I have always heard that one's tastebuds change every two years, so that foods we didn't like as children can become favorites later on in life. That seems to hold true for me. As a child, I hated mustard. But now I adore the taste. If a menu at a restaurant lists anything "dijon" I have to order it. Same goes for tomatoes. I never liked them as a kid. Tomato sauce was fine, but raw tomatoes? Yuck. Now, I love them. So when I found this at a thrift store the other day, it was in my cart before you could say tomato soup. The fabric looks much more appetizing than these wan fellows that are about all I can find at the grocery lately. One more reason to look forward to summer.
It seems to me that tastes in other areas change over time as well. For example, I used to despise sewing. I always liked that part in "The English Patient" where Katherine tells Almasy that women should never learn to sew, and if they do they shouldn't admit to it. My sentiments exactly.
Until recently.
About a year ago, I started to feel the urge to re-learn how to use a sewing machine. I'd learned many years ago in Home Economics. (Am I dating myself here? I don't think Home Ec. is a subject at high schools anymore, is it?) I remember doing pretty well in the sewing part of the class, but I didn't enjoy it, and that was the last time I'd sewn anything besides a button on a shirt.
But suddenly I started to see all the wonderful things that folks were creating and talking about on their blogs, and the urge to try my hand at sewing grew and grew until I aksed my stepmother if I could borrow her sewing machine and give it a try. And I enjoyed it. A lot. Her machine was a bit hard to use, though. It was back-pain-inducing heavy and very loud, and wasn't particularly user friendly. Plus the footpedal only had two speeds -- "fast" and "faster" -- which is less than ideal for a beginner. So after a couple of months of practice making tote bags and pajama pants, I figured I'd take the plunge and I bought a sewing machine on a fantastic sale at a local Sew-n-Vac shop.
I'm still definitely a beginner. But even though I'm still learning, I am finding this to be a very practical hobby. For example, my son hates to wear anything but elastic-waist pants. Unfortunately, as kids get older it gets harder and harder to find anything without a button fly. Land's End makes awesome elastic-waist pants for kids, but at $44 per pair it's a bit expensive, especially for a six-year-old who is rough on clothes. But it's easy enough to make something similar by adding a knee-patch to a simple kid's pants pattern, so I've been making lots of these:
I also just made this for a dear friend's birthday. Here's the back. And a closeup of the button. The pattern is Amy Butler's In Town Bags pattern, and while I made a bunch of mistakes I think the pretty toile upholstery fabric hides them a little. At least I like to tell myself that...
I don't think I'll ever love sewing as much as I love knitting and spinning. But I do enjoy it quite a bit now, and I have lots of plans for knitting bags, and an interesting idea for a spindling bag. I'll be sure to post about it here whenever I find the time to turn the ideas into reality.
But for now, in honor of changing tastes, I'd like to share my recipe for tomato soup. It's best when made with fresh-from-the-garden late summer tomatoes, but grocery store roma tomatoes work well when nothing better is available. It is also really helpful to have one of these (or a food mill), but it's easy enough to make do without.
Homemade Tomato Cheddar Soup
Ingredients:
- 8-10 lg. Roma tomatoes (or whatever fresh tomatoes are available)
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery (optional, but good)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp crushed rosemary
- 1tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 2 cups chicken stock (use plain water for true vegetarian version)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 or 2 tsp pepper
- 2 TBS finely chopped parsley
- 1 or 2 pieces wheat toast (heels of loaf work great)
- 1 cup milk (optional)
- 1 cup finely shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (optional)
1: Bring water to rolling boil in a large pot. Submerge tomatoes for 1-2 minutes then drain into colander and rinse with cold water. Use a tomato press to remove seeds and skins and extract only the juice and pulp. (If you don’t have a tomato press or food mill, then peel tomatoes and discard skins. Cut tomatoes in half, scoop the seeds out into a strainer positioned over a bowl to catch the liquid. Chop remaining tomatoes coarsely and add to bowl. Use a ladle to squeeze all remaining liquid out of strainer and discard seeds.)
2: In a 3-quart soup pot, sauté onions (and celery if desired) over medium heat in olive oil until transparent. Add tomatoes and liquid, turn heat to high. Add chicken stock (you can sub vegetable stock or plain water for a true vegetarian version), garlic, spices, salt, pepper, and parsley. When mixture begins to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and allow to cook uncovered for one hour, stirring frequently.
3: Add piece(s) of toast to the soup – the toast will quickly absorb into the mixture and will fall apart. The toast thickens the soup so if you prefer a thin soup, omit this step or use less toast. Remove soup pot from stove, and use a stick blender to puree the soup until smooth (a regular blender can be used as well, but depending on the blender size you may want to blend the soup in small portions). DO NOT overblend – stop as soon as the soup reaches a smooth consistency. If the soup is too thick, add more chicken stock until desired consistency is reached.
4: Return pot to stove and add milk and cheese. Cover and keep on low heat (stirring occasionally) until ready to serve. Serve soup with crusty bread, roasted garlic, and a nice green salad.
Makes approx. 5 cups.
NOTES: Milk and cheese are optional – if omitted the soup will have a stronger and tangier tomato flavor (and of course less calories).
