June 2006
Dear Friends,
Summer is here and what a wonderful time of year! Here in north Florida we’re already enjoying the beach and pool and look forward to summer visits from the grandchildren. We’ve also enjoyed some early summer fruit and veggies.
Blueberries, peaches, tomatoes, corn, zucchini – so many delicious and good-for-you fruits and veggies are in season now. If you can’t grow your own, look for a local Farmer’s Market, or U-Pick field. Even the grocery stores have great sales on summer produce now.
My sister-in-law gave me a great recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup. Tomato soup is easy to make and so much tastier than the canned variety! Roasting the tomatoes in the oven intensifies the flavor, and the tomato skin slips right off. You can serve this soup hot or cold, plain or add cooked rice or cooked veggies to it. We like it plain (it’s surprisingly rich and filling) served with toast and Brie – a great summer evening meal.
Roasted Tomato Soup 1 – 2 T. olive oil
5 – 6 pounds tomatoes
½ Cup orange juice
1 – 2 cans chicken broth or vegetable broth
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Salt & Pepper to taste
Choose tomatoes that are about the same size; small-medium tomatoes work best. Plum tomatoes work very well, but don’t use cherry or grape tomatoes; they’re too small. Wash and dry the tomatoes and lay them on 2 cookie sheets (that have edges to catch the juice) or jelly roll pans. Rub with a little olive oil. Roast, uncovered, at 350 degrees 2 – 3 hours until skin begins to blacken on top. Tomatoes will look “smushed.”
Let cool about 20-30 minutes and carefully slip off the skins and discard. In a food processor or blender, puree the tomato pulp in batches until smooth. Put the puree in a large pot; add the remaining ingredients and simmer gently 10 – 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve.
Yield: About 4 – 5 servings, depending on the size of the tomatoes and how much broth you use.
Add enough broth to make the soup the consistency you prefer. I use just one can of broth for a thicker soup.
This soup freezes well. Make an extra batch when tomatoes are in season and freeze for a quick meal another day.
You can add your favorite herbs to this soup; rosemary and basil are tasty. Chopped fresh parsley adds vitamins and attractive color.
Summer corn, scraped off the cob, or frozen corn can be added to the puree and then simmered until cooked. Chopped zucchini is another nutritious addition.
The orange juice and
lemon zest really give the soup a “bright” and interesting flavor. Lemon zest is the yellow outer peel of the lemon. Kitchen stores and some discount stores sell a small zester tool that makes it easy to scrape off little pieces of the lemon peel. The yellow portion contains the lemon oil and all the flavor; do not use the underlying white pith – it is bitter.
If you don’t have a zester, you can carefully try a paring knife. Cut the lemon in half. Set the cut side down flat on a cutting board. With a paring knife, cut away from yourself to cut off a little of the yellow peel, then cut it in fine strips. If you’re short on time, try a teaspoon of lemon juice instead.
Why not brighten up your summer dining table with
placemats the children can embellish – and learn beginning hand sewing techniques at the same time? Look for waffle-weave placemats in discount or craft stores. They’re made of a sort of rubbery plastic material. Sometimes you can find the same material cut into round coasters, and you may be able to purchase it by the yard in the home décor section of some fabric stores.
You will also need 2 or 3 rolls of narrow 1/8” ribbon in contrasting colors (usually about 50 cents/roll at craft or fabric stores), and some large yarn needles. These are blunt needles and come in plastic or metal.
Thread the needle with ribbon cut about 18” long. Sew a running stitch across the top near the edge, or along the side of the placemat. It is easy for children to poke the needle through the holes in the waffle weave. Pull the ribbon across two or three holes and back down through the back side of the placemat, until you have woven a straight line across the entire side. If you sew in the center of the placemat, it will not show when the dishes are placed on top. Weave the ribbon in and out an inch or so in from the edge and you’ll have an attractive, embellished placemat. You do not need to knot the ends.
I hope you take a look at our new
Discount Cookbook section. You’ll enjoy reading excerpts from the Civil War era cookbook that I reviewed a few weeks ago. And soon I’ll post a review of a great new cookbook from Cook’s Illustrated. I’m often asked to recommend a helpful cookbook that goes beyond just a collection of recipes. This “America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook” is loaded with many helpful tips and color photos illustrating some of the important steps in the recipes. With over 1200 recipes and 1500 photos, this is one cookbook I refer to again and again. You’ll find it very useful for your own family, and for FCH groups, too.
Until next time ~
Copyright, 2006, Laurie Latour.
www.FutureChristianHomemakers.com You may make one printed copy for your own personal, private use. FCH leaders may make one printed copy for each person in their group. Copyright line above must be included in all copies. Permission for any other use must be requested in writing.
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