Day Twenty Eight - Australia

G'day mates! This morning, we took a trip to the Land Down Under to enjoy a traditional Australian Brekkie.  This was the first time this month that I've cooked breakfast for a tour stop, and I was excited to once again get to share it with Aunt Chris and Uncle Bill.  However, they did leave right afterwards...I'm hoping that it wasn't because of today's meal!


Traditional Australian Brekkie

8 slices of bacon
6 eggs, beaten and mixed with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cans vegetarian baked beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 12 ounce package sliced white mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 loaf sourdough bread
1 loaf sunflower honey bread
Assorted jams and jellies (we had fig butter, raspberry, and orange marmalade)
Vegemite
Strong coffee
Orange juice

The Australian Brekkie shares many similarities with an Irish or English breakfast (another testament to how colonialism can shape the food culture of a region).  I didn't so much cook this one, as assemble it, and it was all about timing.  First, I cooked the bacon in a large skillet.

While this was going on, I heated the oil in another skillet and sauteed the sliced mushrooms until they were brown and had released most of their juices.

In the meantime, in a small pot I added the can of stewed tomatoes and cooked on low heat until they were steaming.

Once the bacon was all cooked, I set it on a plate and covered it with a paper towel.  I then added another pot and heated the baked beans until they were bubbling.

In a large pan, I also added the eggs and cheese and scrambled the eggs. Finally, just as the eggs were finishing cooking, I toasted the breads.

And here was the final result...

It was a great way to start a day.  Elizabeth and I occasionally have this kind of breakfast on the weekends, with a few variations (most of the time I will substitute greens for the mushrooms, or sausage for the bacon).  One doesn't usually think of beans for breakfast, but they add a sweetness to everything without being too sugary, and the tomatoes and mushrooms go well with the eggs.  It's a big, hearty breakfast, and it's great for Saturdays and Sundays when we have a lot going on and we need a large meal to kick things off.

A note on the one thing that really set this apart from an English or Irish breakfast.  That would be this...

It's called Vegemite, although the only "vegetable" that we could find listed in the ingredients was celery, and that was way down the list among the added "flavours" and "colours" (the added "u" makes those words sound fancier).  It's a yeast extract spread that is featured in both the Men at Work song and in Australian cuisine.  You can normally find it in the international aisle near the English food.

It was a black, oily looking paste that tasted a lot like sardines, but also was it's own unique flavour (hey, I could get used to spelling it that way).  And in this case, unique is not necessarily a good thing.  It was incredibly salty, with a lingering after-taste.  I put some on my finger and successfully managed to get Elliot to cringe, Elizabeth, Aunt Chris, and Uncle Bill only managed a little bit of the stuff on a bite of the sourdough.  I soldiered on and had a full piece of toast with it, but it was a bit of a struggle.

The bigger struggle now is what to do with the rest of the jar, as we really only scratched the surface of it.  There has to be a blog or a Reddit thread about what to do after you foolishly buy a whole jar of Vegemite, try it, find it wanting, but you don't want to throw away the rest of it.  Or, if there isn't, maybe a should start one. Hmm...January 2017...The Vegemite Month...

Day Twenty Seven - China

Nin hao! Tonight's tour stop on our global culinary adventure takes us to China, As with Italy, I'm willing to bet that this is a cuisine that most people in the US have some familiarity with, albeit an extremely Americanized version of it.  There's a great documentary on Netflix now called The Search for General Tso that traces how such regionally diverse food in China came to this country and was quickly changed to suit the tastes of Americans.  Check it out, it's really good stuff!

 I toed the line here tonight with my choice of recipe.  While it's a dish that originates in China, I'm sure that some of the process was lost in translation.  Still, I didn't want to heat up frozen egg rolls and call it good.  I wanted to try something a little more challenging, with a little more kick.

