Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

To use the last whack of tomatoes, I found a recipe for Garden Fresh Tomato Soup. Tried it out and it tasted good, plus I didn't have to skin the tomatoes, which was a bonus! Now Gord picked the last fruit off the vines at our place and Matthew's - guess I'll be cooking tomato soup again!

Here's the recipe for Garden Fresh Tomato Soup:

4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 slice onion
4 whole cloves
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar, or to taste

In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes to blend all of the flavors. Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan. Discard any stuff left over in the food mill.

In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.

Birthday Baklava

I made baklava for Gord's birthday, both cos he wanted it, and we wanted to use up the filo pastry we had kicking round in the freezer! I used this recipe, using almonds as well as walnuts (with inspiration from Nigella, of course, but I couldn't get hold of rosewater, hence I went with the cardamon-flavoured recipe). (For those of you who give a rats'!) It was very tasty, and there was plenty enough for me to be enjoying a piece as I write this, the day after (but now there's only one left!)

I made it the day before Gord's birthday, in a bit of a mad rush before his cousin's wedding (why do I do that??). That's probably why I was hyper, hanging out with Matt, Sharon, Dar, Jeff and Gord at the nuptials! Then the next morning, I was making a gluten- and dairy-free cake for someone at house church, and Gord was whipping up some mini quiches (using up more of the filo!). We brought three dishes of food to the housechurch special brunch, in honour of some guests. Perhaps that was overkill, but they all tasted good! And so did all the other dishes!

Housechurch was busy, lots of people, and three birthdays to celebrate! Monica showed everyone how to draw labyrinths. Then when we got home, Scott and Leanne, friends of Gord's from his Winnipeg days, who he hadn't seen for five years, were waiting on the doorstep (not for long, thankfully, and yes, the visit was planned, they weren't just rocking up out of the blue after a half-decade!). I was wasted, unfortunately, and eventually crawled off to lie down with Jas to try and convince him to sleep.

Then, when I got up, Scott and Leanne were gone and Gord told me Shaun and Helena were coming over, spur of the moment. That worked out really well, especially the bit where, after a bit of visiting, Shaun whisked Gord away to the bottleshop - that was EXACTLY what he needed to perk him up and make him feel like he was celebrating his 34th birthday! See, my parents know him well! (see below...)

So yes, long story short, Gord's birthday: a fair whack of cooking, and three lots of socialising, culminating in a lovely relaxed (to the point of delirium!) visit with Shaun and Helena. There goes another birthday...


Here's the family man.

Birthday cards and fall foliage, beneath Piper and Jasper's creativity. Piper drew Captain Hook on her envelope, which was very cool, with a definite hook instead of a hand! I just drew flowers. Gord liked them =). Mum and Dad bought Gord a cordless drill as a present, and rather than send it over, they send a miniature cardboard version - very clever (Dad)!

But look closer at the card from Mum and Dad, yes, that one with 'Son' written on it - notice what's on the front? It's a pint of beer, a pleasant honey amber ale, by the looks of it. They know Gord too well! (See the cardboard drill set?!)