Difficult Foods: Chicken Picatta

Here's another one of those foods that people often associate with moderately nice Italian restaurants. It's not something you'd generally see at a Fazzoli's, for instance.  Because of that, this sometimes gets lumped into the "fancy" category.  It certainly sounds fancy with its foreign name, but it really isn't.

Have you got some chicken, chicken broth, flour, and lemon juice?  Then you've got everything you need for the basic dish right there.  Sure, there are variations you can put on it.  You can modify anything, but the key ingredients are the chicken and the lemon juice.

But before we start, I have to ask:  how well do you like lemon?  If you don't like it it at all, then this is not for you.  It's very lemony, especially my way.

As a side note:  glazed carrots go really really good with this.  The contrast of the sweet and sour is awesome.  They kind of set each other off and make all the flavors pop.

Our Daily Bread

Most of the people I've talked to agree that baking bread is cheaper than buying it.  Most people also agree that it's way better for you, since you actually know what's going into the loaves.  And -- drum roll -- you can pronounce all of it.  I haven't bought a loaf of store bread in over a month.  I think I bought the last one back around the first of January.  I can't vouch for it being cheaper, necessarily.  We eat more bread now, I think.  We eat it for breakfast, lunch, dessert, sometimes at dinner, as a random snack.  It's just that *good*!

I have a recipe that Ms. Terri gave me.  It was for sandwich bread.  It was tasty and simple, but homemade bread goes stale so fast we ended up not eating it all.  I didn't toss it, but it got delegated to the freezer for future use in stews or as breadcrumbs.  So, I went in search of ways to make my homemade bread last longer.

The two loaves made with Ms. Terri's recipe

I stumbled onto this:  Our Daily Bread in a Crock.

If you don't want to follow the link, it's bake as needed artisan bread.  It is SO GOOD!

3 c warm water
1.5 tsp dry yeast
2.5 tsp salt
6.5 c all purpose flour

Yep, that's it,  Four ingredients.  Mix the water, yeast, and salt.  It doesn't need to activate, just toss the flour in on top of it, stir until it's just blended together and pulls into a ball.  You may need more or less water, depending on weather.

Southern Comfort: Banana Pudding (experimental style)

Oh 'Nanner Puddin', how do I love thee!

The problem is most of the time a banana pudding recipe is for a big 9x13 pan.  Who eats that much banana pudding on the regular?  It won't keep that long in the fridge, because the bananas start to turn black really quick.  I'm sorry, that's just nasty looking, and it doesn't taste right, either.

So what do you do?

Backtrack a few.  You know when you buy bananas, there's often that one lonely nanner that just doesn't get eaten?  It sits on the counter, getting darker, mushier, and more forlorn looking every day until eventually you just toss the thing, because it's not fit to eat anymore?  Maybe you don't, but I do.  Every time I buy bananas.  I think that what happens is B leaves it for me, and I leave it for him, so in the end it doesn't get eaten by anyone.   I'm something of a saver (in case you haven't noticed), and I hate to see anything wasted, so I started putting those lonely bananas in the freezer figuring I'd decide on something to do with them later.

I went to Wal-mart the other day, and I was significantly under my allotted food budget, and they had one of those trap displays.  You know the ones where they have all the name brand expensive ingredients for a dish on one display?  Well, this one was banana pudding.  They had the pricey evaporated milks, vanilla wafers, bananas and stuff all in one spot in the produce section.

Light bulb!

Orange you glad I like Oranges? Experimental cooking: Orange pork chops and orange pound cake

That orange right there, as you can see is a monster of an orange.  Pup brought back a whole bunch from Arizona when he went home for Christmas.  Apparently they're ripe this time of year, because his Iowa girlfriend was talking about how she "picked them right off a tree".  That one orange was all I needed for everything in today's blog.  I used the whole thing, well except the pith and peels obviously.

Just a warning - my pound cake did not turn out that well.  It was way too dry.  Even though every recipe I've read says that the cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean, by the time mine came out clean the cake had been baking an hour and a half.  Crazy!  And it was only moist in the very middle.  I was not impressed.  The recipe I used was from the Joy of Cooking and only slightly modified.  I'll note my modifications, and maybe some of you more accomplished bakers can help me figure out what went wrong.  Or, maybe it's just a dry pound cake recipe.  I've got some others to try out at a later date.

