Can you believe it – it’s me! I’m back(ish). I’ve had far too many requests for me to return to my blog, so that is precisely what I’m going to do (trying…). It’s easy to become distracted and/or complacent, which is exactly what I’ve been up to the last year. I have had a wonderful year of memories with my family, closest friends and new friends! In case you’re curious, here’s a quick hit list of the year’s events in hindsight:
- Ladies winter wine party 2015
- A trip to Sonoma County, CA with some of our best friends
- Lake time at cabins which are not ours 🙂
- Ladies summer wine party
- My first trip to Moondance Jam with a mini-flood and tons of rockin’ music
- State softball tournament with our first place team
- Annual canoe trip down the Namekogen River in WI
- Annual end of the summer party
- Las Vegas for bachelor/bachelorette party
- Wedding in beautiful Saint Paul for aforementioned bachelor and bachelorette
- Apres Ski themed Friendsgiving
- Hunger Games marathon party
- New Years Eve bash
- Snow tube soiree
- Scuba diving trip to Bonaire
- and finally, a yet another ladies winter wine tasting party
Wow, quite a year! And these are only highlights. Oddly many ending in “party”.
It’s now the deepest part of winter, and the current temperature as I write this is 5 degrees. I don’t even want to mention the wind chill over the last few days. My tan from Bonaire is fading fast, and I have been craving something to warm me to the core. Soup seemed to be the answer here…
Tomato soup. Chunky tomato soup. Chunky tomato basil soup. What could be better. I choose a recipe with canned tomatoes for two reasons. 1. Its the middle of winter, so I don’t have an overwhelming amount of tomatoes flourishing in my garden (try none). 2. I find that fresh tomatoes tend to be a bit more watery than their canned counterpart. I used whole peeled tomatoes so I could control chunkiness, but you could use diced if you prefer. It would be far less messy!
I loved this soup because it tastes creamy and rich, but there is no cream. There is a touch of butter, which surprisingly adds a luxurious texture. The basil gives a nice fresh balance to the acidity of the tomatoes. Overall a perfect soup to cure your winter blues!
Chunky Tomato Basil Soup
Source: Adapted from The Roasted Root
Servings: 10-12
Ingredients:
olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
3 oz fresh basil leaves, chopped
3 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes with juices
2 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken broth as that’s what I had on hand)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp baking soda
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook another 3 minutes.
- Open canned tomatoes and dice, reserving juices. Add tomatoes and juices, stock, basil and butter to the onions. Stir until butter is melted and incorporated.
- Add baking soda (*Note: this will cause the soup to bubble up, but bubbles subside after stirring for a minute).
- Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Yeah! I’m glad your back. Miss those wonderful recipes.
Thanks, PJ! I am happy to be back. Now I just have to find my camera…I’ve been using my phone 😦
Is that the same recipe you used when you were little to get the glow on your blog picture? I’t so nice to see you back in the sadle again! Love you, Mom
LOL. For some reason, I feel like that is spaghetti sauce on my face in the picture, but only you would know! 😉
Do you have a good pheasant recipe? I’ve always used the stand-by crockpot with cream of mushroom soup. I have 5 to cook up, so not sure they will all fit in the pot. In the mood for something new 🍷
I find you can really use pheasant anywhere you would normally use chicken. My favorite thing I’ve made with pheasant was Thai Basil “chicken”. I used pheasant instead of chicken, and Nate didn’t even know the difference because it was so flavorful! Let me know how you like it if you try it!