Project Pinterest 2013 :: Roasted Tomato Soup

Well folks, here it is.  My first Pinterest project of 2013 and if they continue as good as this one, you may be seeing several projects a month rather than the one that I definitely committed myself to.  =)

So it has been rather freezing in Southern California recently.  (I admit that I may be exaggerating slightly but given my Hawaiian roots, you can't blame me.)  =P  And that has put me in the mood for soup.  Pinterest to the rescue!  And I just happened to stumble across this pin (by the way, the blog where I found this recipe has lots of other great recipes!):

Roasted Tomato Soup

The recipe is so incredibly simple for a creamy soup recipe with ingredients you are likely to always have in the house.  So I decided to make it.  I did make a few tweaks that I will make note of as I share my pics with you all.

Sauteing veggies to soften.

Almost finished product.

Mom and kiddo's helping with a little parmesan cheese on the top and I have to have Tabasco in my soup.  =)

I ended up doubling the recipe (I like to have left overs for lunches).  And I made my own chicken stock.  But part of the reason that I loved this recipe is that they had the genius idea to roast canned tomatoes in the oven for an additional dimension of flavor to the recipe.  It turned out to be super easy.  NOTE: If you like a tomato-y soup, add more tomatoes.  I ended up adding an extra can of tomatoes and blending them like the rest of the soup is.  The extra can really helped make the tomatoes and not just the rest of the vegetables taste-able...yes, I know that is not really a word.  =P

Anyway, point is, the soup was good!  The hubby ate it, the kid ate it, and I enjoyed it too.  Try it - I approve of this recipe.  =)  Now I'm off to find my next Pinterest project!

Have a beautiful day!

Wine Wednesday :: 2011 Domaine de la Solitude Cotes du Rhone Rose

Hello folks!  It's hump day again and from where I sit in Southern California, it is also a HOT day.  So today, I have a refreshing summery wine that will pair beautifully with a salad or a steak (preferably tuna steak but I'm getting ahead of myself).

I started hunting around for a wine for this week's post and asked my friends who know what to drink.  And here is what I came up with: 2011 Domaine de la Solitude Cotes du Rhone Rose at $12.99 a bottle at my still favorite wine shop: Wine Exchange. (Looking for it somewhere closer to you?  Check out Wine Searcher: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/domaine+de+la+solitude/2011)  Does it get much better than that?   Good wine at fabulous prices!

So I have been promising to post pictures of the food I have been eating with the wine I've been drinking and I have finally done it!  Since I knew I was going to be drinking a rose, I decided to make a hearty salad and put the protein on top.  So this is what I ended up with: 

Somen salad with seared tuna steaks on top.  The salad is just somen noodles (I found them at my local Asian market but you could use any kind of rice noodle), lettuce, cucumber, celery, green onions, and cilantro tossed in a store bought Asian sesame dressing.  And then the hubby pan seared the tuna with a little sea salt and cracked pepper (the tuna was an amazing gift from a deep sea fisherman in our church!) and we were ready to eat!

The wine has some very apple-y notes when you sniff the nose.  Think crunchy, tart, Australian apple (I thought it tasted like a Brae-burn apple myself).  Blended in with the apple are some wildflowers and a hint of something spicy, like white pepper.  Don't know what that might taste like in a wine?  Good.  It tasted really good.  =)  And when paired with the sesame dressing on the salad and the tuna, it was amazing!  A wonderful, healthy, light summer meal.  

(If you aren't a fish person, you could easily use fish or pork tenderloin or some other lighter meat if you are going to pair it with this wine.  Traditionally, a somen salad would have char siu pork on top but I wasn't going to make any yesterday.  And I thought the fish was definitely a good choice!  Salmon would also be delish on this.)

Have a beautiful day and go find a good bottle of wine!

the reality of being a pregnant lady

So I am getting further along.  I am now 18 weeks and have a decided baby bump.  =)  I'll put pictures of that up later.  But right now I had to rant about a little something.

Now I'm not much of a drinker but I love pairing wine or beer with different meals.  In my attempts to be a good mom starting now, I have cut out virtually all caffeine and all alcohol.  But I made a dinner last night that just begged for a good beer.  So the hubby got one out for himself and then turned to me and asked what I wanted to drink.  I sighed and said juice.  I was a little caught up in my dilemma that I got a picture of our relative drink situations but totally forgot to snap a shot of how good dinner looked.  =)

I do like my cherry grape juice but a beer sounded really good too.  =)

But in happier news, we were able to eat outside yesterday which was thoroughly enjoyable and I quickly forgot about how much I'm looking forward to being able to hold my baby versus carry the kid around inside of me.  And I will make that dinner again and take pictures because it is an awesome and easy summer grilling idea.  =)