Easy Peasy Gazpacho Soup

So, I was in my kitchen this morning...making myself some coffee...minding my own business when I get the sudden feeling that I'm being watched. I feel dozens of burning eyes staring right at me. I turn around to face the culprits...they were red, round, and feeling a little neglected: the tomatoes I picked from my garden on Sunday. They have been sitting in their bowl for a couple days now barely touched. I feel so ashamed. But what is one to do with a ton of tomatoes? One word: gazpacho (and a fun word, too, gazzzz-pacho).

Gazpacho is a cold tomato and veggie soup; perfect for a bumper crop of tomatoes and garden veggies. You can add as many or few veggies that you'd like and it'll always taste fantastic. It's almost completely fool proof (I say almost in hopes not to jinx anyone). Plus it's really simple to make which means I'm game.

What you'll need

 Tomato Juice (at least 2-3 cups depending on the batch size)

 Several Tomatoes

 Bell Peppers (I used a red and yellow)

 A Large Cucumber

 Several Small Onions

    - and any other preferred veggies (avocado works really well!)

 3 teaspoons of White Vinegar

 Herbs (I used fresh basil and oregano); and a

 A Blender 

The veggie line-up

I used a low-sodium V8...heavenly

Pour the tomato juice, white vinegar, tomatoes, and herbs into the blender; blend until coarsely pureed.

Pour the yummy contents into a large bowl. Finely chop the rest of the veggies (cucumbers, peppers, and onions) and pour into the soup. Add cooked brown rice if you're craving a heartier soup! 

The baby eggplant was a last minute addition.
He was the lone ranger in my garden so I threw him in, too!
I say, the more the merrier!

Pretty like a rainbow

Mix together and add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Cover the soup and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the flavors blend together. 

Serve chilled and taste the rainbow! Enjoy!

  

Homemade Sweet Pickle Recipe

I love pickles. When my mom and I went grocery shopping at the beginning of the summer, I rushed to the pickle aisle. Upon discovering me, she almost endured a small heart attack before asking "you're not pregnant, are you!?". No Mother, who says I have to be preggo to enjoy a pickle?--what an awful and misunderstood stigma that a Claussen pickle has to be associated with. Pickles are everyone friendly, knocked up or not.

Since I'm becoming quite the farmer and living off the land, why not make my own pickles. Plus, my cucumbers are latching onto everything in sight (my tomato plants, trees, small children) and I need a good reason to harvest 'em. So, I've acquired a nifty, little, sweet pickle recipe from a friend. All you have to do is shove 'em in the fridge for two weeks and they're ready to munch.

I have never pickled anything. The only thing I think that should be pickled is, well, pickles (hence the name).  The pickled beets, pigs feet, eye balls, etc. in the grocery aisles just seem to float in their jars like something from a Potions class at Hogwarts, aka they skeeve me out. I never saw myself as one to pickle anything, but I suppose there's a first for everything. I'm going to document my pickling experience with pictures from my high-tech Blackberry, 3.2 MP, camera (note the sarcasm if you missed it). Here we go.

Ingredients:

Cucumbers

Kosher salt

Onions

Sugar

White vinegar

Celery seeds

Whole cloves and;

A jar

...pretty simple, I like.

 I didn't have a jar so I'm recycling! The onions are from my garden, I used red and white ones. I cut up the cucumbers and, luckily, left enough after kidnapping a few for a snack...so good!

The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of salt mixed with 12 sliced cucumbers. Well,  my garden isn't industrial sized (yet) and I didn't have 12, I had 5; and unfortunately, I read that little detail after I added my salt; so my pickles will either be salty troopers or salt blocks, oh well. If using less cucumbers, guesstimate the amount of salt but I would say about 1 tablespoon. Then mix in about a cup of chopped onions. After all is mixed, let it stand for 1.5 - 2 hours while you twiddle your thumbs.

While waiting, mix 3 1/2 cups of sugar (remember!, this is only when using 12 cucumbers! I only used 1 cup for 5 cucumbers), 2 cups of vinegar (I scaled down to a cup), 1 tsp. of celery seeds and ground cloves in a separate bowl.

My co-chef

2 hours later...

Drain the cucumbers and then place them in the jar...and finally(!) pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers and screw on the lid. Give it a shake, and place that puppy (jar, not my dog) in the refrigerator.

Viola!--my perfect pack of pickled pickles. See ya in two weeks! 

*Update!* Just tried my pickles and they're delicious! Pickle perfection :)