Pumpkins and Tomatoes

There is a new little ritual that has developed between my sister and I whenever we get together. It usually begins with a stack of cookbooks... and a lot of contemplation and discussion about different recipes and ingredients. Then there is (my favorite part) the cooking. But not just any cooking. Sister cooking. Planning, and chopping, and simmering, and measuring... intermixed with stories and laughing and silliness. Cooking with someone else who loves and appreciates fresh, homegrown food has much as me. Cooking with someone who is as inspired as I am by the sight of a grocery bag full of multicolored vegetables and fresh herbs. And, my confidence is always higher when cooking with my sister (aside from the fact that she's a better cook then I am), just having two people put there time and love into a meal makes it taste all the better I think.





So tomatoes and pumpkins have been the topic for quite sometime now. So much so, we decided we needed to dedicate a full day to them. So today was the first annual pumpkin and tomato fall fest (well if the truth be told we never actually agreed on that name, I just came up with it now... but it does seems to fit). I officially handed off all childcare responsibilities to Ryan so Katie and I could fully concentrate on our tomato and pumpkin duties. The end result of our labor was four batches of very, very delicious cream of tomato soup, one pumpkin pie, and a few jars of fresh pumpkin puree for later use. Very satisfying.



The Soup recipe was from the book "Soup a Way of Life"
1 tbsp butter
1 medium onion sliced
3 pounds of tomatoes (this equaled out to be about 6 tomatoes)
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 cup cream (optional) we used half and half in two batches and none in the other two
1/4 cup narrow strips of basil

In medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 7 minutes.
If using fresh tomatoes, stir them into the onions, raise the heat, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Blend in food mill (we used a blender) in batches and return to pan. Add salt, cream, and basil. We served it with croutons and fresh parmeson cheese.