Orange Pound Cake

2c Butter
2c Sugar
9 eggs (separated or not, bakers preference)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp mace (I used cloves)
2 Tbsp rose water (I used orange juice from one orange segment which was 2 Tbsp exactly)
4c cake flour (or substitute by putting 2 Tbsp corn starch in a measuring cup and filling the rest of the way with all purpose flour, which is what I did)  Sifted, measured, and resifted
1/2 tsp salt
(optional, 1/2 c dried fruit or nuts.  I added 2 Tbsp orange zest)

All ingredients were at room temperature.

Cream the butter, then slowly add the sugar and cream.  Add eggs one by one, beating well in between additions.
Add vanilla, mace (cloves), and rose water (orange juice).
Slowly add in flour until just blended with mixer on lowest speed.
Pour into two greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans and bake at 325 for about one hour.

Alternately, the recipe said you could add only the egg yolks one by one, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, and fold them into the dough after the flour has been mixed in.  The book said that the traditional dense pound cake is achieved by adding the eggs whole, though.  So, that's what I did.

An hour later, they looked beautiful, but were still runny.  An hour and a half later, they were finally not runny (checked on them every 10 minutes to try to avoid over cooking), but the cakes were dry (even though they tasted great per Pup and B).

I used two orange segments for the glaze:

Orange Glaze

1 1/4 c powdered sugar (I just put regular sugar in the blender with a spice blade in it, so I don't have to keep powdered sugar around since I rarely buy the stuff, but randomly require it.)
1/4 c fruit juice
1 tsp vanilla

Blend everything together until smooth.  It dries into a semi-hard glaze.

(Next time I might make a syrup or sauce instead)

B said the taste is wonderful, but I disagree.  I think he is easily impressed.  Either that, or maybe it does taste great, and I am just spoiled rotten with really fabulous pound cakes from my former Grandmother-in-law.


The second experiment, involving the rest of the orange (which yielded total about a cup and a half of juice or more) involved pork chops.  I have some boneless breakfast chops in the freezer, because they are my favorite for making schnitzel.  They're small, no bigger than my hand, so I was able to put three of them in my medium-ish skillet.  I think it's 8 in?  I seasoned the pork with salt, pepper, ginger, and cloves, then browned it in sesame oil.  I sauteed a small onion in the same skillet until golden and tender.  Then I poured the orange juice into the skillet on medium heat (it was deep enough to come up a little past the bottoms of the pork chops), and simmered it covered until almost all the liquid was gone.

I steamed some broccoli, made mashed potatoes, and made a homemade cheese sauce with a roux of:
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter
browned and thickened.
add 1 c milk, and put it in the oven on 350 for about 30 minutes (so I could pay attention to everything else on the stove and not have to worry about my gravy burning).  In that 30 minute time frame, I also added a cup of shredded cheese and a slice of cheddar and stirred it up.  I popped it back in the oven until all the cheese was melted and viola.  Cheese sauce.  I think next time I'll use a bit less flour, because I could taste it.  Either that or I'll brown the flour more before I add the milk.

The pork chops and the cheese sauce were both a HUGE hit.  No, the nail polish wasn't a garnish.  It just happened to be on the table when I took the picture.  But I am sure you could decorate the potatoes up with it very interestingly.  ;-)

Make-do Monday - T-shirt Tote Bags

For a change, a project I didn't knit or crochet.

I love my chest freezer.  It's awesomesauce.  I can go to Sam's and the commissary once a month (with varying side trips to the grocery in between for the stuff that is just bound and determined to run out at off times), stick everything in my freezer and pantry, then crawl back under my rock for another month.  I actually like living under a rock.  Too much interaction with too many people makes me very cranky.  I get cranky enough all on my own without having the additional help.

Maybe some of you out there are more disciplined than I am, but when I get home from a shopping trip and am divvying up goodies for the freezer, fridge, and pantry, the goal is to get it done and get on with something else. I usually try to at least keep plant matter on one side of the freezer and protein on the other, but it doesn't always work out that way.  Then, when I am rummaging through looking for something in particular for a meal, or hunting for that leftover baggie of spaghetti sauce that I just *know* is in there, stuff gets all shuffled around, jumbled up, and becomes a right mess of frozen edibles all piled haphazardly with no semblance of order.   No, there are no pictures.  I didn't want a record of my slovenly freezer floating around.

