Tomato-basil soup

It's raining today, and the house is quiet and lonely [how can a house be quiet and lonely when it still contains two children? It just can.], and perhaps you are feeling like some nice comforting soup?  I have just the thing.

You know, I never liked tomato soup as a child.  But then, this soup is quite different from the Campbell's kind.  It's my own lovingly-developed recipe.  Its texture is mostly smooth, with little salty bits of cheese and bright bites of herb flavor here and there for interest.  Feta cheese adds the perfect amount of creaminess without sacrificing that tangy tomato-y taste.  And fresh basil, while optional, is the ideal complement.  I could eat this soup every day.  It's healthy and it takes 15 minutes to put together, and it makes great leftovers (it may be even better the next day).  In fact, this soup is also the first meal that induced Daisy to sign "more" (see for yourself):,

and it remains one of her favorites.

Ideally, you'll have some nice fresh artisan bread or wheat bread with which you can make grilled cheese sandwiches to go with your soup.  They elevate it to a whole new level. 

But if not, it's still one of my favorite soups ever.  And I like a lot of soup.

Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup

4-5 cans diced tomatoes

2-3 T. olive oil

Combine in a large soup pot and bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for 5 minutes or so.  Blend with immersion blender (or in regular blender).  You can let it simmer for longer if you want the flavors to deepen more, but it's good immediately, too.  Then stir in:

salt to taste

1 T. fresh oregano (or 1 t. dried)

1-2 T. fresh basil (or 1-2 t. dried), plus more for garnish

2 c. milk or cream

2 c. or so grated cheese---my favorite is feta, or a combination of gouda and cheddar

Stir and heat until cheese is mostly melted.  Garnish with more fresh basil.  Serve warm with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone is bothered by my enthusiasm for my own recipes.  I don't mean to be conceited.  It's just that who would want to try it if I said, "This food is not that good.  You probably won't like it very much."?  And, frankly, that just wouldn't be true and I couldn't, in good conscience, say it anyway.  So forgive me singing my own food's praises.  It's not me that's good, it's the food, and I just want to share it!

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Sebby goes to school

Sebby went off to kindergarten today.  He's been waiting so long!  Ever since Abe started school, Sebby has asked me when he'll be able to go to school too.  I thought I was totally prepared for it, but I admit I shed a few tears (after he was out of sight, of course).  I watched him through the classroom window as he put away his backpack, detoured to investigate something under the teacher's desk and peer into one of the electrical outlets, and then began to search vainly for his own desk.  (He was confused because when we went in for his meeting last week, _I_ sat in his desk and he sat in a different one.)  After a while he went up to his teacher, slipped his little hand in hers, and told her something, to which she replied, "Wow!  Good for you!"  Then I think he asked her where his desk was, because she led him to it.  And finally, when he was all settled in, he looked back to see if I was still watching.  I was.  And he smiled and waved excitedly with both hands and blew me some kisses.  And then I left him to it.  My sweet Sebby.  I miss him!

Monkey backpack he got for his birthday

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Treasure

For back-to-school this year we had a "fancy dinner" (the boys always want to do this---it means a multi-course meal).  Each person chose one of the courses.  Which could have led to strange combinations, but it turned out fine.

Drink (Abe): Lime Freeze (that's lime juice, 7-Up, and ice cream blended together)
Appetizer (Seb): Roasted Artichoke Dip with Sourdough Bread
Salad (Ky): Spring Mix and Baby Spinach with Grated Parmesan and Homemade Ranch Dressing (yes, he really chose this himself; he loves salad)
Main Dish (Sam and Daisy): Saag Paneer made with fresh chard and homemade paneer (cheese), Yellow Daal, and Naan

Then we set off on a treasure hunt which took us on our bikes all around the neighborhood.  It was a perfect night.  A little cool and Fall-y.  But still sunny and pleasant.  The boys got VERY INTO finding all the clues.  They were good at it, too.

Did I mention it was a really gorgeous night?  The light changed every few minutes, and the sky with it.

The clues were in pictures so that everyone could help guess which place was next.  Luckily we have nicknames for almost everywhere ("the goblet playground," for example) so it wasn't hard to come up with images.  Sam hid most of them.  Some were pretty hard to find, but he gave hints.

Mushroom-head

We ended up at the boys' school, where we read Doctrine and Covenants 89, which talks about how we can find "great treasures of knowledge" when we obey God's commandments.  We talked about why wisdom and knowledge can be a treasure to us.  And then we found the treasure box, which held a new book for everyone.

And THEN we went home and had dessert, which if I may say so was also quite a treasure.  Volcano cakes with caramel lava hidden inside.  (You just make this recipe---but you put a caramel inside instead of the chocolate filling.  I had made the caramels the night before---recipe is here as part of the Twix bars).  It doesn't follow the no-desserts-that-are-two-desserts rule.  But then, that was never my rule anyway.

It sounds trite to say this, but my family is MY treasure.  I love them so much I can hardly stand it.  I love planning surprises for them and doing activities with them and making yummy things for them to eat.  I feel like the luckiest one of all.

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Various

Daisy, like every other baby in this family, likes to hide under the table

Last-day-before-school-starts Picnic

Ky recites "Bear in There" (a poem) during the pre-county-fair recital

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4-H and County Fair

Sebby and Abe were in a 4-H club with their cousins this summer.  My mom was their leader.  She did tons of fun projects with them and they competed in some contests at the county fair.  Abraham and Sebastian both recited poems they'd memorized, and modeled the aprons they'd decorated.

Seb claps for himself, then responds enthusiastically when the MC says, "Shall we hand out the prizes?"

Afterwards the boys each got to ride one ride.  There was great excitement.

And then I found Abe and Seb showing their medals to the chickens.  (They seemed impressed.)

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One more week

I can't believe summer is almost over.  Abe AND SEB start school next week.  I can hardly stand to think of it.  I love having them all home with me!

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The birthday festivities

This handsome guy turned five, and he's not shy about admitting it.  Grocery clerks, construction workers down the street, lifeguards at the swimming pool---Seb lets them all know that he had a birthday and we went camping and there was a stream there and he chose orange juice cake with fresh mint leaves for his birthday cake and so on and so on and so on. 

Dirty face from helping plant flowers---he loves to help with "grown-up work"

Awhile ago he fell off his back and knocked out his two front teeth. Well, he knocked them backwards, and the dentist took them out a few weeks later at his checkup. Seb screamed and cried during the pulling, but he quickly recovered his aplomb, and was soon telling everyone (grocery clerks . . . construction workers . . . lifeguards . . . ), "Look at my gums! Soon the teeth will grow back in, in one or two years."  He's still very handsome.

He for some reason started holding up his fingers whenever he tells someone he's five, which would be fine except he's never done that for any age before, so he doesn't really know how, and he always ends up with four or three fingers up and then stares at his hand awkwardly until he finally figures out how to get it right.

Seb still loves sprinklers and carwashes.  He got another sprinkler for his birthday---this one has five coverage patterns it can rotate through.  He also got a set of straws which can be put together in various configurations to do funny things like drinking from several cups at once or looping around your arm.  He makes tiny "water parks" with them too. 

This straw was letting them drink water and hot cocoa at the same time.  "How is it?"  "Kind of watery."

(Abe benefits from Seb's presents as well)

Sebby is clever and surprising and funny and inquisitive and adventurous.  He gets more fun every year and we're so glad we have him!! 

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