Kung Pao Chicken with rice

6 chicken thighs, chopped into medium sized chunks

2 tablespoons white wine

2 tablespoons lite soy sauce

2 tablespoons spicy sesame oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved into 2 table spoons of water

1 ounce red curry paste

1 ounce chili garlic paste (by the same folks that make the "Rooster Sauce")

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons brown sugar

4 green onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 10 ounce can of water chestnuts, drained

1/2 cup crushed peanuts

Ok, I'm going to be up front here.  The recipe list above was only a framework.  I went really wide with this one, adding more chili paste than called for, more wine than necessary...basically, more everything.  I kept adding a dash here and a pinch here until it got to the taste that I liked.  I suggest that you follow these amounts first, and then go from there.

First, I made a marinade from one tablespoon of wine, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch mixture.  I combined this all together in a large bowl, stirred, well, and then added the chicken to it.  I tossed the chicken so it was coated evenly, and then set it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

After that time, I cooked the chicken in a skillet until the juices ran clear, about 8 minutes.

While this was going on, I used the remaining wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch mixture, and combined it with all of the remaining ingredients (from red curry paste to the bottom of the list above).  I mixed this well in a bowl, and here's where I added my dashes and splashes here and there. I like spicy food, so I went more in that direction, but I'm sure that you could pull back on the heat and add more of something else to get the flavor you prefer.

I heated the sauce, and once it was aromatic, I added the chicken to it.  I cooked the chicken in the sauce until it thickened, about 10 minutes.  I lowered the heat and continued to stir.

Sauteed Bok Choy and Cabbage

1/2 head green cabbage

1 bunch bok choy

1/2 onion, diced

1 medium shallot, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon parsley

I first chopped the stalks off of the bok choy and then diced them into smaller pieces. I added these pieces to the onion and shallot.  In a skillet, I heated the oil and then added the diced veggies to the mix.  I cooked on medium for about 5 minutes.

I then added handfuls of the cabbage/bok choy greens to the skillet, stirring constantly to coat everything and to make sure everything cooked down well. I did this for about 10 minutes.

I served the chicken over some wild rice that I had boiled.  The result...

...turned out really well!  While not as spicy as the Kung Pao that caused George Costanza to sweat profusely, it was still hot enough to have some umph.  To me, it had the perfect amount of spice, enough to know it was there but not enough where you spent the whole time gagging or gulping down water. The greens were flavorful as well, and they paired really well with the spicier dish.

The best thing about tonight was that we got to share dinner with Elizabeth's Uncle Bill and Aunt Chris. They're from just outside of Philadelphia, and were on their way to visit friends and family in Asheville, NC and in Florida.  We don't get to see them too often, so it was a great way to spend an evening and we are very happy they made the stop to see us and to meet Elliot.

While it's been great to share these meals with Elizabeth, it's been great to also get the chance to cook for others and have them join in on our trip around the world. As I've said in other posts, food has a powerful way of bringing us together, and I feel a great sense of fulfillment being able to cook for others and have them actually be able to enjoy it, let alone eat it.  I've come a long way in this regard...

While I don't think I'll ever be able to replace our favorite Chinese spot here in Greensboro (that would China's Best on Lawndale...fantastic), it's good to know that I can come up with something right here at home that at least in the same ballpark.  And, just like China's Best, or any great Chinese restaurant, the wonderful thing about last night is that there are plenty of left overs to dig in to tomorrow.

Day Twenty Six - Germany

Guten tag! Welcome to Germany, land of Oktoberfest. The recipes tonight were inspired by that yearly celebration, one that my buddy Rex attends every year. I hope to one day join him (maybe as an "Elliot leaves for college" present to myself...)

There were many different ways to go with the food for tonight, but I tried to keep it simple (some of the best tour stops this month have involved me doing that). So grab your boot of beer and strap in for a trip to Deutschland!

Bratwurst

5 links bratwurst (I used the local store brand)

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cups beef broth

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

To start, I heated the oil in a skillet and cooked the onions down on medium heat.

Next, I added the bratwursts and cooked until they were browned on either side, about 5 minutes total.

When I saw that the onions and brats were burning or getting too hot, I added a splash of the beef stock. I continued to do this for another 15 minutes.

Potatoes and onions

2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped finely

1/2 onion, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

This was my attempt at a hot German potato salad. First I heated the oil and then cooked the onions for a couple of minutes.

