It's been a while...so tomato soup it is!

It has been a very long time since I have posted.  There are reasons why, but many of them are personal and even heart-breaking. Today I am back to warm your heart and the heart of my home with this...

Home.  It is not a word I thought I would ever use, but here I sit at our dining room table that is covered in a beautiful table cloth, technology, and a notebook to track the garden progress this year.

In our home we do what we can to have a homemade life. Our kitchen is always full of stories, cooking, and a mountain of dishes. Today I am bringing you a homemade tomato soup. We store everything in our home in jars.

They make the best storage vessels and you can see the beauty of what you created.  It is also the way I remember the women in my life who shaped me into who I am today.  Both my husband's grandmother, whom we refer to as MorMor, and my own, whom we call Buela, had shelves filled with these jars.

Recently my Buela passed away and because she is heavy on my heart, I decided to make soup.  It was often served to us by her roughly strewn hands in her home. Today we will serve it with this...

I would love to say this idea was original, but the truth is I had a delicious cup of soup at a local coffeeshop in Duvall, WA. Skip going to the city website and go straight to the police blotter. BTW, the giraffe is supposed to be there. Laugh at this little town via technology.


Now back to the soup!  We preserve our own tomatoes, but canned will work in this recipe. 

Here is what you will need to make this soup:
2 carrots diced
4 stalks of celery diced
1 yellow onion diced
3 cloves of garlic crushed to release their natural oils
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 large sprig of Basil with leaves removed
2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
4 cups of hot water
2 TBsp of vegetable Better Than Bouillon paste
3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 TBsp unsalted butter

You will also need:
a crockpot
an immersion blender

This is simple because once all of the vegetables are chopped you will place them into a crockpot with the tomatoes.  Dissolve the bouillon in the hot water and then add it to the crockpot. Add the seasonings and stir.  Put the crockpot on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.  Then it is time to use the blender to puree the soup. Close the lid and let it simmer for another 30 minutes, but taste to see if you need more salt or want to add pepper.  Then ladle away... 

Once they are cool add the lids and put them in the fridge for lunch during the week.  Take a slice of homemade bread.  Relax and eat this hearty meal and think of your own Abuela. 

Goodbye Abuela.  I love you to the moon!!
Athena