Roasted Tomato Soup

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I love soup.  buttttt...

...I hate making soup.

I cannot give you a particular reason why – I never been good at it.  And my mother has totally spoiled me when it comes to soups.

Why?

Well, because, my mother is an excellent soup maker.  She can take anything (and I mean ANYTHING) and make it into an out-of-this-world soup.

Me, I know how to open a can (yes, you can cringe now – go ahead, I give you permission) and modify the soup and make it better, but from scratch? No-can-do.  And if I wanted something homemade, all I had to do was call my mom up and she would whip something up in a day.  How is that for one-stop take out?

To top all of this soup insecurity is the fact that I’m also very fussy about the soups that I eat.  Show me a leek and potato soup, lentil soup, lobster bisque, butternut squash bisque, broccoli- cheddar and I will choose that over a fancy entre, hands down.

But, the one that has my heart, the one that I seek is the tomato soup.  I have searched high and low for the ultimate tomato soup.  I have a few very good contenders thru the years.  And so far the tomato soup sold by Whole Food is good choice.  It has the qualities that I love about a tomato soup, chucky pieces of tomatoes with the creamy texture of everything else, and with a bit of a tart and sweet flavor filled with fresh herbs.  You can usually find me buying the large take out of this and eat it throughout the week.   Then there is the tomato soup from a local restaurant called The Red Elephant Pizza and Grill – this is so far one of my favorites, its filled with bits and pieces of roasted tomatoes and onions and the smoky flavor compliments the richness of the soup.  This IS a TOMATO SOUP.

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Chicken Paprikash

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I have tons of cookbooks.  I love cookbooks and I’m also very prejudice about them.  While I have many that are just words – no pictures, I love the ones that have pictures, because, news flash, there is no denying it, we eat with our eyes first. 

In most cases, if it looks good, your instinct is to automatically think that it will taste good. (refer to picture above)

And we dive in.

So for those cookbook authors out there… make PICTURES your friend.

This unfairness towards cookbooks with pictures has gotten out of control over the years because when I say I have tons of cookbooks, I mean it, I must have over 150, if not more.

What can I say, cookbooks, like eating a whole jar of Nutella in one sitting, are my guilty pleasures. 

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Tuna Spread or Tuna Dip

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I been absent around these parts – I fess up.

There have been parties, and family reunions and friends staying over, and major catch up to the last 4 episodes of LOST saved in my DVR (people is it really OVER???) thus my posting has been put in the back burner.

But, I’m back.  All refresh and ready to go full throttle once more.

So let’s start with something simple.

It involves Tuna at its best.  

It’s a spread, or a salad, or even a dip.  

It’s that multitalented.

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