I was over reading Dee's blog post about organizing her freezer, and it looked like a no-brainer.  Duh... I'm supposed to be pretty intelligent, so why didn't I think to do this before?  But, all of my baskets are wicker.  I have too many baskets according to some, but I just keep finding things to use them for.  I have a few smaller cardboard boxes floating around from packages and moving, but I could see that becoming a problem eventually, because none of them are that waxed cardboard.

Reading through the comments, I saw that one person uses those cloth shopping totes.  I have fabric.  I can do that!

But, I'm also not feeling motivated to make half a dozen tote bags.

But I have t-shirts and tank tops!

No... I really don't throw out nearly as much as I should.  And this is a perfect example of WHY!

I have a pile of plain white and black t-shirts from my time at the sheriff's office.  I still wear them, occasionally.  I mean, who doesn't ever have a really scrungy job to do and they don't want to mess up any of their good t-shirts by accident, or when I dye my hair, or sometimes as a cleaning rag.  But in all honesty I have too many.  I don't need a dozen white t-shirts.  And the tank tops... well, they haven't fit in quite some time.  I keep saying one day I am going to drop enough weight to finally get into them, but the truth is, I was the smallest I've ever been (high school size) the month I moved to TX.  If they didn't fit then, they're just never going to fit.  And, what's a tank top but a tote bag with an unfinished bottom?

All I did for the tanks was sew the bottom hem together, and the straps became instant handles.  Fabulous!  Took all of a minute, and that included threading the sewing machine.

The t-shirts took a little more time.  I cut the sleeves off, and then enlarged the neck to make a wider mouth for the bag.

Yes, I used black thread on the white t-shirts.  It's ok, my frozen foods won't care.

All the bags wad up nice and small, so I can cram them inside each other when (LOL as if) they're not in use in the freezer.  They can become shopping bags at Sam's, or wherever, and I can chuck them in the washing machine if something happens to leak, bust, or otherwise get messy.  It's not quite as orderly as nice stackable baskets, but this was no additional cost to me.  I had everything I needed right here at the house, and the only thing that I actually paid for at one time or another was the t-shirt itself.  Since said t-shirt is five years old, and had holes worn in it, I'd say that I've already gotten more than my money's worth of wear out of it.  :-)

While it may not *look* all neat and pretty, I can reach in and grab my chicken, veggies, leftovers, pork, fruit, boiling meat, etc. in one grab.  The smaller odds and ends are still just in the baskets that came with the freezer, but they don't ever get any more plentiful than that.  There's also a handy shelf in there that holds my beef, since I try not to cook with too much red meat for B.  My freezer is so much easier to navigate now, and I didn't have to go shopping to get it that way :-)  Happy day!

Now.... how long will this last?

It's that time of year: Pictures, Recipes, and Suggested Sneaky Snacks

 Yep, it's the time when we start dragging out the trees, putting up baubles, lighting the lights, and remembering to be nice a little more often.  I've not been doing such a great job of the "nice" part.  I've been a bit grouchy the past few days, but I've been super excited for almost the past solid month.  I haven't been on my blog nearly as much lately as I generally try to be, but I do have a valid excuse!  Really!  Just keep reading... or scrolling at least.

 Li'l bit lurking under the tree.  She has a new set of catnip toys under there.  And B and I.  Fin was nice enough to come take a picture for us.  :-)

 But THIS is the reason I've really been so absent.  Yes, wax is the culprit.  See, if you take 1/3 of one of those bars of paraffin, and 12 oz of chocolate (either chips or chunked up bars), and you use it to dip stuff in... magic happens!!!

 Like peanut butter balls!!  Graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter, and powdered sugar, rolled into balls, chilled, and then dipped in chocolate/wax goodness.  Oh yes....  I'm sorry, I can't be more specific.  This recipe isn't mine to give away.  It's my Great Aunt D's, and my cousin (her granddaughter) was generous enough to share it with me, along with a very special recipe for hard candy.