Next, I added the potatoes and cooked on medium high heat for about 15 minutes, stirring so they would brown but not burn.

Cabbage with apples and bacon

1/2 head of cabbage, chopped

Two gala apples, peeled and cored then chopped

3 slices of bacon

First, I cooked the bacon in a large skillet until browned but not over done.

I removed the bacon from the skillet but left the bacon grease. Next, I added the apple pieces and cooked for a couple of minutes.

I then added the chopped cabbage and stirred constantly, making sure it all cooked evenly, for about 5 minutes. I crumbles the bacon and added it back to the mix and cooked for another couple of minutes.

The result...

...brought us to Munich. Served with a German beer, tonight's meal was very flavorful and not as heavy as I was expecting. The potatoes and onions were  not too oily, and the onion and beef broth added a great taste to the bratwursts.

The cabbage side dish was interesting. A mix of the sweet from the apples and the salty bacon, with the cabbage right in the middle to hold it all together. While not the healthiest way to cook, how can you go wrong with using bacon grease to cook vegetables? (Ok I am sure there are libraries of clinical research showing just how wrong you go with this plan, but for the sake of tonight, we will call it a good idea).

We are rounding out this journey around the world rather well, and it's making me antsy to plan out our next trip that will actually involve a plane, train, or automobile. I'm going to lobby hard for Germany. Brats and beers...my kind of people.

Day Twenty Five - Thailand

Swasdi! Welcome to Thailand, and welcome to the home stretch of the Global Grub month.  Only a week left until this culinary tour around the world comes to an end. I'm hoping that from here on out it's only good stops and good food.

Elizabeth and I love Thai food.  One of the restaurants at the resort we stayed at for our honeymoon in Jamaica was a Thai place, and it was fantastic.  While we were there, I got to try things that I normally don't get at other Thai places (where I rarely branch out from the "Pad Thai" side of the menu).  Things like tom yang goong soup and spicy curry dishes.  So when planning out this tour stop, I wanted to do something in that vein.  Instead of the typical noodle dishes that I am most familiar with in Thai cuisine, I decided to go in another direction.

Thai Curry Pumpkin Soup

2 cans pumpkin

1 can coconut milk

4 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons red curry paste

1 large red chili, seeded and sliced

1 tablespoon cilantro

This was a very easy soup to make, and it smelled great while it was cooking.  First, I heated the red curry paste in a pot until it became very fragrant, about 2 minutes.

I added the pumpkin...

...and then the chicken broth.  I mixed well, and let that simmer for about 5 minutes.

Once it started bubbling, I added most of the can of coconut milk, reserving about a tablespoon in the can.  I mixed well and let it all simmer again for about 5 minutes.

To serve, I ladled the soup into a bowl and topped it with a drizzle of the remaining coconut milk, some of the red chili slices, and a pinch of the cilantro.

Chopped Thai Kale Salad with Garlic Ginger Dressing

4 cups kale, chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1 orange bell pepper, sliced

1 tablespoon cilantro

2 green onions

1 cup cashews, crushed

For the Dressing:

1/3 cup blended oil

1 tablespoon garlic powder

3 tablespoons low sodium teryaki sauce

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 inch fresh ginger, peels and sliced

Squeeze of lime juice

For the salad, I added all of the ingredients together and then let it set in the fridge while the soup cooked.

Similarly for the dressing, I added the ingredients together and mixed well. This was the first thing that I made tonight, and I let it set for the longest to the let the flavors mix.

The result...

...was fan-Thai-stic! Elizabeth elected to skip the peppers on her soup because of my reaction to them (they were hot!) but I actually think they brought some great tastes out in the soup.  It was not overly pumpkiny, but I expect that the flavors will come out even more after a few days.  

The salad (and specifically the dressing), however, was the real star.  Elizabeth was quick to point out that "This tastes like something we would get at a Thai place."  Lots of different flavors going on with each bite, and it provided a good counterpoint to the milder taste of the soup.

