With my mom living just a few houses down from me now, it’s easy (and fun) for us to share food. One day, she made banana nut bread and brought some down to hubby and I. It was gone PDQ!
Then I reciprocated by making some baked ziti to share with her for her dinner one evening.
This morning, I made a different little breakfast toast for us, which I’ll call Tuttie-Frutti Toast, and walked it down to her. Now it’s her turn! To say we’re eating well over here is redundant, but I’m going to say it anyway: We’re eating well over here!
The toast recipe is the one I have to share with you this week. If you remember, last week I wrote about Tutti Bread, an Italian bread loaf stuffed with all kinds of things. If you read it, then maybe you remember “tutti” is an Italian word meaning “all.” With this toast, I piled all the fruits on top. That’s why I think it should be called Tutti-Frutti Toast.
One of the things about living in a small neighborhood like we do is that everyone walks, and with only three streets in the subdivision, you eventually meet up with each other. While walking my moms’ toast to her this morning, I had to stop and chat with several neighbors, who were inquiring about and eyeing her little treat very closely. I wasn’t sure I’d make it to her house with it all in one piece!
Living in a small subdivision took some getting used to for me. Before we moved to this neighborhood, we lived in a large subdivision on a golf course, and the yards were huge. You’d wave at most of the cars driving by, wave at the golfers – but that was about as personal as it got.
This neighborhood, however, has been sort of a culture shock to me – for several reasons.
Everyone knows everyone else – or at least knows of them. That was different. Also, we know everyone’s email addresses. Need some extra flowers for your flowerbed? Send out an email, and see if someone has any left over from their planting. Hey, don’t laugh – it works! I donated quite a few flats last spring that were quickly snagged up. (I had over-bought as my flowerbeds are not quite as big now.)
I guess I need to stress that this neighborhood is made up of retirees – more or less. Hubby and I not retired (although we hope to be before too long.) There are a few more we know of who are still setting their alarm clocks, but mostly – not so much.
Another good thing about living in a small neighborhood is that everyone looks out for everyone else. If you’re not seen out-and-about for a while, you’re checked on by someone. If there’s a strange car cruisin’ the streets, an email is sent to everyone, and tags, car, and driver information is spread around – “Does anyone know this person? If not, watch out for them.”
There are neighborhood cookouts, neighborhood parties, neighborhood luncheons, card-playing days, a book club – these are a very social group of folks over here. Hence, the reason it was sort of a culture shock. I wasn’t used to such “togetherness” and caring for each other. It’s a close-knit group of people, and I’m proud to have my mom over here, tucked away in what I feel is a nice and safe place.
But I’ve since gotten used to it, and now I think it would be strange to live otherwise. It is a blessing. And there’s always such good food at the luncheons!
Anyway, here’s the recipe for this week. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you have someone you can share a slice of it with. After all, you’ll have plenty of all the ingredients leftover!
Tutti-Frutti Toast
Cinnamon toast
Butter
A few 60 percent cacao chips
2 strawberries
A few Banana slices
For each piece: Spread a nice amount of butter on each side of cinnamon bread. Toast one side in skillet on stovetop. Turn over to toast the other side, and sprinkle chocolate chips on top to melt. Remove from skillet.
Spread melted chocolate chips around on toast and then top with slices of banana and strawberries. Gobble it up!