 This hard candy brings back so many childhood memories.  Unfortunately, I didn't use the right type of flavoring, so it's on the bland side.  It also appears that using a non-stick pot is bad news bears for hard candy.  Maybe it doesn't heat as even?  I don't know, but it doesn't taste quite right.  Ivy is reporting recipe tweakings to me, so that we can continue the tradition of Aunt D's famous hard candy.  :-D  My cousin ROCKS!

I don't think the paraffin/chocolate idea is proprietary, though.  And once I realized how easy it was to make dipping chocolate that would harden right... well... here's what happened!  To make anything you see below, just melt the chocolate and the paraffin wax together over low heat.  Once it's melted, just dip whatever you want.  A fork works best to retrieve things you dipped in all the way (like the cracker/peanut butter goodies).  A slotted spoon messed up the chocolate coating on the bottom.  The treats just slide right off the fork no problem.

For the drizzles, I used the same chocolate and wax mixture.  I just dipped a fork in and sort of slung chocolate onto the treats.  Amazingly, I didn't wind up with chocolate on the ceiling ;-)

Chocolate dipped pretzels, and peanut butter and ritz cracker sandwiches:  The white chocolate edition. 

 Dark chocolate dipped pretzels with sprinkles!

White and milk chocolate mixed together became a drizzle, and a medium for dipping broken up bits of the pretzel rods.  And graham crackers got dipped and drizzled, sprinkled and coated.  

The milk chocolate edition of the peanut butter and crackers, and the fully dipped grahams.

And then, of course, the Pup's present.  I turned the graham cracker box inside out and decorated all four sides.  It's got a sampling of the chocolate dipped goodies, and some smaller bite sized bits that I tried to mix together to look like kibbles and bits or puppy chow.  I also made a batch of puppy chow.

Puppy Chow
Chex (or chex like) cereal
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 stick butter
1 c chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
Powdered sugar

Melt the butter, peanut butter, and chocolate.  Mix in the vanilla after everything has melted.  Toss the cereal in it, and then toss the cereal in powdered sugar.  Ta da!  Puppy Chow.  Soooooo good!

And he had to have something to eat all his goodies out of.  I doodled all over the sides.  Yes, he will actually play with the squeaky bone, if for no other reason than to aggravate B LOL :)

And of course we had to have cookies.  Unfortunately, the icing job was pretty shoddy.  I was experimenting with my own icing.  It's just milk and powdered sugar mixed together till it's the right consistency.  I apparently didn't have it quite right, because it sort of oozed off the cookies.  But, now I know better for next time, and it still hardened up just like it was supposed to once it sat.  

 Sprinkles!!

The cookies are Spiced Sugar Cookies.   I found the recipe HERE.  They were really easy, and taste similar to snickerdoodles.

Last, but Oh -- Em -- Gee not least:  Peanut Butter FUDGE!  Oh boy, that stuff is awesome.  It didn't turn out *quite* right.

4c Sugar
1c Milk
1/2 c Butter (1 stick)
7 oz Marshmallow Creme
12 oz Peanut Butter
2/3 c All Purpose Flour

Ok... when I read that recipe, I was thinking that there are 8 oz in a cup, so that is a cup and a half of regular peanut butter.  The fudge didn't quite set up.  It's very soft and squishy, so I am thinking that should be peanut butter chips.  However, it doesn't matter that the fudge is squishy, it is Amazing!  Yes, capital A.  So good!  I'd never made fudge that worked before.  This was too easy, and too yummy.

Sugar, milk, butter goes in the pot.  Melt the sugar and bring it to a boil.  Stir constantly while the sugar is melting, but then don't stir it anymore.

Let it boil for five minutes.  Then remove it from the heat and mix in the marshmallow creme and the peanut butter or peanut butter chips.  Very slowly stir in the flour, and pour it into a buttered 9x13 baking dish to cool.  This stuff is so good, I am only allowed to make it at Yule from now on.  We can't walk by without grabbing a piece.

Chicken n' Dumplings: This is for you cuz!

My cousin got to come visit a couple three years ago, and while she was staying I decided I should make chicken and dumplings.  It's cheap, easy, and oh so yummy.  She recently asked me how I make chicken and dumplings.  I gave her a brief rundown via a social networking site, but there's nothing like a good old tutorial if you've never done something before.

