Stuff I make - Tomato Soup

Almost out of tomatoes... finally. And listening to Anberlin.

-So get yourself a nice big pot. Oil it up. Or use butter. That might work nice.
- Chop up some onions. Doesn't matter how much. I just used a quarter of a giant spanish onion but use whatever you want. It's your soup.
- Crush some garlic with the side of your knife like the half blood prince. (Remember that scene from the movie? You better, or you're gonna be lost here)
- Cook your onions and garlic. Garlic will brown and onions will get kinda clear
- Throw in tomatoes. Like literally throw them in. From across the room. It's fun. Cut out the seeds if you want also. But you don't have to. Seeds never hurt anyone. I did about 20 Roma's but more or less tomatoes will make it more or less tomatoey. Do what you want and stop asking me these questions.
- 10-15 minutes cook it up.
- add some chicken broth. Up to you how much. I did half a box but if it was full I may have done more. I just dump it in.
- Boil that junk on medium heat
- Now get out your blender (or smoothie maker in my case. It's all the same.) Blend every little bit. We are not making salsa here. Get the chunks out.
- Back in the pot, add some oregano, basil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Or any combination of those or whatever other spice you like. Chillis for some heat. Sure. Jalapenos might be good too but I've not tried it.
- Now add some cream. 18% table cream is what I used but get as fat as you want it. I guess you could use thinner stuff but give me a break. Weak.

When it's hot again - eat that crap. It's good. Add garlic bread croutons. But that's a recipe for another day

Pearl Jam and Tomato Sauce - a balanced diet

Last night Mrs. Sollywood and I went to the Pearl Jam concert that we've been waiting for since... May I think. Dusty tickets. Mrs. Sollywood wasn't feeling well but she stayed out late and ate street meat anyway! (It's the most delicious meat the street can produce) The opening band was Mudhoney - a classic grundge band that never made it into the mainstream. They weren't bad but I can see why they never made it to the level of Nirvana, Pearl Jam or Sound Garden. I won't be running to buy their cd's anytime soon. Pearl Jam was awesome as always. Eddie Vedder is one of the greatest rock vocalists out there. (It was also awesome seeing Chris Cornell in July since he gets that praise also) Pearl Jam always has an energetic show. They did tease about Neil Young and almost made me think he would have an appearence since they are all buddy buddy and stuff but nope. Just a Neil Young cover I had never heard of. Plus side - they played Wishlist and Last Kiss - both songs from our wedding. Down Side - no Betterman, which completely blew me away in 2005, no Black, Daughter, Breathe, or Glorified G.

So here's a live version of Betterman. It's pretty wicked.

http://youtu.be/_4BObpNQqNo
(I don't know why it's not letting me just post the video. Links are good too)

And there's still more tomato sauce to make. Want to know how?? Here's my recipe.

- Core and score your tomatoes. (cut a little x on the bottom)
- Boil water and dump your tomatoes in it. Leave them there only about a minute
- Slotted spoon preferably, remove tomatoes and put in ice water to prevent further cooking. It also makes it easier to peel the skin off if it's not burning hot.
- Peel the skin off! it's gross in sauce
- Cut them if you want. Whatever.
- Dump them back in the pot, cook on low. 3ish. Whatever.
- Now roast your onions and red peppers. Cut them up small. Or large. Whatever. It's your sauce. Throw in 5-6 garlic cloves on top. olive oil. Cook about 10 minutes. I broiled but 350 or 425 Probably work also. Just cook them. jeez.
- Add some pepper and salt to the cooking tomatoes. Maybe some basil. That might be good. Italiano Spice rocks too. Just dump some in.
- Dump in your roasted veggies and let it cook away for a good 5 hours. Keep an eye on it since I don't know how juicey your tomatoes are and you want it to reduce, not burn.
- Get a masher thing if you want. Help break down those tomatoes. They will all melt together eventually but it takes freakin forever. That's why we still have tomatoes a week later.
- Cool it, freeze it, eat it. Whatever. It's your sauce. Just add some tomato paste to it before doing anything. Helps bring it all together. Or don't. I don't care.

tomato(e)

We have been making home made pasta sauce the last three days. Only 3 more flats of tomatoes to go. Our apt is now loud, hot and tomatoey. I bet the carpet cleaning guys thought we were crazy when they came into our apartment and saw that it was filled with tomatoes and swords.