It's Been a While... (and Tomato Soup)

It really has been a while since I last blogged. A lot has happened. I received a call from my father, in Vancouver, at around 6:00pm Alberta time on Friday, January 25th. He told me my Grandma Gibbs did not have much time left, so I flew out at 11:00pm Alberta time, and arrived back in Vancouver late that night.

I am now so thankful that I flew out when I did, as my grandmother passed away on January 27th. For the next week, I stayed back in Vancouver until the funeral. DH flew down on that Friday night (February 1st), and we flew back together on Monday, February 4th.

My Grandma and Poppa (what we called my grandfather) were married for 60 years. How wonderful it was to have had such an amazing example of how a marriage can, and should, be. They didn't always have everything, and went through their own tragedies and hardships, but they always made it work. I can only hope for, and work towards, a marriage with DH that is as sturdy as theirs was.

My Grandma Gibbs (centre), with my Poppa (left), uncle Greg (mid-right), and my Grandma Kineshanko (right); all at our wedding just under a year ago.

The girlfriend of DH's cousin that is letting us stay in their house is sick, so tonight I am making roasted tomato soup from scratch (recipe courtesy of the Food Network) and tuna melts. Soup is great for when you're sick, and the tuna melts are mostly for the guys, since they need some filler and meat of some sort to feel full. Plus, at least knowing that the soup is wholesomely made, it should help our friend recouperate in no time!

Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs tomatoes (a mix of different kinds)
6 cloves garlic
2 small yellow onions, sliced
Vine cherry tomatoes for garnish (optional)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 quart chicken stock
2 bay leaves
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped basil leaves (optional)
3/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (I used 375 degrees F, as I felt like slow-roasting them; I had the time to today).

Wash, core and cut the tomatoes into halves. Spread the tomatoes, garlic cloves and onions onto a baking tray. If using vine cherry tomatoes for garnish, add them as well, leaving them whole and on the vine. Drizzle with 1/2 cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until caramelized (45 mins + for 375 degrees F).

Mine, all yummy and roasted!

Remove roasted tomatoes, garlic and onion from the oven and transfer to a large stock pot (set aside the roasted vine tomatoes for later). Add 3/4 of the chicken stock, bay leaves, and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid has reduced by a third.

Wash and dry basil leaves, if using, and add to the pot. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth (I used the food processor my mom gave me). Return soup to low heat, add cream and adjust consistency with remaining chicken stock, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish in bowl with 3 or 4 roasted vine cherry tomatoes and a splash of heavy cream.

 Enjoy!

A New Start

It has been a long month. Being laid off, packing up, and relocating from Vancouver to Calgary were some of the most challenging decisions I have ever had to make in my entire life. I do not think that I could have done it without my darling husband (DH from now on) by my side. DH was also laid off back in the summer, and we had been struggling with deciding what we were going to do financially to make things work.

In our ideal future, DH and I would like to have a large family, and I would stay at home as a stay-at-home mom. I am really looking forward to this, as we both believe that the best start we could provide for our children would be to have one of us be at home.

This blog is basically for me to chronicle our journey, and share some of my favourite crafts, activities, and recipes.

I'll start off with my favourite soup of all time! This one is taken from the Canadian Living website, just slightly modified:

Kale and Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste, I like to use very little salt in my cooking)
1/2 tsp pepper
3 cups sodium-reduced chicken broth + 1 cup water
1 cup sweet potato (the yellow-fleshed ones), diced
1 cup yams (the orange-fleshed ones), diced
1/2 cup potato, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced finely
1 cup ham or other deli meat, diced (for this one, I ask the deli clerk to slice one 1/2 cm thick slice and I chop that up)
1 sweet red pepper, diced finely
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cups chopped kale

Preparation
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; fry onion, sage, salt and pepper until onion starts to soften. At this point, at the garlic*. Add the carrot and fry until it starts to soften. Add in the potato, sweet potato, and yam shortly before the next step.
Add chicken broth, ham, red pepper, and chickpeas, and bring to a boil. Add water as necessary to maintain volume or taste**. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender.
Add kale, simmer until tender.
Done!

*Tip of the day: Garlic burns easily, and once it burns, it does not taste good at all. I recommend adding it at lower heat or later in the spice stage.
** I find that because the deli meat has plenty of salt, this soup dilutes well and I actually prefer adding in water to taste to reduce the salt concentration.