchen scissors to cut my tomatoes. Next, remove the large stems from the basil and finely chop the leaves and add to the tomatoes. Add pesto and 4 tablespoons of Olive Oil. Refrigerate (this allows the flavors to fully marinate)
Top with shredded Parmesan cheese and serve with toast.

A few tips. . .
At the beginning of the spring, plant a few basil plants in your garden. They are very easy to grow in pots and like almost any condition.

Make sure you shred your cheese and not simply grate it. The shredded cheese gives a much more gourmet look and also makes the cheese flavor more intense for such a small appetizer.

For your toast, I recommend purchasing a whole French baguette. Use an electric knife to slice your bread and spray with either spray butter or cooking spray before toasting in the oven. You can also used fresh black pepper on the bread to intensify the flavor.

Enjoy!

Goat Cheese and Pear Salad

This is a quick and easy salad that is really delicious! Very little prep work involved in making this and the flavor is amazing! Enjoy!

1 slice of goat cheese
1 sliced pear
Mixed field greens
Sweet balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Glazed walnuts

Take a rounded slice of goat cheese and place in the center of your serving plate.
Slice pear and place pear slices around the cheese wheel.
Add dressing to the greens. Place greens on top of goat cheese.
Sprinkle glazed walnuts to the top
Serve and enjoy!

El Cacino Punch

2 1/2 quarts tea
2 c. sugar
2 c. orange juice
2 c. pineapple juice
1 c. lemon juice

(Yield 1 gallon)

Brew tea. Add additional water with tea to make 2.5 quarts. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Add other juices. May be served warm or cold.

For the holidays, boil one packet of whole cloves in water. Drain 2 cups of the liquid and add to the mix. Only use 2 quarts of tea.

Whole Foods Tonight!!

Just a reminder that my first class on Holiday Entertaining will be tonight at Whole Foods in the Town Square Shopping Center on the Las Vegas Strip. I will be adding all of the great recipes I share on my blog so if you aren't able to attend, you can still take advantage of a few of my delicious dishes I'll be serving! Hope to see you at Whole Foods tonight!

Pictures from Halloween

I wanted to share a couple of pictures from Halloween 2009. If you don't know, I am a drummer, so the band that I play with had a performance on Halloween night, so I dressed as a vampire. It was the only thing I could think of that wouldn't obstruct my view. . .or hands and feet. . .that's kind of important for the drummer!!






Here are a couple of pictures of my "spooky" Halloween decor!!

Christopher Todd to appear on KTNV Channel 13 in Las Vegas

Christopher Todd will be demonstrating a few easy and affordable holiday decorating techniques as a teaser to the class being held at Whole Foods on November 12th. If you are in the Las Vegas viewing area, please tune in to KTNV Channel 13 on Tuesday morning, November 3rd at 9:00am.

Christopher Todd featured in Luxury Magazine

Check out the November issue of Luxury Magazine and read Christopher Todd's article on setting the perfect Thanksgiving dining table!