This delicious casserole is the perfect way to use up some of the leftovers from your Christas dinner, using up some of the turkey (of course) stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc.   It's delicious and there is also cheese in the mix.  Oh but it is some good!

Where oh where has summer gone? Where oh where can it be??? My goodness but it's turned really chilly today! There is a definite autumnal feel in the air . . . and to be honest the garden is beginning to look very tired. But my tomatoes are ripening beautifully . . .



Cooler weather is not too much of a problem though, as it gives me the chance to cook up this beautiful Cream of Tomato Soup, which is a real favourite of ours. If you have never tried homemade Cream of Tomato Soup, you are really missing a real treat!



And don't allow your not having any fresh ripe tomatoes stop you from making it either, because this soup is beautiful even when made with a good quality tinned tomato. (The chopped Italian ones in Tomato juice are lovely.)



Delicious with crackers (rude or not, I love mine crumbled into the soup and topped with a tasty pat of butter), or perfect with some crusty bread or a tasty grilled cheese sandwich!

I did grilled cheese with mango chutney . . . so easy and so tasty. Especially if you follow a few rules . . .ie. don't rush the sandwich. You get a much nicer crust if you grill on a medium low temperature for a longer period of time rather than trying to get them grilled quickly at a high temperature. Spread a low fat mayo on the outside rather than softened butter. It is lower in calories and adds a nice flavour.



In fact this can meal can be made using skim milk in the soup and low fat cheddar cheese in the sandwiches, and I guarantee you will not notice any discernable difference from the higher fat versions!

Comfort food absolutely . . . late summer food, oh yeah! The perfect way to use up some of those tomatoes that are coming fast and furious at the moment??? Definitely!



*Cream of Tomato Soup*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Simple, warm and comforting.

750ml of chopped peeled tomatoes (Fresh if in season, or canned if not)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
4 TBS unsalted butter
1 ounce plain flour (1/4 cup)
2 pints milk (4 cups)
1 heaped TBS of runny honey
(Greek honey is fabulous)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Puree the tomatoes in a blender or food processor until smooth. Stir in the bicarbonate and set aside til needed.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally over medium low heat, until softened, but not browned. Sprinkle the flour over top and continue to cook and stir for about 1 to 2 minutes longer. This helps to remove the raw flour taste. Stir together the milk, honey, salt and basil. Slowly whisk this mixture into the flour mixture. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture is slightly thickened. Whisk in the pureed tomatoes. Bring just to the simmer. Remove from the heat and put through a seive or strainer, using the back of a large spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Reheat gently until hot. Serve immediately, ladled into heated bowls.

Note: The flavour of the tomatoes used is crucial. If garden fresh are not available or in season, good quality tinned tomatoes will give this soup more flavour than poor quality tomatoes.

There is nothing on earth as simple or as delicious as a bacon sarnie, bacon bap or bacon buttie, bacon sandwich . . . no matter what you call it, it's heavenly bliss.

When we were living up in Chester and working at a very busy service station together, my husband and I sold literally hundreds of bacon baguettes every single morning to hungry customers that would line up around the shop, mostly builders and truckers I think. We sold them by the halves and by the wholes, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, stogged full of *greasy bacon* baguettes. We also sold sausage ones, and bacon and sausage ones. Six and twelve inches of white breaded goodness crammed full of grease and cholesterol. I used to go home stinking of bacon and sausage each night, and wonder what the big deal was. I tried one once, and it didn't taste all that good to me, probably because they used cheap sausages and bacon. As anyone who is a Connoisseur of the finer things in life can tell you, cheap meat is just plain nasty, especially when it comes to sausage and bacon...


The bacon sandwich when done right though, plain and simple, is one of life's greater pleasures, not to be missed in the scheme of 100 things that one must do and experience in this lifetime.



One must be sure however, to use really good quality bacon. I like to use free range organic dry cured bacon myself. It satisfies my tree hugging need to be a responsable consumer of things, and I happen to think happy pigs taste better.



As far as bread goes, I think good old soft white bread tastes the best, not the cheapest but neither the most expensive. A good middle of the range bread works just fine, something like aKingsmill's Everyday medium white loaf works wonderfully for me!




*The Worlds Best Bacon Buttie*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Soft white bread, grilled bacon with crisp edges, brown sauce . . . delicious . . . need I say more?

6 - 8 rashers of rindless smoked or unsmoked back bacon
light olive oil
4 slices of white bread
HP brown sauce or Heinz Ketchup (whichever you prefer)

To get a really crisp edge on your bacon, snip a few small cuts in the fat around each rasher. This also helps to keep it from curling up too much when you are cooking it.

Put a large skillet over medium high heat and heat until it is hot. Add the olive oil and heat to a shimmer before adding the bacon. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until it's as crispy as you like it.

Lay two slices of bread out on the counter and divide the bacon between them, allowing the juices to soak into the bread. Spread the remaining two slices of bread with either the brown sauce or the ketchup and place sauce side down into the pan drippings. Cook for several minutes until all the pan juices are soaked into the saucy bread. Place the bread slices, sauce side down on top of the bacon covered slices. Place onto warm plates, cut in half and serve straight away. Enjoy!

