Okay okay I know it's a new year and that I haven't blogged for a while but that's just the way it is. I'm not going to comment on the new year post any resolutions or any of that BS I am moving on. For a while now I have wanted to try and make homemade tomato soup; for those of you who know me well you might be asking why since you know that in general I do not like tomatoes. Well the why stems from one of my favorite local restaurants in down town Hudson called Urban Olive & Vine. They make an amazing tomato soup and while they wouldn't share the exact recipe, and who can blame them, they did give me a general idea of how it's made. So today I decided to give it a try.

the main ingredients chopped garlic

diced onions onions and garlic were tossed in the stockpot for a good long sweat

while the onions were sweating I prepared the tomatoes by par boiling them and dunking them in an ice bath so that they would be easier to peel.

I didn't have any homemade stock on hand so I used some organic chicken broth.

All the ingredients were in the pot - I added some turmeric which is good for joint pain and Dave's bad knee, some curry powder, some cayenne powder, and some crushed red peppers cause I like it spicy.

more simmering . . .

then some blending

and finally the finished product.

At first taste I think I used too many onions but overall it tastes good with just the right amount of spice -  till next time craft on.

This year for Thanksgiving we drove to New Orleans to spend some time with our daughter, Sarah, who has lived there for about ten years now. Three years ago she bought a house in the lower ninth ward which is still trying to rebuild after Katrina - don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is that in this country six years after the hurricane things are still in such disrepair. Anyhow I wanted to bring Sarah a hostess gift so I made some aprons - one for her and one for me. I used a pattern and fabric I bought at the Riverside Quilting store in River Falls. The pattern was fun and easy to make - I think it took me about two hours start to finish to make the aprons.

Our meal:

Sarah recently became a middle school teacher in the NOLA public school system so we spent some time making Holiday decorations for her classroom. Here she is at work on the decorations at in her classroom.

Till next time knit and craft on!