This was a quick and easy night, which I think is okay actually. It showed me that you can still go to another country through cooking or spice up a dinner without having to get so involved.  Some of the recipes this month have taken a lot of time and a lot of love.  Those have been great, but they also have been a production and basically take up all of the time I have with Elliot and Elizabeth when I get home.

It's nice to have a balance.  It's nice to have some recipes that you can make after a long day of work when you don't have a lot of time but you still want to do something out of the norm. These one pot/quick recipes don't have to be bland rehashes of things you already make.  Instead, they can transport you to Thailand, or anywhere else around the world you might want to go.

Day Twenty Four - Ecuador

Buena noches! Welcome to Ecuador, and particularly the Sierra or Highlands region of that country. Tonight's recipes come from the Egas branch of the Brooks family (my mom's family).  My Aunt Angela and Uncle Diego lived in Ecuador for many years, and I am very thankful to them for sharing these with me for this tour stop.

Aunt Angela said that these dishes are traditional to the Ecuador Andis, and it's food that they still make in their home back here in the US.  I've been fortunate enough to try Uncle Diego's cooking, and to say that I have a lot to learn when it comes to this kind of cuisine is a grand understatement.  Still, I was excited to try my hand at these authentic recipes.


Fritada

1 pork loin, chopped into cubes
1 teaspoon cumin
5 cloves minced carlic
1 onion, chopped into large pieces
1 shallot, chopped into large pieces
3 cups of water
1 bottle of beer
Salt and pepper to taste

To start, Elizabeth was a huge help and chopped the pork loin into cubes.  She seasoned them with the cumin, minced garlic, and salt and pepper, and let it rest for an hour.

I added the onion, shallots, and seasoned pork to a large skillet.  I then added the water, and brought it to a boil.  Once the water had mostly boiled off, I added the bottle of beer and let it reduce.

Agrio

1/2 tomato, finely diced
1/2 shallot, finely diced
2 tablespoons, finely chopped green onions
1 red hot chili pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup orange juice
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil

This is a sauce that I used for the pork.  I mixed all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.  I let it set in the refrigerator while everything else cook.

Llapingachos

3 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoons ground achiote
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

First, I boiled the potatoes until they were soft.  While this was going on, I heated the oil over medium heat and added the onions and achiote. I cooked until the onions until they were soft, about 5 minutes.

I then mashed the potatoes and mixed in the onions (this onion spice mix is called a refrito). I added salt and pepper to taste.  I let the potato mix rest at room temperature while the pork loin cooked.

Next, I made golf ball sized balls of the potato dough.  I used my thumb to make a hole in them, and I filled that hole with cheese.  I formed the balls into thick patties.

I used the same pan that I had made the onion refrito in, and fried the patties until they were browned on either side.

The result...

...turned out pretty well!  Both Elizabeth and I really liked the sauce for the pork loin.  It was not too spicy, with just enough pepper where every once in awhile we'd both get a bite that had more kick. It was very flavorful, and I can see it being used for a variety of different dishes.

The pork was well seasoned, but I think I may have done it wrong.  I think that it would have been better if I had browned the pork and skipped the part about boiling the water down.  That might just be a taste preference on our part.  It was still tasty, but I think I've found a way to change it up for the next time around.

The llapingachos were potato patties with onions and spices stuffed with cheese.  How could you go wrong with that?  They were fantastic and I'll have to make this recipe again.

Many thanks again to Aunt Angela for helping us on this stop on our trip around the food world. As always, the sharing of recipes has been the most fun part of this experience thus far, and I hope to get to try more Ecuadorian cuisine in the future!

.

Day Twenty Three - Belgium

Hallo! Tonight we visit Belgium, a country that Elizabeth and I got to visit on our European adventure at the end of 2014.  It was a stop over country for us (we spent Christmas in the Netherlands and rang in the New Year in Paris), and we got to spend a couple of nights there.  In the capital city of Brussels, we first had the meal that I prepared for tonight's tour stop.  They were far better in Bruges, the second city we visited in Belgium (pretty much everything was better in Bruges, from the sights to the people to the beer).

