Roasted Tomato Basil Soup.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches has always been one of my favorite meals on cold days. It really reminds me of my childhood. Campbell's brand used to be my favorite, but then I discovered new brands and Campbell's soup is a thing of the past for me.

As a matter of fact, canned tomato soup might just be a thing of the past for me as well. Two Peas and Their Pod is just one of the few blogs I follow, and I recently discovered that they had a recipe for tomato soup. Look at their recipe here. I am always looking for new recipes, and as tomato soup has been a favorite of mine since childhood, I needed to try it. I also really wanted to use my new immersion blender I got for Christmas. Thanks mom!

I was a little wary to try making this. I love tomato soup, but I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes. I thought it might be too chunky for me. The day I went shopping for my tomatoes, there wasn't a good selection of Romas. I'm excited to try this again when I can get fresh tomatoes at the farmer's market! I'm glad I tried this recipe, and it's one I plan on hanging on to. You should definitely try it and tell me what you think.

I ended up loving it! It wasn't too chunky for me, although my younger brothers did complain about the chunkiness. The fresh basil was a lovely addition to the soup. I also learned what not to do with my immersion blender, as well as the best ways to use it. Next time I make this soup or another soup I will be more prepared to use the immersion blender.

Tomato Basil Soup
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste, for seasoning tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Dash of red pepper flakes
1 cup freshly chopped basil
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable broth (you can use chicken broth)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the tomatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast for about 45 minutes.

2. In a large stockpot, heat the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, fresh basil, and vegetable broth. Stir in the oven roasted tomatoes. Cook for about 30 minutes over medium-low heat.

3. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the stockpot, or transfer soup to a food processor or blender to blend. The soup should be smooth, with a few tomato chunks. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve warm.

Note-be careful when transferring the soup to a blender or food processor. You may want to wait until it is at room temperature to blend.

Best served with grilled cheese sandwiches!

Once again, thanks to Two Peas and Their Pod for the amazing recipe!

Pumpkin oatmeal.

I love oatmeal. I love pumpkin as well. So why not combine the two? I was kind of weary to try making pumpkin oatmeal again, because the first time I made it, it didn't turn out well at all. Now that I've had good pumpkin oatmeal, I think my problem the first time was my pumpkin had gone bad.

This was quite easy to make. I had about a half a can of pumpkin puree left over from when I made pumpkin cookies, and that's why I decided to make this. I first made one serving of oatmeal, and microwaved it until the majority of liquid was gone. I then added the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. I then microwaved it some more until it reached the desired temperature. Then I added in brown sugar for some sweetness.

Voila! Pumpkin oatmeal. So good. Perfect for cold weather!

Potato Soup and Pumpkin Pie.

This meal screams comfort food. It was very delicious!

Allana's Excellent Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of celery soup
• seasonings of your choice
• garlic
• bacon!

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, sautee onions and garlic in the butter, until the onions are translucent. Stir in the mustard, then pour in the chicken broth. Add potatoes, bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, it's time for your bacon. Cook it long enough so it's really crispy, enough to make it crumble. When it's done cooking, set aside on a plate covered with a paper towel.
3. Combine the milk and cream of celery soup, and add to the saucepan. Season to taste with your choice of seasonings. Heat through, but do not boil. When you are ready to serve, top with crumbled bacon.

When I wanted to make a potato soup, I was expecting something a little more creamier. But even though it wasn't what I expected, it was still delicious. Instead of using diced ham like the original recipe called for, I used bacon because if I had leftover bacon I wouldn't mind, but I didn't want to have leftover ham. I just got the cheapest bacon I could find. The seasonings I put in were rosemary, parsley, a little bit of salt and a lot of pepper, garlic salt, and a little bit of Mrs. Dash garlic and herb.

This is definitely a recipe I want to try again. Next time I try it I want to leave the bacon and chicken stock out, and replace with veggie stock. I also think that adding peas and/or leeks would taste wonderful, and maybe top it off with cheese.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients: 

•  1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
• 1 (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (9 in) unbaked pie crust
• heavy whipping cream
• vanilla 
• sugar

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices, and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. 
3. While the pie is baking, chill a mixing bowl bowl and beaters in the fridge. Right before you are ready to serve, take the bowl out of the fridge. Pour cream into the bowl and beat it until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla, and beat until soft peaks from.
4. Serve pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

The pie turned out quite delicious! When I made the pie though, not all of my pumpkin was mixed in with everything else, so I ended up having a few small chunks of pumpkin. Make sure to mix everything in! 

When making whipped cream, the amount you make is up to you. Instead of measuring things out, I just poured the cream into my bowl until I thought it looked like it was going to be enough. The amount of sugar and vanilla you add is also up to how you want it to taste. Mine came out with a little more vanilla flavor than I had wanted because I accidentally poured in too much, but it was still delicious. I also added a little bit of cinnamon to it.

What is your favorite fall comfort food?