Some days just scream out picnic. Days when the sun is shining and you've got nothing to do. Days like today. Today are our designated day off. Today the sun was shining. Today we went on a picnic. You don't have to go anywhere special to have a picnic. I have held many picnics through the years on our lounge carpet . . . it's all in the spirit of things . . . not the venue. Picnics can be held in the rain under an umbrella on a park bench . . . Picnics can even be held around the kitchen table. It's all about having a picnic state of mind!! You can have a picnic all by yourself, although undoubtedly, a picnic shared is much preferred . . . or maybe not. It all depends on the mood I suppose. Picnics are all about the food, really. Finger food. Happy food. Tasty, scrummy holiday food. Food just like this fantastically delicious tuna baguette! Filled with lots of lovely flavours . . . lemon, onion, celery, mayo, sweet pickle, Dijon mustard . . . Let's not forget the tuna! It goes without saying that you want the finest tuna for this scrummy sandwich. I like to use albacore tuna. An old Italian woman once told me that this was the only kind of tuna worth eating. I happen to concur. *Tasty Tuna Baguettes* Serves 2 hungry eaters, or 4 so-so eaters Printable Recipe Perfect picnic sandwich. Todd can eat a whole one of these. Sometimes I can too. It all depends on how hungry I am and how far we have walked. 1 225g jar of albacore tuna in olive oil (Drain well and flake) 1 spring onion, trimmed and finely chopped 1 small stalk of celery, trimmed and finely chopped the juice of half a lemon 2 TBS ultra low fat mayonnaise 2 TBS pickled gerkin relish (Branstons makes a good one) 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper seasoning salt to taste 1 tsp Dijon mustard few drops of Tabasco sauce shredded lettuce (several handfuls) 2 fresh baguettes (about 9 inches long) softened butter or olive oil spread Drain the tuna well and then flake it into a bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over top and toss. Add the remaining ingredients except for the lettuce and baguettes. Mix together well. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Cut the baguettes in half through the middle. Lightly butter with the softened butter or olive oil spread. Divide the shredded lettuce between the two, and then top each with half of the tuna mixture. Press the tops of the baguettes over top of the tuna and then cut in half diagonally to serve.

The weather really has been miserable this past week . . . cold, showery and windy! Mind you, we do need the rain. Our garden is simply gasping for it!



One isn't really inclined to eat warm weather food on this rainy cold days though. One wants comforting sustenance . . . rib sticking, tummy warming, soulful food.
A nice warming soup always fits the bill perfectly. Especially soups such as this tantelizingly delicious Honeyed Tomato Soup here today! It's simple, easy, quick and fantastically tasty!



Rich and herby with just a hint of sweet . . . your guests will wonder what your secret is. It tastes like it should have a bazillion calories in it, but guess what?? THERE IS HARDLY ANY FAT! It's just tomatoes, herbs, love fat milk . . . and that incredible richness comes from tinned skimmed evaporated milk.



Oh sure . . . you could use cream, but it's not really needed. You get all the deliciousness of a full cream soup, without any of the fat or calories!

I like that. Of course, one cannot say the same about the accompanying sandwich, but then . . . you can't have it all can you?



*Honeyed Tomato Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A deliciously simple tomato soup, slightly sweetened with honey. I find the honey helps the tomatoes from being too acidic. It just tastes wonderful. Who would guess that is is low in fat!

2 (390g) pouched of chopped Italian tomatoes with onions and garlic (about 4 cups)
2 ribs of celery chopped
splash of white wine
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
2 TBS runny honey
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
250ml of skimmed evaporated tinned milk (1 cup)
250ml of 2% milk (1 cup)

Place the tomatoes, celery, white wine, sage and rosemary into a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer. Stir in the honey and season to taste with some salt and black pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until the celery is soft. Blitz until smooth with a stick blender if you have it, or very carefully in a regular blender. Alternately you can put it through a moulee. Return to the heat. Whisk in most of the tinned milk, reserving a bit for a garnishing. Whisk in the milk. Heat through. Ladle out into 4 heated soup bowls. Drizzle a bit of the reserved tinned milk on top and drag through it with a toothpick to make a lovely swirl.



These are quite simply one of my favourite ways to make a grilled cheese. Simple and yet filled with wonderfully rich flavours! The tanginess of the strong cheddar cheese, combined with the sweetness of red onion marmalade, tucked inside a sturdy loaf and grilled until it is scrummily oozingly delicious! If you can't find Onion Marmalade, you could use a good chutney, and then again you could make your own.



*Cheddar and Onion Marmalade Panini*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

These are soooo good!! The perfect "go with" for a cup of soup!

8 thin slices of a sturdily rustic white loaf (I used a French Boule, which
I sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices)
4 generous tablespoons of onion marmalade
8 ounces of a good strong farmhouse cheddar, sliced
softened butter for buttering

Heat your panini press. Lay out 4 slices of your bread. Spread 1 TBS of onion marmalade onto each. Top with a generous amount of cheddar, dividing it equally amongst the bread. Top with the other 4 slices. Butter each sandwich lightly on each side and place into the Panini press. Grill until the cheese is meltingly scrummy and the panini have nice grill lines. Serve immediately.

Don't think I'm getting all hoity toity on you now . . .  this really is just a glorified open faced tuna sarnie!   But Tartine sounds very special doesn't it?  Okay so maybe it is a bit hoity toity . . .  but sometimes it's okay to expand your horizons a tad.  That's my story anyways and yes, I'm sticking to it!

 I was recently invited to become part of the 2015 Better with Leerdammer Blogger team.   As a member of the team I would be challenged to create a sandwich with the ingredients provided for five days running.  I am a big fan of Leerdammer and so for me, this is a delicious challenge to fulfil! This is Day Two!