Day Off

Well, if crawling back into bed at 7 in the morning with my hair smelling like scones counts, then today constitutes as a day off.

Today was the kind of day you spend walking around 5th Ave in San Diego. 5th Ave, Hillcrest, San Diego. Not really 5th Ave at all.

And now I'm in my bathrobe, listening to Joni Mitchell, singing Both Sides Now at the top of my lungs in an empty apartment, and stirring tomato soup on the stove. I really would share the recipe with you, but I don't even really know how I make it. It just sort of, comes together. Well, I'll give you the ingredients and you can have some fun with it:

Tomato-Basil-Paprika Soup
Tomatoes (I usually use about 6 large hot-house tomatoes)
Onion (1 Yellow Jumbo)
Green Bell Pepper (1 usually)
Red Bell Peppers (2 large ones)
Garlic (I use an entire cluster most times...)
Carrots (Optional. As many carrots as you see fit)
Basil (Ballpark, again)
Paprika (I like Pimento, which is a smoked paprika, but normal works too)
Lemon (only if you have it on hand)
Pepper
Salt
Cumin
Soymilk
And whatever other herb you'd like to throw in there, except for the obvious, maybe not rosemary, y'know?

Saute the hard veggies, like the onion, bell peppers, carrots, in olive oil until they get soft. I add salt when I'm doing this, but you can always add salt later. Cut crosses on the bottom of the tomatoes, boil some water, stick em in, and let them boil just for a minute or two. Dump the tomatoes in an ice bath and proceed to peel the skins off them. Chop up the tomatoes, toss them in the veggie mix with the garlic, and smash up the tomatoes softly as you stir. I just let this simmer for a little while, maybe 15-20 minutes, then turn the stove off. Then add the basil, pepper, cumin, etc herbs, and stir. Then put the soup in a blender, in batches, and carefully let it whirl. I say carefully because it's not fun when there's a hot explosion in your kitchen because the blender was on too high and the soup was too hot. Just puree until you think it's smooth enough, or chunky enough. When you're done blending the soup, stir in the soymilk (you don't have to put it over heat or anything). You can taste and stir in more salt if need be. And eat!

Well, that was fun. And for some reason it seems utterly pointless and rambling. Just come over sometime and I'll make tomato soup for you. How bout that? Now I think I'll heat up some bread and have some tomato soup before calling it a night.

xoxo