Tomato Soup Shouldn't Be This Hard

I realized something recently: tomato soup, when not out of a can, is really freaking delicious! There are two restaurants at Disney (one to which we will not return thanks to their dismal service) that have sublime tomato soup, and I've been inspired to try my hand at it.

Side note: my desire to make soup from scratch centers around the first time I made chicken pot pies from scratch and I realized that sauteing onion, celery, carrot, and garlic makes your whole house smell like you are cooking from scratch. I don't know why people don't do that when they are selling a house instead of baking brownies!

So I searched "Sanaa tomato soup recipe" and "Turf Club tomato soup recipe" online to no avail. Turf Club's tomato soup is really just sort of normal tomato soup, served with a giant blob of goat cheese in the middle, and with toasted baguette slices all around the bowl. Sanaa's is more like a bowl of delicious roasted tomato with none of the other crap. Theirs has chunks of paneer cheese, which is this weird non-melting cheese the consistency of tofu. Sounds gross, but it isn't. But that's neither here nor there, because I can't find either recipe.

Scott and I searched all of our cook books last night, and found a whopping two tomato soup recipes. One had mashed potato flakes (because nothing says 'cooking from scratch' like adding a product that's more sodium than calories) and the other had chicken stock. I passed on both.

I finally found a recipe online for tomato-basil cream soup that's simple enough that I know I can handle it. And it starts with onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. Sadly, it ends with 3 cups of heavy cream. I suggested substituting milk, but Scott doesn't like that idea. We may compromise with half of each.

And I need to email Disney to ask for the other two recipes.

Open Letter to Lindsay Lohan

Dear Lindsay,

I commend you on your decision to never work again. I can only assume that is your plan, given your $100 million lawsuit against E-Trade. It must have been difficult, being famous before puberty, though I imagine the money you made off the Disney movie machine probably would have allowed you to retire at 25 and live a modest, comfortable life. Your unfortunate stints in rehab, your partying, and your mooching family members probably drained a lot of your funds. I sympathize.

But you, rather than making a B horror movie or a TV show or a porno, have decided frivolous lawsuits are your ticket to the Promised Land.

"Many celebrities are known by one name only, and E-Trade is using that knowledge to profit," [the lawyer] said.

"They used the name Lindsay," Ovadia said. "They're using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn't they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody's talking about it and saying it's Lindsay Lohan."

The ad in question uses the phrase, "that milkaholic Lindsay." That's it. THAT'S worth $100 million in pain and suffering to you? Frankly, I wonder how many people out there don't know at least one person named Lindsay besides you. And while I agree with your lawyer's assertion that the use of the names Oprah or Madonna (or maybe even Angelina or Britney) may have been a legitimate mis-use of celebrity, I don't agree that you have the same single name recognition. I've heard your referred to as "LiLo" and "La-Lohan," but never just "Lindsay."

I'm sorry to see that this is how you have decided to spend your adult years. Some young stars who go through a wild phase come out clean and respected on the other side. Perhaps you should reach out to Drew Barrymore for some advice in this area. But best wishes on your retirement. Try to stay out of rehab - I hear it's a budget buster!

Sincerely,

Jamie
(who also has single name recognition...at least on this blog)

BWoF Update

So...today marks the halfway point of Jamie's Birthday Weekend of Fun. So far, it's been... well... fun! I don't really want to stop and analyze too much, but for now I'll just mention that Katie and I went to see the Little House on the Prairie musical, and it was a wagon train wreck. We had a lot of fun with the snark and sarcasm though! And on my actual birthday? Crappy lunch, followed by a cold but incredibly rewarding trip to Animal Kingdom where I snapped this photo:

I'm not sure anything makes a completely amateur photographer happier than snapping a picture like this one.

...and then we had ice cream and Chinese food for dinner.

More to come on the BWoF as it develops (or after it develops)!

Pie and Pettiness

(I was going for a clever play on 'Pride and Prejudice' but I think I failed)

So...I gave up publicly complaining about my job for Lent. Not really. I'm just trying to cut back because complaining doesn't do anything but allow me to mire in misery. And you know, that's no good for anyone. And today I'm not going to complain about my job, but it might seem that way!

One of our part-timers got another job. And frankly, I'm thrilled for her. The Restaurant has never been the perfect fit for her, and she's definitely had some trying times. Last Wednesday when she told me she was going to be leaving, I told her I'd make her a pie. And then we realized that due to my Birthday Weekend o Fun, the next day (last Thursday...c'mon...try to keep up!) would be our last day working together. Obviously I wasn't going to make a pie that night! So I told her I'd stop in another day this week and bring her a pie - half peach, half blueberry (and make an identical pie for me and Scott). And over the weekend, I bought a goodbye card for the other girls to sign.

Well, another of our part-timers had a family emergency yesterday and she couldn't work yesterday or today. She called the departing one and asked her to cover yesterday, and was told no. I sent her a text yesterday and asked if she'd be able to help out today, and she didn't even bother to respond.

You can tell a lot about a person in the way they work during their 'lame duck' period. In this case, I've decided that this isn't the type of person that I want to spend my birthday baking a pie for. It's obvious she wouldn't go to half the trouble for me... or even for a co-worker she really likes. In fact, at this point I almost regret spending the money on the card.

I did buy the world's largest bag of frozen blueberries, and did promise Scott that I'd be making him a pie. So I might still be doing that at some point this weekend. After all, what else are we going to do with the gallon of Breyers Vanilla in the freezer?