Cold, WET, rainy Monday

Brrrrrrrr!!!!!!  I can't believe it was up to 80 degrees this weekend at one point and today I think it maxed out around 47!!!!  And it is absolutely POURING rain too.  Luckily this is not the depressing, grey, relentless rain of November, but the cheerful, puddle-jumping, flower nourishing rain of April.  I keep looking out the window and the plants just look so happy!  Is this what it's like to live in Ireland?  Always somewhat damp and chilled but surrounded by happy vegetation?  

To warm us up a bit, and to fill our rumbling tummies, I decided to make my children's favorite soup:  Tomato!  (In the slow cooker, of course).  Accompanied by grilled cheese of course.  I received accolades from the wee ones for cutting their sandwiches into heart shapes (hurrah! I did something right!) and then I had the following inspiration:  Why not make a sexier version of that old stand-by Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup??!  So here it is ...

Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

(not rocket science, I know - but cool nonetheless)

For the Soup:

1/4 C tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped into coarse pieces

2 vine ripened tomatoes, chopped coarsely

1 small onion (chopped the shape you like them, I did mine half-moons, chopped in half)

1 container pre-made tomato and basil soup, Whole Foods Brand (ok, ok - you purists out there can make your own from scratch, but we parents will keep it real and use short-cuts when we need to).

Pour olive oil into the slow cooker and turn cooker on to HIGH.  Add onions and garlic and get distracted by youngest child.  Come back frantic after 1o minutes because you forgot what you were doing and add tomato paste.  Smear it all around and together with everything, add salt and pepper and cook on high until it all starts to sweat.  Add tomatoes and tomato soup.  Put on lid and pick up oldest child from school.  

Grilled Cheese

Bread - whatever you've got around.  I've used all kinds and sourdough is my favorite, with a sharp cheddar, but today we had multi-grain sandwich bread and,

Farmer's Yogurt Cheese (not the soft kind, it was the texture of provolone)

Butter

Make grilled cheese in a skillet.  Email me if you need directions on how to do this, I'll happily run you through it.  Be sure to make them nice and crispy and brown, they can't be soggy at all or they won't make good croutons.

If you've got a large heart shaped cookie cutter, then thrill your children with heart shaped sandwiches (see above) otherwise, proceed as follows:

Cut the grilled cheeses into pleasant crouton-y shapes.  Float in hot tomato soup and garnish with more cheese if you're feeling it.  Enjoy!  Slurping encouraged.