Here's what you'll need:

A chicken
A pot big enough to hold the chicken and plenty of water
2c flour (plus some extra for fiddling)
1c water (for the dumplings)
Spices - whatever makes you happy.

Things I have learned through trial and error:

• The more tender your chicken is, the easier it is to get the meat off the bones. 
• It really doesn't matter what kind of flour you use, what matters is how you want your dumplings. 
• All purpose flour gives a chewier, firmer dumpling. 
• Self-rising flour gives a fluffier dumpling and provides a little salt.

• There is no wrong way to make a dumpling, drop, tear and squish, roll and cut - it's just a matter of preference. 
• It's REALLY hard to season your chicken and dumplings "wrong".  You're working with a chicken and flour.  That's about as blank slate as you can get in the world of dinner.  
• It's really hard to cook your chicken "too long".  
• You CAN cook your dumplings too long.  They proceed to fall apart.
• You can freeze this, but the dumplings might change texture a bit (get softer), especially if you have soft fluffy dumplings. 
• If you want to freeze it, freeze your dumplings raw, and freeze your chicken and broth separate.  Then just bring to a boil, drop in your dumplings, and your done. 

So you got a bird, and you got a pot.  Put the bird in the pot.  ;-)

Now get out those spices.  Whatever you want, really.  Take it tex-mex and add chili and cilantro.  Go for old world and put is caraway.  Give it a Caribbean flair with some allspice and ginger.  Do what ya do!  For an old-school Grandma's style, just put in some salt and pepper and call it good.

Me? I'm a spice fiend.  I love the stuff.  You might be wondering what all you're looking at here.  And no, this isn't all necessary, but I've been told I make fabulous chicken and dumplings :-P

What you see: 

• Salt
• Pepper
• Chili Pepper
• Old Bay style seasoning
• Garlic Powder 
• Basil
• Parsley
• Oregano
• Allspice
• Sage
• Paprika
• Rosemary 
• Tony Chechere's Creole Seasoning
• Tarragon
• Thyme
• Bay Leaves

What you don't see:

• Worcestershire Sauce

How do I know how much to use?  Well... really?  I don't.  I'm guessing about 1/2 tsp of everything, except salt and pepper.  I start off with a teaspoon of each of those.  Salt is by guess and by gosh.  The amount of salt you need kind of depends on how much flour makes it into your broth with your dumplings.  So, keep it out and handy.

I use a general rule of thumb about all my spices:  Dust the bird's back (because I usually put it in the pot breast down) with each spice, twice with salt and pepper.  By the time I'm done, I can't see the bird anymore.

This usually works out well for everything except salt.  I usually end up adding a little more salt after I add the dumplings.  But, it's easier to add than to take out.  The Worcestershire sauce is usually a couple good shakes from the bottle.

No, potatoes aren't necessary.  I wanted to use these up because they were starting to get a little soft and sprout.  The onions are a good idea, but also not necessary.  Some people put carrots, peas, and other veggies in their chicken and dumplings.  At that point it seems to be to be more like rustic chicken soup than chicken and dumplings.  Yes, I know that is splitting hairs.  I am a purist.  Hush!

I prefer to put my onions in from the very beginning so they cook down really soft, add flavor, and somewhat disappear in the cooking.  The potatoes sort of helped thicken the broth.  My chicken and dumplings have more of a broth-like sauce than a gravy.  If you want gravy style, I'll get to that in a minute.

Cover it with water.  Clap a lid on it, turn it up to med-high and forget about it for a little while.  It's going to take that bad boy a while to reach a boil.  Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat so it won't boil over and forget about it again for a couple hours.  When you check on it, take a fork or something and move the bird around by it's leg.  If the bone slides out, it is safe to say the bird is fully cooked and ready to be deboned.  You don't have to technically cook it that long, but it makes the broth richer.  It is also easier to pull the meat off the bones if it's falling off on its own.

Use whatever means is necessary to get the chicken out of the pot and into a bowl where it can cool.  Turn the heat off for now.  You don't want your broth boiling down too far.
Let the bird cool enough to handle safely, then pull the meat off and put it back in the pot.  The bones and skin can be saved to make stock out of.

Now comes the dumplings.

