Homegrown Tomato Basil Soup

For the last 3 years Shane and I have helped plant the garden but had to leave for school before anything was ready for harvest, in other words, we never got to reap the benefits from our hard work. However, all of that has changed now that we are done with school:). About a week ago my mom picked about 10-15 tomatoes and left them on the window sill to continue to ripen. Once they were ready we washed them, placed them in bowl and then poured boiling water over them. This process helps remove the skins. Leave the tomatoes in their bath until you can see the skins splitting. Once that happens, you can easily peel it off and remove the stems. Then place the tomatoes in a pot. When this is done slice up an onion and and put it into the pot with the tomatoes. For the next ingredient I went out to the garden and picked about 6 or 7 leaves of basil, washed them and added them to the pot. Then add salt and pepper to taste and equal parts chicken broth and water. (The amount depends on how much soup you are making, but be sure to cover the tomatoes and onions.) Leave this on medium heat until they are soft. When the tomatoes and onions have cooked, let them cool a bit and transfer it into a blender. In the empty pot make a roux, which is about a half cup of butter and flour mixed together, then add about a half cup of milk to soften the mixture. This acts as a thickening agent. Once everything is blended slowly add the soup mixture in with the roux, making sure all of the clumps are gone, then add a tablespoon of sugar to sweeten it. Once the soup and roux are mixed let the soup warm back up and taste test it to see if it needs any more salt, pepper or sugar. Then top with more basil leaves or oyster crackers and serve.

Shane's Birthday Dinner

This year I wanted to make Shane dinner for his birthday, he chose lamb for the meat and wanted to be surprised for the rest. I wanted it to be a special dinner so I made Leg of Lamb, roasted carrots, garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and homemade bread. For the lamb, I had a big frozen leg of lamb that my mom got from her physical therapist and let it thaw for about 12 hours. Then I made slits in the lamb and sliced garlic into small pieces to put inside those slits. After that I sprinkled it with kosher salt and pepper. Then it went into the oven at 350 degrees and stayed in there for about an hour and a half. It was pretty pink, so if you like your meat well done, it should probably stay in for another 10-15 minutes. Once the meat was done I boiled the potatoes and cut up the carrots into thin sticks. When all of that preparation was done I added sour cream, milk and garlic (quantities as desired for consistency) to the mashed potatoes. Then I placed the carrot sticks on a cookie sheet, drizzled olive oil and sprinkled rosemary on top. Once this was complete I put the carrots in a 425 degree oven until they became crisp. Every couple of minutes I would turn the carrots to roast them evenly. I then prepared the salad and once that was complete The next step was to make the bread and my sister and Shane graciously helped, since I had a lot going on. We use my mom's simple recipe to make amazing bread.

Bread Recipe:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 T yeast

1 T sugar

1 t (heaped) salt

add as much flour as it will take

Combine the warm water and yeast in a mixer and then add the rest of the ingredients. Once the dough reaches your desired consistency let it mix for about 10 minutes. Then knead it and place in a bread pan. Let the dough rise for about 15 minutes before putting it into a 350 degree oven and baking until it is done and lightly browned.

For dessert I used my Aunt Leanne's recipe for Peanut butter Ice Cream Pie. and it completed the meal. It was a lot of work but Shane had a great time and enjoyed the food, so it made it all worth it.

Free Dishes!

A few weeks ago I had to attend a mandatory work meeting, which sounds boring and dreary but actually turned out to be a decathlon of games relating to the information we needed to know for the next quarter. There was a prize for each person and this is what I scored. A 16 piece set of these dishes (4 place settings total). I am stoked to be able to use these in my own kitchen someday for future dinner dates and parties. Until then, they will stay brand new in the box they came in. Until next time, keep reading:)