Sunday Morning

It's winter again in the north state. Not actually active winter, just threatening winter. Great day to do nothing. Too bad, we're not doing nothing!

My border collie, Rex, jumped up to catch a ball yesterday and sprained his back again. Not looking forward to two weeks of no throwing of balls or ropes. If you've ever had a border collie than you can understand that the next two weeks are not going to be fun. Rex needs to be busy. He gets a little neurotic if he isn't. Time for a prescription of doggy downers!

I made tomato soup from scratch yesterday. Not completely from scratch because I won't buy tomatoes in January, can't make me! Winter tomatoes are nicely red on the outside, shady color of green inside. They're totally lacking in juice, not to mention flavor, well, except for ethylene gas. Winter tomatoes are great for playing fetch with Rex, they're more solid than a tennis ball; have a good bounce to them and won't crack or splat!

Soup base was three large cans of organic chopped tomatoes. Onions, garlic (need I say lots of garlic), bell pepper, fresh cilantro, 1 very small, slender serrano chili, ground cumin, ground cayenne and a bunch of fresh basil. I let it cook on low heat for several hours. Just before serving, I tossed in a couple of extra stems of basil.

Not last year but the year before, The Guy gave me a Cuisinart Smart Stick, a hand held blender. Last night was the first time I used it! ("and Darth Vader said, "Whaaa!").

I can't believe I have had this awesome little tool in my kitchen and not used it! I love it! What else can I grind!!!!!

I blended the whole pot of ingredients with the fresh basil for a real smooth consistency. I had a loaf of Artisan Herb Olive bread. I cut a third of the loaf into small cubes, toasting them in butter and garlic salt, for croutons. The rest of the loaf I sliced, spread one side with butter, then toasted in the pan that the croutons had been in. OMG! Dinner was great and I have enough for all day today, so we can graze 'at will'! 

Later today, we are heading to visit with folks, do some grocery shopping for them, and The Guy will do a couple of chores around the place. I have to say, my sister has been a god-send. She has kind of taken the reigns for caring for Mom and Dad for the past couple of weeks. I miss being with my dad but Mom can be so mean that it is difficult to be around her for any length of time. I've been a very poor example of handling the situation with grace. I just kind of bailed on the responsibilities. Took a much needed (and dare I say 'deserved') Time Out!

It's strange that at a stage in life, when I've finally defined boundaries for what behaviors I will allow  that my mother is smashing the boundaries to tiny bits! Maybe having such a crazy mom is the reason it took so long to define boundaries.

Send some positive energy my way kids, I'm going in!!!!

Have a great Sunday and enjoy the Winter Olympics.