Mix your cup of water with your two cups of flour and squish.  The more you squish, the chewier your dumplings are.  If you want them light and fluffy, don't squish them much after the flour and water are incorporated.  If you want them chewy, work in more flour and knead it till it's starts to feel rubbery and dry.  (That's how I like mine.)

Bring your pot of broth and meat back to a rapid boil.

Remember, the dumplings will swell when they cook, so don't make them too big.  If you decide to drop them, just pull off balls of dough and drop it in the boiling broth.  If you want classic square dumplings, roll them out and cut them into rectangles or squares.

Today, I pinched dough off in balls and just squished it out in my hands.  It's way less messy than rolling them out on a floured counter top.

I don't have very large hands.  I guess they're average.  But anyway, that gives you an idea of about the size of the dumpling before being cooked.

It only takes them a few seconds to cook, so about the time you've dropped it in it's done.  Drop them in one by one so they don't stick together.
When you've dropped the last one in, you can turn the heat off and it's ready to eat.

If you want thicker gravy style broth, BEFORE you put in your dumplings, get a small bowl and put a few tablespoons of flour in it.  (I say a few, 3-5, possibly even more depending on how thick you want your broth.)  Get some of the hot broth and mix it into the flour until it is a thin paste.  Pour the flour paste into the pot and stir it around well.  It will thicken up as it boils.  Now you can add your dumplings.

Enjoy!

Make your own: Laundry Soap

I snagged this from Rey at The Peasant and the Pea.  So, it's been tried out by someone I personally know and trust.  She got the recipe originally from Tip Nut, I believe.  Anyways, all the  materials cost about $8 (give or take depending on where you shop and what you buy.)  

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

2 quarts of water

4 cups grated bar soap  

4 cups Borax

4 cups Washing Soda *washing NOT baking*

4 gallons of water

A clean 5 gallon bucket with a lid.

That does not say four bars of grated soap.  It says four cups of grated bar soap.  There is a fundamental difference.  It only took me  two and a half bars of Ivory to get my four cups of grated soap.  I grated it with a very fine cheese grater.  

My first question to Rey was:  What the hell is washing soda and where the hell do you find it?  Wal-mart apparently, and possibly the drug store, or you might have to check online.  Wal-mart had it where I live in Central Texas, but they only had Arm & Hammer.  I would've rather had an off label, but such is life.  Borax is also something that you don't always encounter, but at least I knew what that was from my Gramma.  I was also able to find it at Wal-mart.  You usually find both of these ingredients near the Oxy-Clean or other laundry boosters.  

I still have a good portion of each box left, though I am not sure if I have quite enough for a full second batch.  I would say you can get at least one and a half batches out of each box, thus reducing the actual total cost of each batch.  

Heat your 2 quarts of water to a simmer, and slowly --- very slowly --- add in your grated soap.  I was using a rubber spatula to stir, and I used the rubber spatula to scoop up some soap and stir it in.  Once all the first scoop of soap was dissolved, then I got another scoop.  Rey discovered the hard way that if you dump all the soap in at once it melts into a lump, and you have to stir forever to melt it down.  I think the total scoop/stir/melt process only took about 20 minutes.  If that.  

Dump your hot soapy water into your bucket, and add the Borax and Soda.  Stir until it is as dissolved as it is going to get.  The 4 gallons of water I added in 2 quart batches.  The water needs to be hot-ish in order to dissolve everything, so I used my sauce pot and heated it up on the stove while I stirred what was already in the bucket.  Not to boiling, just hotter than tap water.  Stir, stir, stir.  Everything will eventually get mostly dissolved.  Clap the lid on it and put it by your washer.  Use 1/4 c per load.  Stir before each time you use it, because even though we stirred it well, solids will settle.  

I got a stick from the yard for a stirrer after the water got too deep for my spatula, that way I wouldn't have to dedicate a kitchen utensil to the laundry.  

Five gallons of laundry soap for less than $8.  It lasted Rey (who has a family of four) for several months.  She crunched the numbers over on her blog, and the results were about half as much as buying Sun laundry detergent, which is one of the cheapest ones.  You can make it smell prettier by adding essential oils or soap scents (purchasable from most hobby and craft shops) if you like.  

