“Happy Winter Solstice and Smoky Tomato Soup”

A last Winter’s Solstice blog for 2024! Here are some of my favorite late afternoon pictures from our shortest days of the year. Many thanks to my loyal followers. Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday and a Healthy New Year!

I can’t resist adding pictures with beautiful abstract patterns!

AND: Here’s a pic of our new house peeking through the woods!

STAY WARM AND COZY!

Here’s a recipe for Smoky Tomato Soup, that we had on a recent lunch at the newly reopened Roadside Diner in Monterey, Massachusetts. We enjoyed our version of soup with Crispy Sour Cream and Onion Chicken featured in my recent blog:https://wordpress.com/post/musicianstravels.com/9143 along with a green salad.

Smoky Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

2 large cans (28 ounce) whole plum tomatoes

1 small stalk celery finely chopped

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 small carrot finely chopped

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

pinch cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 bay leaf

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup water- more if needed

To make soup:

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and add onions.

Saute onions until slightly softened. Add carrots and celery. A bit of chopped fennel might also be good! Cook a few minutes.

Add tomatoes and rest of ingredients.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook about 1 hour. Add more water if soup is too thick.

Remove Bay leaf and puree with an immersion blender. Remaining chunks of vegetables are fine.

ENJOY!

AND: Here’s the last “Tree of the Year” for 2024!

HAPPY WINTERS SOLSTICE!