Cold Soup? Yum!

One of my favorite summer dishes has always been my mother's gazpacho. It is so refreshing, and I liked that we could put all the condiments in by ourselves--finally the baby in the family had some control!

Now that I am all grown up (sort of) I really appreciate gazpacho as a super-easy dinner on a super-hot day. If you have a batch of the soup in your fridge, you just come home and pour it out. It's great for a working mom or dad. It is easy enough to make, so your kids can help too.

These days it is hard to find a classic Gazpacho. Most recipes blend all the ingredients together, which can be tasty, but they aren't ever as good as my mom's gazpacho! Her soup is solely tomato-based, and all the other vegetables get chopped up and added in just before you eat.

My niece is visiting, and I was able to share the family recipe with her. Now I will share it with you, too!

Christine's Classic Gazpacho

The key to a great gazpacho is finding tasty tomatoes! We were lucky enough to pick these straight from the vine:



Soup Ingredients:
2 or 3 Tomatoes
Water
1/4 c. Oil
1/4 c. Vinegar
Salt
Garlic, to taste
2 slices bread

Blend equal parts tomato and water. I throw the tomatoes in skin and all. Add in some garlic, 2 or 3 cloves is good. Add the vinegar and oil. I like to use a red wine vinegar and some olive oil, but you can play around with different flavors. Put in 2 slices of bread to add some heft to the soup. And you're done--it's that easy! Put the soup in the refrigerator to chill. The longer you wait, the more flavor comes out, too.

Condiments:(chop up as big or small as you like)
Hard Boiled Egg
Green Pepper
Cucumber
Onion
Croutons


Serve in a big bowl so you can add in lots of stuff. I like my gazpacho like Campbells soup--you could eat it with a fork!

Freezing Hot!

Last weekend we visited our very dear friends near Ithaca NY. It was the perfect weekend: sunny but not too hot, and filled with fun and love. Our friends took us city mice to a picking farm, and we went a bit overboard. We ended up with an overabundance of fruits and vegetables! They were all so pretty and so fresh that I couldn't resist picking "just one more."




Well, that "just one more" did not fit in our refrigerator, and I knew we would not eat everything before it started to go, so I decided that what I couldn't carry to work to share would have to be frozen. I did consider drying some of the peaches, but found out that the oven had to be on for 15 hours--no way! It was already about 100 degrees in my kitchen--I didn't need to turn it into an inferno.



I turned to the Internet and found so many helpful sites with instructions on freezing produce, and great recipes as well. One site I turned to was the National Center for Home Food Preservation, "your source for current research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation."

So I set to slicing and peeling and blanching and bagging. And for the first time ever I used freezer paper for it's intended purpose*. I now have a freezer filled with yummy eggplant and zucchini. The boiling made it nice and steamy in the kitchen and boy was I beat after all that! I cannot imagine spending days in a hot kitchen boiling down fruits, sterilizing jars, making jams...I certainly will appreciate jams and jellies, and the people who made them, much more now!

*freezer paper can be used between slices of eggplant and other items to make it easier to get them apart once frozen. But I had it in my studio because it is very handy for stencils!

Winter Brunch

Today we hunkered down, prepared for the snow that was coming. I was looking forward to it, as it was the first weekend at home for some time. Taking full advantage of the prevailing mood, I slept 'til 10. Once I got up and had some coffee in me, though, I started feeling pretty hungry. I remembered that we had bought some Johnny Cake mix when we were visiting Gray's General Store in Adamsville, RI. Gray's is an old-fashioned general store, and has been in operation at this location since 1788! The man who runs it now took great pains to let us know that the corn meal for his Johnny Cake mix comes from Harry Here Farms, though, and is not the corn that is ground over at Gray's Grist Mill...there's a story there, for sure. And in homage to the Rhode Island Red, of which there is a big ol' statue in the town, I made eggs as well. Yes, even a city gal like me knows that the rooster doesn't actually lay the eggs, but I believe he does have some part in the process.

I figured making Johnny Cakes would be just like making pancakes, but I was wrong. It is like cooking a pile of grits, hoping that it turns into a cake-like object instead of just remaining a pile of grits. I made the first round a bit too thin, so they smushed up when I tried to flip them. I added in a bit more mix, and the next round was better. I also found it easier to use the flat griddle, rather than make them in a pan, because I could get the spatula under them more easily. Be prepared for it to take a while--unlike pancakes, Johnny cakes have to cook for about 5 minutes on each side!


I have some yummy cranberry-citrus relish that my mum makes. As I don't eat turkey, though, I am always trying to come up with innovative ways to use it. So I mixed a few spoonfuls of the relish into the J.C. mix. I also put in a bit of Greek yogurt, because I think yogurt goes with everything. It all turned out nicely. Just a hint of cranberry, and with the maple syrup it was sweet enough.

Someone thinks she is getting a treat!


The snow kept falling, so after breakfast we just continued being lazy. Our Christmas tree is still up, so it was like having another Christmas Day. Later in the evening we took a walk in Inwood Park. It is just so lovely there. Look how bright it is, even at night!


No flash needed!

People were out with their dogs, running around in the snow, or just strolling along and taking in the beauty of it all.

I love that kind of day! Too bad they don't come around more often.