The dish that I am talking about is moules frites (mussels and french fries).  We saw it offered everywhere in as we walked the narrow streets of Brussels and the medieval cobblestones of Bruges. It seemed like every cafe offered some variation of the dish.  And, along with the waffles, it was probably the best thing that we had while we were there.


Moules frites

1 pound mussels
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 bunch leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley
1/2 bottle white wine (I used cheap chardonnay here)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter

2 potatoes, chopped into quarters and slices
3 large pinches dill
1/2 cup mayonaisse
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dash of garlic powder


To start, Elizabeth helped by chopping the celery and carrots.  I minced the garlic, the green onions, and the leeks.

I heated the oil and added the garlic first, then the green onions, then the celery, then the carrots, and finally the leeks.  I added a splash of wine after each addition, and then let it all cook for about 15 minutes.  I added the parsley in at this time as well, and topped it all with the butter.

While those vegetables were cooking, I took the potatoes that Elizabeth had pre-chopped and lightly sprayed them with some olive oil.  I sprinkled them with the dill, and then popped them in the oven at 400 for about 30 minutes. For a sauce, I combined the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and garlic powder and mixed thoroughly and set in the fridge.

Once the vegetables in the pot had cooked down, I cleaned and rinsed the mussels then added them to the pot.

I poured the rest of the bottle of wine in and let it steam for about 5 minutes.  At that point, the mussels had all opened.  I transferred them to a bowl and covered them with the wine/vegetables.

The result...

...was better than any of the mussels we had in Brussels (and pretty close to the dish we had in Bruges). I make mussels often, but I had never tried them this way (usually more tomato based and a lot spicier).  It was a great success, and the vegetables were a nice addition to what I normally do when cooking mussels. The frites and the dipping sauce were great as well, and there were no leftovers this go around.  It all tasted like we were back in Europe, which was my goal from the outset of the evening.

We may not be able to travel as much as we once did (Elliot doesn't contribute to gas money yet...), so this month has been a great way to rekindle our love of exploring new places.  From the comfort of our home last night, we were able to relive an incredible adventure.  We were able to share the memories we had of that trip, and how a little stop over country had shown us many wonderful things. We might not be able to physically get back there any time soon, but we can at least have nights like this that take us back there in spirit.

Day Twenty Two - Norway

Velkommen til vart hjem! Tonight's stop is Norway, one of the countries I was most excited about visiting this month. If you couldn't tell by the "Lars," my family tree has roots among the fjords. I'm named for Lars Horpedahl, who came to this country at the turn of the 20th century and made a life for himself and his growing family.

His wife (and my great-grandma), Sofie, shared the following recipes with the Lutheran church that the family attended in Minnesota. I was thrilled that my grandma still had them and was able to pass them down to me. I'll take good care of them, Grandma.

I've always been fascinated by the Norwegian side of my heritage (having my name was a constant reminder of it), but I'm at an age now where I can really appreciate it. My Grandma has wonderful scrapbooks that she shared with me after Elizabeth and I were married, and it was amazing to see part of the history that brought me to where I am today (that is, alive).  So, having that lineage and wanting to live up to it, at least as far as these recipes went, made tonight a very special stop on this culinary tour.

Lefse

3 cups cooked, mashed potatoes  (cooled)

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons cream

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons shortening

The instructions for both of these recipes from Grandma Sofie were very straightforward. No time to dilly-dally, it's cold out lets get this stuff cooked and eat already. I can appreciate this.

To start I mixed all of the ingredients together to form a dough.

I formed balls from this dough, a little smaller than a baseball, and then rolled it out on a floured surface.

I then fried it on a hot skillet until it was browned on both sides.

Norwegian Meatballs

3 pounds ground beef

1 1/4 cups dry, crushed bread crumbs

2 eggs beaten

1 cup cream

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoon chopped onion

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Again, straightforward and to the point from Grandma Sofie.  I mixed all of the ingredients together and let them sit for about 20 minutes.

Then, I rolled them into balls, a little bit larger than a golf ball. I browned them in a skillet, and then popped them in the oven at 250 for about an hour.

