Written on February 5th, 2010 by Peterno comments
Tonight we decided to make an inexpensive meal that would give us some leftovers to take to work for lunch. Certain things work better as leftovers than others. In my opinion, pasta gets slimy and starchy, fish tends to get rubbery, and ground beef dries out. One option that stays relatively stable is soup, but be careful. Some soups keep better than others. Certain soups will solidify after cooling and no amount of further additions prior to reheating will save them. Also, certain vegetables like leeks, kale, or anything meant to be crispy on the first go will become anything but once the soup is reheated.
With these precautions in mind, good soups to make with leftovers in mind are vegetable based with some, but not tons, of dairy. For example, tonight I made a nice tomato bisque with a few chunks of gouda, some smoked paprika, a splash of half and half, and a spoonful of lowfat cream cheese. One thing that bothers me about most bisques is that the heavy cream used in the dairy addition is rich, but not terribly interesting in terms of how that creaminess tastes. Rich food should be worth the calories and the taste, not just the former! Making a soup with a few different kinds of dairy, in addition to a nice sharp flavor like tomatoes, really makes for a nice meal and one that is lighter than a heavy cream bisque.
After reading that roster of dairy, this may seem like anything but a high cost meal. However, the only thing we had to buy to make the soup were tomatoes, both fresh and canned, and the half and half, which we plan on using in another recipe. We had everything else, which brings me to a good tip on cooking, which is that you should use what you have. We bought a big wedge of gouda a while ago, and we had a chunk of it left. We like bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, so we always have some cream cheese in the fridge. Gouda, cream cheese, and half and half are all dairy, but each one has a certain taste that is nice on its own, but is also easy and fun to combine.
As for the rest of the recipe, it’s easy:
To begin, toss a big spoonful of minced garlic and a medium chopped onion into some hot olive oil. If you have a thin bottom pot, watch this mixture and stir it a lot until the onions are translucent. I then chopped four fresh tomatoes into big slices, about the size of a lemon wedge in a glass of iced tea, and tossed those in. To this I added about a half tablespoon of smoked paprika and some dried basil. While that heated up, I pureed three 14 oz cans of whole tomatoes in a blender and added this to the pot, along with two bouillon cubes (flavor on these varies a lot by brand, so find one you like). To this I added 3 cups of water
Then I let that mixture boil for about an hour, uncovered. I stirred it every now and then, but since there is no dairy in it yet, the soup can pretty much bubble on its own.
Then, add the chunks of gouda, the cream cheese, and the half and half. Lower your heat and wait for it to bubble just a bit, then stir it more frequently, maybe once every five minutes. Once dairy is in the soup there is a far greater chance the soup will scorch to the bottom of the pan, which you want to avoid!
I made some cornbread to go with this soup, but if making the soup is enough of a chore, just buy a nice crusty white or wheat bread. This simple tomato bisque is healthier than its relative which consists of nothing but pureed tomatoes and heavy cream. You could also add some other veggies to it if you wish; soup is nice to experiment with, because unless you do something really extreme, it will still taste pretty good. Just don’t go overboard on spicing it; you can always add more, but subtracting or downplaying a spice is not easy. And you want to preserve the taste of the fresh tomatoes you added.
It was so good that we accidentally dove right in before taking a photo!
Have fun cooking!
Peter and I have been casually looking for coat hooks to help reduce the piles of coats that we inevitably throw over the back of chairs or leave on the couch. In our search, I found a simple row of mounted coat hooks at Home Depot. The board and its color mimicked the lines and color of the trim in our house but it was obviously different. Wanting to avoid the I-tried-to-match-and-failed look, we decided to keep looking. Soon after an idea magically appeared in the inbox of my email account via Martha Stewart’s Organizing Tip of the Day. Martha recommended using mailboxes with magazine hooks to hang your hooks and hold your accessories. We found the mailboxes at Home Depot for $13.99 each. After grabbing a can of Kilz and a can of spray paint we were ready to begin!
Here is one of the mailboxes after priming it. We were originally planning on painting them white but after seeing them primed we decided we needed something with a bit more color.
We chose Krylon’s Indoor/Outdoor Paint in Celery. I love the way it turned out. I think the color looks really nice against our walls.
Before mounting the mailboxes we attached the magazine hooks. I’m not the greatest spray painter, so painting their small curved surfaces was a bit of a challenge. I skimped on the parts that you can’t see when they’re hanging up, but the end result looks great. To attach the magazine hooks you simply insert the hooked end through the bottom of the mailbox and bring it through the opening in the back.
Once the hook shows through, you pull it downward to lock it firmly into place.
Here is the end result. We decided to stagger the mailboxes to give them visual interest. The added bonus is that the taller one is perfect for Peter to drop his wallet and keys into and the shorter of the two works great for me.
So, what do your coat hooks look like? Do you have an eclectic array of Anthropologie hooks or did you manage to find some awesome vintage coat rack? Maybe coat hooks are something that you never bothered with. Let us know!
Yesterday something huge happened: Peter defended his dissertation. I can only imagine what it must feel like to wrap up such a large project, but I am nonetheless very proud of my fiance. Peter is one of the hardest working people that I have ever met. I know in my heart that he deserves each and every bit of positive feedback that he received. Last night after all was said and done we headed to one of our favorite hole in the wall bars with some of our favorite people. It was nice to be in such a joyous state with such fabulous people to help us celebrate.
Congratulations Sweetheart! I can’t wait to share in all of the wonderful things to come. Expect great things! 
I’ve wanted an Ikea Mongstad for a long time but I’ve put off buying one because Peter and I are trying to concentrate on only decorating one room at a time.Thursday night I came home from work, ran upstairs to change into my painting clothes, and saw this with a note taped to it.
(It seems like a weird angle because every other angle showed a huge pile of clutter.)
Peter surprised me by buying a Mongstad as an early Valentine’s Day present! I’m so excited to have such a large full length mirror in our home. Now, I will have no excuse for leaving the house looking horribly. (Umm, should we take it back?) Plus, when we continue decorating our bedroom we will have this beautiful piece to pull things together. Several other home bloggers use large framed mirrors to create a functional elegance. I love the way that the Young House Love couple incorporated a similar mirror into their bedroom to create a chic dressing area.
{Young House Love}
So, tell us: what are your decorating tactics? Do you try to decorate one room at a time or do you gather bits and pieces as you see them? Have you received any fabulous presents that inspire you to jump around? Right now I’m staring at the wall thinking about how nice our Mongstad would look with some beige curtains…
