Take a vacation in your soup bowl

Back in 2012, Dave and I had the good fortune to take a trip to Italy for our 20th anniversary. It's probably not hard to believe that the food was tied with the scenery as the most amazing part of our trip. One dish in particular, that we enjoyed in Sorrento, was a simple Italian-style tomato basil soup. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this goodness, because a good tomato soup (with a grilled cheese of course) is quite popular here too. The biggest difference with the Italian version is that ingredients are fresh, and there is no cream. It is a bowl of goodness that is healthy and yummy and totally worth the time.

Since it's tomato time and my herb garden is overflowing (and I needed a lazy Sunday activity), I whipped up a batch this weekend and wanted to share.

Before you get started, the most important part of this recipe is to have a yummy beverage to enjoy while you're cooking. For summer, a good local Rosé did the trick for me. :)

Once you've got your beverage in hand, the next important step is good, fresh tomatoes and basil. I have found that Roma or Plum tomatoes work best for this recipe.

Here's what you're going to need:

For Step 1:

3 lbs. tomatoes

2-4 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP salt

1 TBSP cracked black pepper

To get started, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and slice the tomatoes (lengthwise) and put them on a shallow sheet pan or roasting dish. Sprinkle with the olive oil, salt and pepper and ensure all your halves are cut side up. Once the oven is ready, roast for 45 minutes (and enjoy the yummy smell!).

Okay, sip some more wine and peruse a nice magazine while you wait. Once the tomatoes are done roasting, put them on the stovetop to cool a bit, and work on the next step.

For Step 2:

1 shallot

6 gloves garlic

2 TBSP butter + 2 TBSP olive oil

1/2 TSP red pepper flakes

4 C basil

1 28 oz. can whole Roma Tomatoes in their juice 

1 TSP fresh thyme leaves

1/2 C leftover red wine from your fridge

1 QT chicken stock

Salt to taste

The most important part of this step is to get that nice, fresh basil ready to roll. You are going to need FOUR CUPS, which is a LOT of basil. If you are buying from the store, this is going to require several packages. Basil grows fast, so if you haven't already, consider planting it in a small pot at home. I cook a lot of Italian food, so I find I use it plenty, and for a small up front cost, it's a great investment (and makes the planting area smell so yummy too).

After you've got the basil ready to go, rough chop your garlic and shallot. You'll be processing the final product, so no need to fine chop anything.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the olive oil, and saute the shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes just until the shallot is turning brown on the edges. Once that's done, add the rest of the ingredients (except salt), plus your roasted tomatoes and all the juices in the pan. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer (uncovered) for 40 minutes.

    

Once the simmering is done, you are ready to process your soup. The options are a food mill or food processor. What to use will depend upon your preference for the consistency of the soup. For a chunkier soup, the mill is the way to go. I think the finest mill setting makes a yummy product. If you want the soup super smooth, the food processor is definitely your best bet. Just be prepared in either case to do the soup in batches, as you will have a lot of soup to process! A note on the salt. I prefer to wait until this step to add salt to taste. The stock is quite salty, so taste and add until you are happy with the end product. For me, this is typically only about 1 to 2 teaspoons.

Once you're done, it's time to eat! I prefer some fresh cracked pepper, shaved parmesan and a little basil garnish. Sit back, relax, and daydream about the beaches of Sorrento. You're almost there!

Tall Mountains and Warm Tushies

I'm thinking there aren't going to be many opportunities for blog posts that allow for the word "tushie" in the title, so I'm glad I've got your attention and maybe a smile. I'm not sure about everyone else out there, but with Summer officially upon us, my concentration level is all over the map, and my fantasies of travel and adventure are hitting the roof. Luckily, I recently had a wonderful adventure to kick off the season, and I thought I'd share. Besides, the old memory isn't what it used to be, so this blog is serving multiple purposes. 

My good friend Jen and I have had the pleasure of many fun girls' trips, both back when we were neighbors in TX, and since we both relocated. As we were discussing options for this year's trip, we were looking for a location where we could both fly direct and one that offered some outdoor fun. Enter Colorado Springs! Denver was a direct for both of us (a miracle out of Boise), and of course, Colorado has so much opportunity for outdoor activity, so it was a no-brainer to serve as the 2015 destination. After a few months of counting down, the time was finally upon us.

The Garden of the Gods resort was going to serve as home base for our five days, and upon checking in and finally finding our room (hey, some travel brain was involved), we were STUNNED by the beauty of our view off the back balcony. 

After pulling our jaws off the floor and settling in a bit, along with a walk around the area, we stopped by the "activity concierge" (jeez, how awesome is this place) to get some recommendations on an activity for the following day. Since the weather had been very rainy leading up to the trip, we weren't comfortable booking something in advance, so we had decided to wing it for this trip (for those who know us, aren't you proud?). The concierge quickly recommended the "The Incline." A tough, but do-able hike well-known in the area and something we'd be glad we did. He told us how to get there and park and the inside tips, and, after looking him in the eye and making him swear he thought we were enough in shape for this, it was done. Crossing fingers for weather, we dove into our first night's in-room dinner and vowed to make it happen. 

