Fresh tomatoes, basil from my very own potted herb garden, a crusty baguette, and a 4-year old All Clad food mill that had never been used. These were the key ingredients for my first-ever batch of homemade soup that was our pre-Halloween Sunday night supper early this week.
As usual, I had my dear, imaginary friend, Ina Garten, to calmly walk me through steps in my head. The "Julia" to my neurotic and desperate, yet ever-hopeful "Julie." The carrots and red onions were chopped and sauteed. The aromatic garlic joined them in the hot oil. The 4 luscious pounds of vine-ripened tomatoes were coarsely chopped. Well close to it, perhaps a bit more like maimed and pulverized. Not owning a food processor, I often make do with my cup-sized Handy Chopper by Cuisinart. Handy indeed for small tasks. A time-consuming, inconvenient little roadblock for large ones. But it eventually got the job done. The rest of the soup making was pretty easy: low heat and a little time.
Then came the part I'd so been looking forward to. The food mill. I'd wanted one for a while, though I'd never a single reason to. Just something about the way Ina mesmerisingly pours food into a food mill and churns it out luxurious and smooth made me think I'd be a better person for owning one. Around the time we lost Ben's Dad, I'd mentioned as much to his partner, Trey. The night before we left Houston to return home after Don had passed away a store-wrapped Williams-Sonoma package sat in the kitchen with my name on it. The gesture had meant so much to me I couldn't bring myself to break it in. But I figured 4 years was a long enough wait, especially since I'm on this recent life mission of "doing things," rather than just "planning on doing things." Even if I am just starting with soup.
All in all the dinner was a delicious success, though next time I may try a few different tricks to make it a little thicker, heartier, a little more stick-to-your-ribs, if you can do that to soup. My personal addition to the meal turned out truly delicious, if I do say so myself. Small open face cheese and bacon sandwiches. Slices of toasted baguette, freshly grated Cheddar cheese and bacon strips. To quote my friend, "how good is that?"
As usual, I had my dear, imaginary friend, Ina Garten, to calmly walk me through steps in my head. The "Julia" to my neurotic and desperate, yet ever-hopeful "Julie." The carrots and red onions were chopped and sauteed. The aromatic garlic joined them in the hot oil. The 4 luscious pounds of vine-ripened tomatoes were coarsely chopped. Well close to it, perhaps a bit more like maimed and pulverized. Not owning a food processor, I often make do with my cup-sized Handy Chopper by Cuisinart. Handy indeed for small tasks. A time-consuming, inconvenient little roadblock for large ones. But it eventually got the job done. The rest of the soup making was pretty easy: low heat and a little time. Then came the part I'd so been looking forward to. The food mill. I'd wanted one for a while, though I'd never a single reason to. Just something about the way Ina mesmerisingly pours food into a food mill and churns it out luxurious and smooth made me think I'd be a better person for owning one. Around the time we lost Ben's Dad, I'd mentioned as much to his partner, Trey. The night before we left Houston to return home after Don had passed away a store-wrapped Williams-Sonoma package sat in the kitchen with my name on it. The gesture had meant so much to me I couldn't bring myself to break it in. But I figured 4 years was a long enough wait, especially since I'm on this recent life mission of "doing things," rather than just "planning on doing things." Even if I am just starting with soup. All in all the dinner was a delicious success, though next time I may try a few different tricks to make it a little thicker, heartier, a little more stick-to-your-ribs, if you can do that to soup. My personal addition to the meal turned out truly delicious, if I do say so myself. Small open face cheese and bacon sandwiches. Slices of toasted baguette, freshly grated Cheddar cheese and bacon strips. To quote my friend, "how good is that?" 
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