This week, I made a relatively simple tomato soup recipe from my Soup cookbook on Sunday, and I must say it was nice to come home from work on Monday at 8 p.m. and know that was in my refrigerator and just needed to be heated up. I learned how to peel the skins off tomatoes by dipping them for about 10 seconds in boiling water, and I again was instructed to “seed” the tomatoes and discard the skins and seeds. There must be some good use for tomato skins and seeds, but, since I haven’t yet learned what that is, I just ate them so they didn’t go to waste. Although my soup turned out pretty good, I’m not sure it’s supposed to be as frothy as it is. It also looks nothing like the bright red soup in the cookbook photo. Mine looks more like a creamy tomato soup. I think my tomatoes were too yellow/orange. Maybe it will be better this summer when I can use homegrown tomatoes fresh out of my garden. Now I guess I’ll have to learn how to can tomatoes so I can have fresh homegrown tomatoes all winter long.
I have started making a list of kitchen utensils and things I need to buy if I’m going to do this right.
I need to find a good quality set of cookware to replace the hodge-podge of pots and pans I’ve collected over the years. My dad looked high and low for just the right set for me for Christmas, but he couldn’t find the color du jour (green) that I had requested, so he said to let him know when I find what I want. I’m still looking, but green apparently already is passé, so I probably should just go with a classic silver stainless steel set.
My gravy ladle always worked fine for dipping soup made from a can, but this week I finally broke down and bought a soup ladle. I’ve never made enough soup to need a real soup ladle before, but it’s amazing how much better a soup ladle works when serving soup out of a deep pot.
I also bought a small hand-held strainer; but I think I need to get a large one, as a colander—despite being synonymous according to my word processing dictionary and thesaurus—doesn’t really do the same thing.
For now, my cereal bowls suffice for soup; but, I’ve put soup bowls on my list and I’ve started shopping on the Internet and in catalogues for just the right ones.
Next on my list are storage containers. If I’m going to make a big batch of soup on the weekend, I guess I need storage containers to keep it in the freezer so I can enjoy it for the next few weeks. Otherwise, either I’ll have to eat nothing but soup for every meal for a week, or it will go bad in the fridge (though I don’t think tomato soup will smell as bad as ones with cabbage). My dad asked if I’ve learned that Arm and Hammer baking soda will keep my refrigerator from smelling bad. I replied that I’ve kept a box of Arm and Hammer baking soda in my fridge for 20 years (well, not the same box—I do know enough to change it every few months), often when there’s little else in my fridge but that box. The box that’s currently in there has an expiration date of 9/6/05, but I don’t know how long it’s been in there, so maybe it’s past its refrigerator due date. I’ll add that to my list of things to buy for next week.
"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." ~George Herbert
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