The fruits of labor!

Wow!  It's bad almost a year since I posted on my blog . . . bad Grace :-(   
it's that damn FaceBook, it's so easy to upload photos to and a blog is harder work.

Soooo . . . my New's Year's resolution is to pay MORE and BETTER attention to my blog.  I may skip back in time with adventures I haven't posted here . . I have  LOT of fun stuff to put on here.



TODAY

I was craving soup!  Not just any soup . . . but creamy tomato.  Then I remembered that earlier this summer, a great group of ladies gathered at my house for team tomato canning lessons.  We all chipped in on the cost of the tomatos (organically local grown!! BONUS).  Everyone brought quart jars and we split the wares when we were done.

Creamy tomato soup is probably the easiest soup out there  I started with a quart jar of stewed tomatoes, Used my immersion blender to reduce them to the creaminess I desired (I like mine just a TINY bit chunky).  I added a chunk of frozen pesto (made it myself . . see this post here for instructions on making your own pesto

Click here for homemade Pesto instructions!

I put half back in the jar for later . . . to the remainder in the pan, added a bit of Lawry's garlic salt and some garlic powder (love me some garlic!) . . . about 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream and VIOLA!    A pinch of fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggano cheese (mmmmm) and some cracked black pepper.

HEAVENLY!!

Pair it with some toasted French bread . . a glass of red wine.  

What else could you wish for on a winter day?

End of the Season

Great times with great friends. I hate to see the end of the outdoor entertaining. But, the last party of Fall is always the best!

The air is crisp, the fire warm and the friends plentiful!

Every year the week before Thanksgiving, we deep pit meat for the holiday. This year, we invited friends to bring their turkeys and briskets and throw them in! It takes 4-5 hours for the coals in the pit to burn down to cooking temp (then 12 hours to cook) . . . which allows plenty of time for trading lies around a bonfire, endless rounds of horseshoes, beer, food and laughter! The weather cooperated for an evening cool enough for a fire but nice enough to not have to wear a coat!

We roasted dogs and feasted on homemade mac n cheese, couscous salad, bratwurst, pecan pie and fresh made salsa and chips.

Many thanks to good friends Dave & Holly Jamin, Ray & Lori Haworth, Walter, Andi & Felicia Gourley & Lu Brown . . . we really enjoyed the evening . . we hope you all enjoyed your delicious smoked treats for Thanksgiving!!