sugar high.

yesterday, i moseyed over to milwaukee to check out my first ever iron cupcake challenge. what a hoot! you walk around and admire the cupcakes + booths and then you get to pick out 10 mini cuppies to try out. we decided it would be a smart thing to divide + conquer: everyone picked out different cupcakes so we could sample more cupcakes! and we noticed that for some serious foodie folks it wasn't their first time heading out to an iron cupcake challenge; they came prepared with egg cartons that perfectly housed their cupcakes (mental note: bring egg cartons next time). after sampling the goods, we voted on the best cupcake + booth! all in all, a sweet way to spend a sunday afternoon.


hope your weekend was just as sweet!

YUM.

*grilled brie + apple sandwich with roasted tomato soup

and little floating basil leaves*

fordy is playing his first season of tackle football *gulp*, and for us this means that 4 weeknights are devoted to practice, and starting in a week another night (or morning) will mean game day. i think it's insane how intense the program is, but fordy loves it...no LOVES it. i mean, he loves it like i love the beatles. it's his thing, and i can't knock it for that reason.

so tonight, time being tight and smack dab in a middle of the summer dinner rut, i asked what could i make? and i fell back on a family favorite that is both fast and easy, but a more *ahem* doctored up version. my criteria was that it had to be healthy and for me vegetarian, and using ingredients i had in-house.

the solution: grilled brie + apple sandwiches and michael chiarello's roasted tomato soup. because of this recipe, i will never ever (never ever ever) eat campbell's tomato soup again. i used canned tomatoes, but if you have an overabundance of tomatoes, please make this soup! the extra step of roasting them really enhances the flavor and it's so fresh, lana and fordy prefer it over any soup that i've made.

here is the recipe if you'd like to give it a go:

michael chiarello's homeade tomato soup (via food network):

Ingredients
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

*i substituted vegetable stock for the chicken stock and also used milk instead of cream, just to make it a little lighter.

(and thought i'd show and tell a photo of the little man in uniform...the photo doesn't emphasize it, but the shoulder pads are HUGE. makes me giggle everytime i see him).

poached eggs and day one: relearning how to eat.

*poached egg over blinged out toast*

are you anything like me in the morning? checking emails, making breakfast for the kids, throwing that last load of wash left overnight in the washer in the dryer, writing checks out for a couple of bills that need to get out...you get the drift. usually i'm standing up shoveling a couple of bites of breakfast in my mouth whilst multi-tasking and not giving proper respect to the food i'm eating. this summer my goal is not only to break out of my meal eating rut, but to simply just slow down and enjoy my food.

today (day one of not eating on the run) i actually did sit down and enjoy a poached egg over wheat toast smothered with cream cheese, fresh basil from our porch, a sprinkling of salt (no sea salt in the house-alas) and pepper, then drizzled with olive oil. heaven!

it had been awhile since i had a poached egg, but in the past week we've eaten them like three times and can't get enough of them. i have fond memories of my dad making these on sunday mornings and their wiggly, jiggly gooeyness over toast. if you want to hone your poached egg making skills, head over to the heart of light blog where i found my recent inspiration. rachel also has a link to smitten kitchen that shows step by step how to successfully poach an egg sans fancy, schmancy poaching pot.

be warned, if you do make these, you'll prolly be eating these for weeks...

*inspiration for breakfast found at the new domestic blog- a lovely blog, i might add*