Soup in the summer?

While I was on the Morning Star (the live-aboard I was on in The Bahamas) we were served many delicious meals. My favorite was the creamy tomato soup. I've never been much of a soup in the summer kind of girl. I always just thought of it as a winter food. When we were served soup and sandwiches for lunch one day I decided to go ahead and try the soup. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It was the best soup I think I've ever tasted! I immediately asked Chef John for the recipe and he just kind of laughed at me and said, "It's just creamy tomato soup." He was nice enough to pass the recipe on though and last week I made it for my family. It pretty much tasted the same...except I accidentally put too much salt in it. I also made my favorite pasta salad and BLT's.

Without further ado, here is the recipe for the creamy tomato soup, which I am now calling:

Famous Chef John's Creamy Tomato Soup

Olive oil
3 carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 64oz can Tomato Juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 quarts Heavy Cream
1 large can diced tomatoes
Dry basil, to taste
Garlic Salt, to taste
White Pepper, to taste
Kosher Salt, to taste
1 tsp sugar

Sautee the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic in olive oil until soft. Put the tomato juice and sauteed vegetables in a blender and puree.

Mix the puree mixture, heavy cream, and can of diced tomatoes in a large pot. Add the seasonings to taste and heat over low to medium heat until hot, stirring frequently.
Viola! That's it! Oh, and I must say...this version of the recipe will feed A LOT of people! I suggest you half it. I halved it and there were still plenty of leftovers (I fed 5 with it).

Now the recipe for my favorite pasta salad!

Brooke's Favorite Pasta Salad

1 16oz box of Garden Rotini (the multi-colored pasta)
1 block of mild cheddar cheese
1 block of mozzarella cheese
1 block of Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese
1 package of Pepperoni
2 - 3 small cans of sliced black olives, drained
1 bottle of Kraft Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. While the pasta is cooking cut the cheese into small squares and cut the pepperoni slices in half. When the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water. Put the pasta in a bowl and add the remainder of the ingredients. Use as much dressing as you like (I usually use 1/2 - 3/4 of the bottle.) Another ingredient I sometimes add is halved cherry tomatoes. Mix thoroughly.

Dinner with good company

For about a month or so my sisters and I have been setting aside one night a week to get together and have dinner. We take turns at each others houses. A couple weeks ago we had it at my house and I made Cheese and Chicken Enchiladas. We were on a Mexican "kick" for a couple of weeks...Tacos at Raine's one week and Enchiladas at my place the next. Who doesn't love Mexican food though, right? Okay, I'm sure there are a few strange people out there that don't like it, but I think Mexican food is DELICIOUS! It's even better when you can enjoy it with good company! :) Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of my sisters and I...just the food. Tonight we had dinner at Quinn's. She made BBQ chicken, pasta salad, and rice. It was yummy. Still no pictures of us girls though. I'll have to remember next time!

Anyway, I found the recipe on my favorite cooking/baking site, Recipe Zaar. This is where I find many of my recipes. You can pretty much find any recipe on this site. I love it! The good thing about the Cheese and Chicken Enchilada recipe is that it can be made as a OAMC (once a month cooking) recipe! I ended up freezing half.

Cheese and Chicken Enchiladas

1 1/2 cups shredded chicken breasts
1 cup reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup picante sauce
3 ounces neufchatel cheese (1/3 fat free cream cheese)
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cups bottled green taco sauce
flour tortillas

I put 4-5 frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot. I then covered the chicken in picante sauce and cooked on high for 4 hours. I then used two forks to shred the chicken. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over low heat. Mix the chicken, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, picante sauce, and cream cheese. Add to the skillet and cook until cheese begins to melt. Spoon about 1/3 cup filling on each tortilla and roll up. Place enchiladas (seam side down) in a 9x13 baking dish. Drizzle with taco sauce and remaining cheese. (At this point you can freeze some if you want. Just put them in the freezer until hard and then bag them. To cook, just thaw in the fridge and bake.) Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

"A sister is a forever friend." ~ Unknown

"It is better to be alone than in bad company." ~ George Washington

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream...cake!

I'm behind in blogging because I didn't have Internet at my house for about 1 1/2 weeks, so there may be quite a few blogs in the next few days...or maybe not. We'll see.

So, a couple weeks ago Pacen participated in his First Holy Communion. For those of you that don't know, First Communion is a Catholic ceremony. Yes, my family is Catholic. All of my grandparents are Catholic, except my Grandpa Herren who is non-denominational. I was raised Catholic and confirmed into the Catholic Church when I was a junior in High School, but I don't practice it. A choice I made when I realized how many different religions there are in the world and started questioning what I believe. My mom is bound and determined that I raise Pacen as a Catholic and since I don't attend church or practice the Catholic religion (something she has finally accepted) she has taken over in the religion department of Pacen's life. So far he doesn't mind (he doesn't like going to church, but what kid does?) and if he chooses to follow in my footsteps in the future that's just fine. A person has every right to believe what they want and follow any religion they want.

Pacen with Father Berger

Okay, enough about religion. To help Pacen's celebration better I made him a home-made ice cream cake. I found a recipe that was similar to Dairy Queen's ice cream cake (supposedly) and went from there. So, my recipe is as follows:

Similar to DQ's Ice Cream Cake

2 quarts ice cream (one Vanilla and the other any flavor you want. I used Moose Tracks.)
Oreos (or cheap version)
Fudge topping (comes in a jar)
1 recipe Whipped Cream Frosting

Put a 10" springform pan in the freezer. While the pan is chilling take the Vanilla ice cream out of the freezer to soften (15 minutes or so). When the ice cream is soft, but not runny, remove the pan from the freezer and quickly (yeah right) spread Vanilla ice cream around the pan wall (not too thick but not too thin...maybe around 1/8") with a rubber spatula. (I had to put the pan back in the freezer a few times before I was able to cover the entire wall.) When the wall is completely covered put the pan back in the freezer.

Now remove the other ice cream from the freezer to soften. Remove the pan and empty the entire quart of other ice cream into the pan and spread evenly. Put the pan back in the freezer.

Crush some Oreos in a bowl (slightly large chunks). I don't know how many Oreos I used so go with what you think would cover the first layer of ice cream. Now pour some fudge topping in the crushed Oreos and mix well (again use as much as you think is necessary).

Take the pan out of the freezer and pour the Oreo/Fudge mixture over the first layer of ice cream and spread evenly.

Since your Vanilla ice cream is already soft (probably way soft by now) pour the rest of the quart on top of the Oreo's and spread evenly. Put the pan back in the freezer. Now whip up a recipe of the Whipped Cream Frosting. If you are planning on using different colors go ahead and mix your colors and put the colored frosting in pastry bags. Remove the cake from the freezer and put a layer of white (or whatever color) frosting on top of the Vanilla ice cream and spread evenly. Put back in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Remove and finish decorating.

(I took the following picture after I transported the cake to Harrison and the cooler I had it in (DQ ice cream cake cooler) touched the letters and screwed it up.)

When you are done store it in the freezer until it's time to eat! :)

Look at all the layers! (From bottom to top: Moose Tracks, Oreo/Fudge, Vanilla, and Whipped Cream Frosting)

"My advice to you is not inquire why or whither, but just enjoy the ice cream while it's on your plate." ~ Thornton Wilder