For anyone interested in the details of "The Incline," feel free to Google. All I can say is that we learned over breakfast that you could actually see The Incline from our view of Pike's Peak at the hotel. Oh crap, we saw it... a completely vertical "staircase" on the side of the mountain in front of Pike's Peak. 2000 ft. incline in less than a mile... oh, and something like 4000+ steps. Sure, we can do this. As we drove toward the town of Manitou Springs, where we'd park, we watched as the thing got bigger and scarier in size and scope. I cannot confirm nor deny whether phrases like "there's no shame in turning around if we change our mind" and "there's no tshirt at the end; we better take our time" occurred as we drove. After parking and getting winded JUST WALKING TO THE TRAILHEAD, we took this tentative pre-hike selfie.

As we got started on the lower section (not quite as steep), we were feeling pretty good. We weren't taking many breaks, and we weren't feeling the altitude (check and check). We also started realizing that we were ascending with the same groups of people (soon to be our Incline BFFs). The grade got worse and worse, and some sections were so steep (and steps so short) that they required crawling with your hands to avoid falling backward. Let's just say that I quickly appreciated the fact that I am not afraid of heights. Upon one of our breaks, we met Allie, who was heard saying "I'm hiking ahead of my sisters; they are in their 30s and 40s and way back there." Insert Brandi and Jen asking "say what little girl?" :) We soon welcomed Allie into our 40-something fold, and after reaching the halfway point (where there is an option to turn off the trail and go back down, known as Wimp Out Point), we decided (Allie included) to go for it. This while there were dark clouds and thunder building, but hey, we had made it this far, and we were not turning around. The second half was tough due to a "false summit" at the 2/3 point, but once we hit the last section, and could actually see the end (and the flag), there was no stopping us. I literally hung my head down and just counted the steps and wouldn't let myself look up again until I'd made it to the top. This was one of the tougher mental and physical challenges I've taken on, but wow, the finish was just as amazing. Sweeping views, celebrations, and a feeling that we'd conquered something listed as "extreme" for outdoor adventures. Also, I must clarify that Jen and I beat BOTH of the 20-somethings that had joined our group to the top.

                      

Due to pending weather, we kept our celebration short and headed down the Barr trail, which is a much gentler, although quite steep itself, 2.8-ish mile trail that also offered some great views and time to reflect on our feat, which ended with some cheese fries, nachos and margaritas in the lovely town of Manitou Springs. 

For those still reading, there were two other blog-worthy adventures still on tap, the first of which was a spa day trip to The Broadmoor. We had heard many great things about this place, and knew we had to at least spend the day here in their very well-known spa (even dudes all over Co Springs had been ooohing and ahhhhing when we mentioned this part of our itinerary). Okay, seriously. THEY WERE NOT WRONG. I am a spa-loving girl who has checked out spas everywhere, and this place was on my top 5, okay, probably top 3, list. 

After checking in and being given our WARM robes and slippers, we took a tour of the quiet areas. Let's see, there was an oxygen room replete with magazines and chairs to recover from any altitude sickness. There was a Mountain room that came complete with the comfiest loungers I've ever seen, warm, soft blankies, snacks and a view of the mountains. Oh, and a fireplace room that had a crackling cozy fire and all the comfy amenities also described above. We made our rounds checking pretty much everything out, but the Mountain room, hands down, became our home for most of the day.

We both had the most amazing massages while visiting the Broadmoor spa, as well as a truly memorable, decadent lunch in the French-themed tavern restaurant, but the HIGHLIGHT of this place.... wait for it, because I know you've been wondering, was the spa bathrooms. Drumroll to a ............ warm tushie. That's right folks. Those bathrooms had a heated toilet seat, as well as controls that rivaled anything we'd ever seen. 

If you don't get it, well then chances are you've never sat on one. :)

So, last but not least on the adventure front, was our train ride up to Pikes Peak, at 14k+ elevation. The train trip takes a little over an hour to go 8 miles up to the Summit House. We left Manitou Springs at about 75 degrees, and when we reached the Summit House, it was snowing! What a journey. They prepped us by scaring us into drinking lots of water, getting warm clothes and even some oxygen, but in the end, Jen and I faired well and didn't have any issues with the altitude change (which was over 6K feet for the journey).

I am the proud owner of some new, bear-themed hiking socks.

To celebrate our journey, I had the world-famous high altitude donuts (when in Rome, you know). Tasty, warm and worth the hype. (They really need these donuts at the top of The Incline, but I digress.)

As the chapter started to close on another girls' trip adventure, we happily reflected on all the fun. Co Springs turned out to be a perfect blend of relaxation, adventure, good food (they have Tex Mex y'all) and, as the most important ingredient, wonderful chats and good times with a cherished friend.

So, 2016 planning begins. Hey, Jen, I did just see something about a Jaws-themed shark diving vacation. :)