Tomato Soup of a Spicy and Delicious Nature

Directions

Cans of tomato soup concentrate in pot. Saute diced white onions with salt and a lot of squeezed garlic. Set aside in a bowl.

Boil tomatoes in water for one minute, remove skins, dice.* Cook tomatos in the oil left from the onions. Add more oil. Add Salt, pepper, italian seasoning, fresh basil and fresh parsley, dried oregano, red chili flakes, fresh basil, fresh parsley. (Lots of these things because it's for the whole pot of soup).

Simmer for a while - better flavor. (Stop here for an amazing spaghetti sauce. Though make a tad weaker in the spices for spaghetti sauce). Add tomatoes and onions to concentrate, add vegetable broth (if made with powder make extra strong) and oil. (Oil makes it creamy)

for approximate amounts:

5 32 oz cans condensed tomato soup

1 box tomato/bell pepper soup

*10 big tomatoes (in a pinch use canned tomatoes)

2 white onions

2 of the soup cans worth of water

1/3-1/2 cup powdered vegetable broth

few tablespoons honey

Garden Bruschetta

Quarter inch baguette slices brushed with oil and toasted on each side in the oven (on broil.)

On top:

Chunks of garden-fresh summer tomatoes

Fresh basil

Fresh garlic

Chopped onion

Perfect for watching the Giants advance the World Series!!

Dill Bridal Crabcakes on a Spicy Sesame Slaw

Apple Custard Pie

Last night we had a delicious dinner of Daddy's Prime Rib. It was fabulous (as always).

For dessert I made an Apple Custard Pie, recipe from JoyofBaking.com. (I've never gone wrong with the recipes from this site. All really great!) Well the recipe was for a tart, but I made it a pie.

The shortbread pastry crust complimented the tart apples beautifully.

From an experienced Italian chef to an aspiring one...

Today while shopping for a truck with my family, I met a chef/car salesman. He was very excited to learn that I'm interested in catering/cooking and promptly forgot about selling us a truck and instead sold us on Cordon Bleu and how great high-end catering is. A very nice, funny, Italian man. So nice that he gave me his business card ("An Affair to Remember Catering") and told me to call him anytime and he'd hire me to work whatever job his company was doing - just so I could learn what it was like. He told a lot of great stories and passed on some of his wise-advice to young chefs:

"Always add fresh basil toward the end of cooking." (I knew that, but thought it was great that that's what he decided to tell me.)

"You can always add more spices, but you can't take them out."

"If a caterer takes the extra food home with him, never hire him again!" (That means old food is likely to be used for your event.)

"If you're going to culinary school, you already know how to cook. But you'll learn how to coordinate foods, learn how to get 8 plates out at the exact same time, and most importantly confidence!"

"I've owned a catering company for 28 years. I still panic occasionally."

Human Meat Thermometer:

Rare: form a relaxed "C" with your hand. Press the flesh on the top of your hand between your thumb and finger. This is how a rare piece of meat or steak will feel.

Medium: Press thumb against first finger. Press on flesh just above the crease of your two fingers. This is medium.

Well-done: Form a fist. Press just below your knuckle. This is well-done. Your meat should never feel like this. ;)

Individual Pizza Pies

Individual Pizza Pies

Crust:

1 1/2 c mix of white and wheat flour or natural white wheat flour

1 tbsp cornstarch

garlic powder

italian seasoning + any other herbs you'd like

pinch salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp white win vinegar

1-2 tbsp. cold water

Filling

Spaghetti/Pizza Sauce

Mozzarella cheese

Blend of cheddar and monterey jack cheese (Optional)

Red chili flakes (very few)

Cooked sausage + any other pizza topping ingredients you like (optional)

Makes 6-8 pies

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine flours, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, italian seasoning, and herbs. Add butter and blend (pastry cutter, two knives or hands). Add vinegar. Add water, 1 tbsp. at a time, gently mixing. Form ball.

Roll dough out.

option a: Cut edges to get straight lines. Cut lengthwise, forming two long rectangles. Cut vertically to form individual rectangles or squares. (You should have about 10 identical rectangles, the top row will be the tops and the bottom row will have the filling placed on it).

option b: cut into circles, forming ones as shown in the picture.

Spoon filling ingredients in centers of half of the squares (use other halves as tops). For circles: in the center of one half of the circle. Fold over to make a half circle, crimp with fork.

Place Pizza Pies on a baking sheet with parchment paper, and bake for 7-8 minutes.

Summer Garbanzo Bean Salad

Summer Garbanzo Bean Salad

Garbanzo beans

Parsley (chopped)

Capers

Sun-dried tomatoes

Garlic

Fresh lemon juice
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Rinse garbanzo beans. Add Parsley, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Mix garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mix all. Adjust to taste.

Poptarts

Whenever I cook something one of two things happens. Either (1) I don't write anything down and weeks later I have no idea what I did or (2) I do know what I did but I'm unwilling to post it because I know it can be done better next time. I'll have to just post what I cook and update recipes as I go along.

Poptarts

Crust:

1c natural white wheat flour

1/2c bad for you white flour

1 tbsp cornstarch

pinch salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

approx. 2 tbsp honey (optional)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1-2 tbsp. cold water

Filling

Jam (I used strawberry)

Glaze

Powdered sugar

Milk (or coconut milk)

3-5 drops strawberry stevia (optional)

Sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine flours, cornstarch, & salt. Add butter and honey, blend (C-hook, a blender, pastry cutter, or hands). Add vinegar. Add water, 1 tbsp. at a time, gently mixing. Form ball.

Roll dough a rectangle. Cut edges to get straight lines. Cut lengthwise, forming two long rectangles. Cut vertically to form individual rectangles. (You should have about 10 identical rectangles, the top row will be the tops and the bottom row will have the filling placed on it)

Spoon jam in the middle of each of the bottom rectangles. Place the tops on top. Press edges with fingers then crimp with fork.

Place Pop-tarts on a baking sheet with parchment paper, and bake for 7-8 minutes.

Glaze. Mix in ziplock bag, cut a tiny tip off the end. If you glaze while hot it'll be more runny, but i like to eat them hot so i do it a few minutes after they come out of the oven.

Sprinkles optional