The result...

...brought back memories of childhood.  The lefse tasted how I remembered it, especially after Elizabeth and I slathered it in butter and then topped it with sugar (we love our sweets and pastries in Norway).  The meatballs had an almost sweet taste to them as well, and were very flavorful and juicy.  I served both the lefse and meatballs with a side of sauteed red cabbage and carrots, and that paired well with the sweetness/dryness of the lefse and the heaviness of the meatballs.

I need some practice on my lefse rolling skills.  I noticed that mine were probably a little too thick in some parts.  However, it did take me back and make me smile.  This was a recipe that Grandma Sofie made for her children.  My grandma, Ruth Horpedahl Farabee, then made it for me.  My mom got the recipe as well, and we would occasionally have lefse if we had left over mashed potatoes (when we didn't and we still craved this sweet treat, my mom would heat up a flour tortilla and roll it up with butter and sugar...close enough for government work).

It's amazing how something as simple as a potato pancake (Elizabeth said that this was more in line with that description than the latkes we've had) can bring back so many memories.  I think that's why food has such an important role in culture.  On a cold evening, and it can make us remember when we were small and unsure and the world was too big, and how a warm pastry covered in butter and sugar could make us feel better.  Or how something as simple as a meatball can connect us to relatives gone but not forgotten.

There's a wooden decoration at my Grandma's house that says "Velkommen til vart jem."  It means "Welcome to our home."  I hope that you've enjoyed coming to our home so far this month.  It's a home that stands because both of our collective families worked hard to give their children and grandchildren a life they could be proud of. It's a home built on love, laughter, and our shared memories of family and friends.

And food.  Lots and lots of food. 

Day Twenty One - Morocco

Masa' alkhayr! Welcome to Morocco, home to Rick's Place and a great place to begin a beautiful friendship.  The film nerd in me was very excited for this stop, as this country and it's most famous city, Casablanca, brings with it images of mystery and intrigue.  The fact that it's food is also pretty wonderful doesn't hurt matters at all.

This recipe comes from one of my colleagues, Jenna Antignano.  Though not Moroccan herself, she did recommend this dish as one she and her family had made many times with great results.  I made this one as a late lunch, and it's made my house smell terrific.

Moroccan Fish Stew

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound filet cod

1 green pepper, chopped

1 orange pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes (28 ounces)

1/4 cup orange juice

1 large pinch saffron

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup parsley

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

To start, I chopped the peppers, onion, and garlic.  I heated the olive oil in a skillet and added the chopped vegetables to it, along with the saffron, ginger, and paprika. I cooked until the onions were soft, about 5 minutes.

Next, I added the can of tomatoes and mixed well.  I cooked for another 5 minutes.

I then transferred the contents of the skillet to a slow cooker.  I mixed in the orange juice, and then put the cod filet on top of the mixture.  I cooked on high for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, I took the fish and set it aside.  I mixed in the parsley and cilantro, then served in a bowl with a piece of fish on top.

The result...

...was very flavorful and the perfect way to enjoy a cold day.  Elizabeth and I didn't know if the OJ/tomato mix would work, but it really did and the two flavors complemented each other very well. The fish was not too chewy, and added a lot to the stew.  With that being said, I am pretty sure that it would work on it's own without the fish.

There were a lot of flavors going on here, which I thought was great and made the dish a lot more interesting than a simple bowl of stew.  The cilantro added a kick but was not over powering as it can often be.  The peppers were still crisp and added a good crunchiness to the stew.  The citrus of the OJ actually helped balance out some of the sharpness of the tomatoes.  Overall, it was a really great soup.

It's been interesting that over the course of the month, I've found myself making a lot of these soups. I think it's because they're so easy to make, but also because they recall memories of days spent inside with your family. They've been perfect for these winter days, where you don't want to go outside. Instead you want to huddle around a pot of steaming goodness. Food ties us together, and there's really nothing like a house that is filled with the smells of food cooking, particularly in a crockpot. Who needs a candle or a potpourri pot when you can get the same effect from a slow cooker and actually eat the contents?