Roasted Tomato Soup (so easy and so good)

Ah, fall. When the squash come in and the tomatoes head out. Here's a great use for those last tomatoes... the bland ones that didn't get enough sun and too much rain. Oh wait, that's all the tomatoes on the East coast this summer. heh. heh.

Little about this recipe is exact, so don't stress about amounts. Start it as soon as you get home from work (prep is ~10-15 min, 5 if you're DK). Get it roasting and it's literally 5 more minutes of work and you have amazingly tasty home-made soup!

Preheat oven to 400

Ingredients:
* About a dozen Roma tomatoes (or other less flavorful variety), halved and cored/seeded
* 10 whole garlic cloves
* 2 red peppers, quartered
* 1 lg onion, quartered
* few sprigs of fresh thyme
* 2-3 Tbs olive oil
* 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
* can of tomato paste
* 2 14 oz cans veggie stock (give or take), chicken's ok too
* salt and pepper

Did you preheat the oven? 400

Directions:
1) Toss the tomatoes, garlic, peppers, onion, and thyme with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic in a large bowl. Pour out onto a baking sheet. (I put parchment down on the sheet because I hate scrubbing baking sheets). Just give it a shake to spread everything out and throw it in the oven.

2) Roast for 45-60 minutes - until peppers start to char and tomatoes look caramelized and yummy. Remove from oven and pick out the thyme sprigs.

3) In soup pot or stock pot, put whole can of tomato paste and saute for about a min. Dump the entire contents of the baking sheet (minus parchment) into the pot and stir around with tomato paste. Add veggie stock.

4) Blend with a hand blender (wohooo!!!). Bring to a simmer. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve!

It's SO delicious! We had it with fontina grilled cheese last week... yum!

How to get your honey to make an apple pie: The 3-in-1 Apple Peeler Corer Slicer

It's apple time again, and who doesn't love a good homemade apple pie?

Last weekend we went to Poverty Lane and picked far too many apples, and I discovered the secret to getting an apple pie in my oven with zero effort: The Apple Peeler Corer Slicer. Yes, ladies, this fantastic invention makes pie making a breeze. Why? Well, what person can resist using a toy that doubles as a tool... that's right, no one. Especially Tom. Thanks to this kitchen device, I sat at the table with my sister and sipped coffee while Tom whipped up two beautiful and tasty pies. So if you're craving a pie and don't want to make one, I strongly suggest buying your partner this toy. I guarantee it'll be an apple-tastic afternoon in your kitchen if you do.

Here's the recipe that we're using for crust these days. It's flaky and buttery-- pretty yummy, but I'm open to other recipes if you gals have some!

Pie Crust
2 1/2 c flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp shortening, chilled, and cut into 1/2" pieces
12 Tbsp butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
6-8 Tbsp ice cold water

Process flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Scatter shortening in and process ~10s until the texture of rough sand. Scatter butter in and process ~10 pulses, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbles. Add 6 Tbsp water and stir the mixture by hand with a spatula, just until mixed. Add more water by 1 Tbsp increments until mixture is able to be patted together well. Divide dough into 2, pat into circular patties, cover in saran and chill for at least 1 hour before rolling out.