Fannie Farmer's Calming Creamy Tomato Soup

I promise you, this soup is the best cream of tomato soup you will ever have. I had it for the first time a few summer's ago when I failed to get a summer job and decided to start my own business for the summer. I would go to my grandmother's every day for lunch. There was always a different type of soup and usually salad plus a sandwich or some chicken or left overs from the night before.

One day she pulled out her Fannie Farmer's cookbook (which is the best cookbook ever and will teach you everything you need to know to feed yourself well for the rest of your life and still be extremely satisfied and impressed) and made up this soup in less than 20 minutes. The cookbook describes the soup as being "calming" and it really is. After every bowl of this soup I am ready for a nap or to go to bed. NOthing else matters when you have this soup. It's that good.

Last week Geoff and I decided we were going to make it. Geoff had never tried this soup before and I had been talking about it probably since I met him. He fell in love with it. There was complete silence as we ate. There were no words to describe how fulfilling this soup is. I strongly encourage you to make it and to buy the Fannie Farmer cookbook yourself.

Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped up
1 tsp salt
1tsp sugar
4 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 cups of milk (we only used 3 because we ran out of milk and it was REALLY good)
1/3 cup butter
freshly ground pepper to taste
dried parsley for looks

1. Open the can of diced tomatoes and stir in the baking soda and set aside (the baking soda prevents the acid in the tomatoes from making the milk curdle)
   
2. Melt the butter in a pot big enough to hold all of the ingredients
3. Add the onions, cook until softened and translucent
   
4. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir (you've just made a roux!)
   
5. Turn the burner up to medium or medium - high heat
6. Add the salt, and sugar. Slowly add the milk into the pot, heat (but don't boil!) until slightly thickened
7. Stir in the tomatoes. Heat until at desired temperature and enjoy!
   

Creamy Vodka and Smoked Salmon Pasta

Geoff and I went out for dinner a couple of weeks ago and had a pasta dish really similar to this. It was so good we wanted to have it again. Luckily, it was also easy enough to recreate at home.

It was pretty cheap for us to make this recipe since my dad had given me a smoked salmon that his boss had given him. We had sectioned it off and froze it in separate baggies for easy meal use. Also, there was half a mickey of vodka hidden in the back of the fridge from months ago that had been long forgotten about (unfortunately!) so our entire meal only cost maybe $8.

Unfortunately, we made enough to feed a ravenously hungry family of 4. Far too much for the two of us, so when looking at the ingredients, remember, its for at least 4 people to eat until they can eat no more.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 box bow tie pasta (or enough from a bag to feed 4)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes ( you could use crushed, but I like the chunks of tomato)
1 can tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup vodka
1 small jar of capers
smoked salmon (as much as you want, I'm not sure how much we used, but it was quite a bit)
4-5 tbsp cream cheese (not really necessary, just tasty and we had bought cream cheese in bulk from Costco that needed to be eaten)

1. Bring a pot to boil for pasta, cook pasta al dente
   
2. Melt butter in a pot or pan or roasting pan that will be large enough for the sauce AND all of the pasta
3. Add red pepper flakes, garlic and let cook for 30 second, then add vodka to butter, bring to a boil. Let simmer for 2 minutes
4. Add the cans of diced tomato and tomato paste along with the cream to the vodka mixture. Bring to a boil, then let simmer 5 minutes
5. Now if you're going to, add cream cheese. Slice up the smoked salmon and add it to the mix along with the jar of drained capers.
6. Drain the pasta, and stir it into the tomato mix and serve!