Tomato Soup

Tomato Soup

Tomato soup. Is there anything more warm and satisfying on a chilly autumn evening? I was craving it and haven't found a recipe from my mom in her recipe box, so I used this recipe I found in a Taste of Home magazine.

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish "Babies" Baked Cheddar

I am a sucker for just about anything from Taste of Home. I love how they include color photos of all their recipes in their cookbooks and magazines and on their website. Any cookbook or cooking magazine that doesn't do that is going to get a big thumbs down from me.

Speaking of photos and photography, mine aren't the best, I realize. The key to good photos, in my humble opinion, is natural light. That is something I have virtually none of in my cave, er, I mean apartment. It's not that my place is completely windowless (I do have two windows) but the windows I do have I keep the shades drawn on 99% of the time. I just have too many neighbors in close quarters to do otherwise. I've noticed how my neighbors who ignore this rule and keep their blinds open are living in a fishbowl—especially at night, when the inside lights come on. You have a window into their worlds, because you can peer into their places and see their artwork, their furniture, their cat, what television shows they are watching. I notice this not because I'm a Peeping Tom, but because I frequently have to take my dog out for potty breaks, and I naturally look at my apartment and other houses and buildings in my neighborhood as I pass by. I've decided I would rather not have my neighbors see the granny underwear I wear to bed or the brand of cold cream that I use.

But I digress. I was talking about photography and how difficult it is to get decent pictures in non-decent light. That and decent dinnerware/cookware a person needs. Having some nice plates on which to showcase your food always helps. But, I didn't want to delay starting my blog until I got into a place with better light, so if you can put up with my mediocre photos until then, I promise things will get better. (What I could do with light streaming onto a dining room table. I salivate just thinking about it. In the meantime, my bat cave photos with lots of shadows will have to do for now.)

Frying up mushrooms

Back to the tomato soup. There are all kinds of wonderful food accompaniments to make this dish fresh every time you eat it. You can fry up some mushrooms and add it; add baby or regular-sized Goldfish crackers or oyster or saltine crackers, or make a toasted grilled cheese sandwich and cut it into little crouton-sized squares and add it. You can also add fresh dill; or oarmesan or cheddar or red-pepper cheese; cheese tortellini or any other kind of pasta, or all of the above. The variations are endless.

Yummmm. I'm going to go curl up with a bowl of my favorite soup now. Thank you very much.