You can use the same recipe, only without the water, for a powdered detergent, but I like liquid for rinsing cleaner.  

Fall Favorites: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

What goes better with gray, chilly, drizzly weather than a hot bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich?  Not much, other than maybe a hot bowl of homemade tomato soup, and a grilled cheese sandwich with real cheese on it instead of that processed yellow "cheese food" stuff we call American Cheese.  Isn't that just a testament to our times?  The quick processed, unidentifiable ingredients, imitation colored "cheese" is American cheese.  We're too impatient to take the time to actually make cheese.  Instant gratification and everything is disposable.  It irritates the snot out of me.

Anyway, where was I?  Tomato soup and grilled cheese, right.

Even if you are one of those who require instant gratification, you can have this dinner in about 20 to 30 minutes.

The recipe I used called for:

1 tsp dried Basil
3 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
3 c chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic (or a tsp minced, or about 1/2 - 3/4 tsp dried)
2 tsp olive oil

Get a pot.
Putt the olive oil in the bottom.
Saute the garlic till it's fragrant.
Throw everything else in the pot, bring it to a boil, turn it down, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

You can leave it at that, or you can put the soup in a blender and puree it to get a smoother consistency.  Too easy!  If you don't want to use canned, you don't have to.  Stewing tomatoes couldn't be easier.

Get a few tomatoes, put them in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.  When the skin starts to blister, turn off the heat.  At this point I rinse my tomatoes in cold water.  It seems to encourage blistering, and it'll keep them from continuing to cook from their own internal heat.  The skins peel right off (I personally don't like cooked tomato skins.  They're tough and awkward.), or you can leave them on.  Dice them up, and ta da!  Diced stewed tomatoes.  I recommend doing the dicing in a bowl, otherwise you lose all your juices.

Some changes I plan to make to the recipe -  The soup is bland.  Yes I know, tomato soup isn't exactly a riot of flavors in your mouth.  The store bought stuff honestly tastes about as spectacular as ketchup.  (ick)  But it doesn't have to be boring!  Next time, I am adding some onion  1/4-1/2.  I think a whole onion would be a little much for this size pot of soup.  Or maybe I'll double the amount, use a whole onion, and freeze some for later.  I'd also put in a shake or two of tobasco sauce, or a dash or two of red pepper.  It also needs a touch more salt (for my taste).  A bay leaf would be good, too.

But wait!  I forgot the grilled cheese.  I often make the (inaccurate) assumption that everyone has at least the basics.  I consider grilled cheese a basic.  It's as basic as scrambling eggs.  I was three or four years old when I started learning how to scramble eggs and grill sandwiches, and I often just imagine that's how everyone does it.  I am most often very mistaken, and I have to remind myself of this constantly.

Grilled Cheese:

Butter (you can use margarine, but I don't recommend vegetable oil or shortening.  It just doesn't taste good and seems to leave the sandwich much greasier)
Bread
Cheese - any kind of cheese will work.  Have fun with it, combine several cheeses, make a pizza grilled cheese with pepperoni on it.  Shredded cheese doesn't work out as well, though, because it becomes a mess when you try to turn the sandwich over.

Heat a skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, drop in a small pat of butter or margarine (just enough to coat the skillet.  You're not trying to deep fry your grilled cheese).

I usually assemble my first sandwich while the skillet is heating up.

Set the sandwich in the skillet and wait.  Patiently.  Don't constantly flip it over and over, because all that does is make your sandwich soggy and greasy, not toasted.  When the bottom of the sandwich is nice and toasty brown, flip it over carefully so you don't end up with your cheese spilled into the skillet.
Wait... patiently.  When the other side of the sandwich is nice and toasty brown, put it on a plate and enjoy! I love to dunk my grilled cheese into my tomato soup.  It's so yummy!!

Grilled sandwiches aren't limited to cheeses (obviously).   If you want to put other stuff in there, go ahead and try it out.  Put a fried egg in there, and have a grilled ham, egg, and cheese.  Try different combinations of cheeses.  Sprinkle your bread with garlic before you grill it, and put mozzarella cheese in it.  It'll be like cheese sticks with marinara sauce when you dunk it in your tomato soup.

I have to stop now.  I am getting hungry, and I just had breakfast.