Creamy Tomato Soup and Cheesy Garlic Toast

Our family went sledding today. It was fun to be with my nieces, nephews, brothers, and sisters-in-law. After getting home we were pretty cold so I wanted to make something for dinner that would warm us up. I used a recipe from the Italian cookbook that Stu and Amber got dad for Christmas. I made some changes: rather than using fresh tomatoes, I used canned stewed tomatoes. While blending them up, I thought I turned the blender off. It shut off and so I took off the lid. Suddenly the machine turned on again and tomatoes went all over the kitchen. Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. It looked like I murdered someone. Haha, oh well.

Creamy Tomato Soup
2 onions, chopped
6 cans stewed tomatoes (15 oz)
salt and pepper
4 cups hot chicken or vegetable broth
1 c. heavy whipping cream (you can add more)
2 T. fresh basil leaves
2 T. fresh oregano leaves
(if using dried herbs, decrease down to about 2 t. dried basil and 2 t. dried oregano).
*In olive oil, saute the onions until barely soft. Puree the tomatoes and onions in the blender. Put pureed tomatoes and onions in a pot. Stir in hot broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes, constantly stirring. Turn off stove. Stir in herbs. Right before serving, stir in the cream.


*For the Cheesy Garlic Toast, butter slices of white bread, sprinkle with garlic salt, cover with mozzarella cheese. Put bread on a cookie sheet and cook on the top rack on broil. Cook until cheese is melted (about one minute).