Last week was really cold and snowy here in Michigan. Soup weather, right?

I have a number of recipes on my list for next year that I’m determined to master. I’ve never made homemade tomato soup so I thought I would give it a try. It turned out wonderful but the recipe called for two cans of tomatoes. I thought, “Wait a minute. Canned tomatoes for homemade tomato soup? That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

However, this seemed like a good first recipe and as luck would have it, I had a homemade canned jar of tomatoes that my daughter-in-law gave me in the fall. No extra salt or preservatives. So while I followed this recipe, I was able to cut out one of the cans. Also, the recipe doesn’t call for blending the soup to eliminate the chunks. I decided I wanted it semi-chunky so I blended about three-quarters of the soup before serving.

We have a wonderful cheese/specialty vinegar and oil, store in our town called “The Cheese Lady.” I have a number of her vinaigrettes and I use them on just about everything. In fact, the last time I was there, it was suggested I try and splash some of the tablespoons of vinegar in sparkling water for a refreshing drink. I haven’t tried it yet but I have the sparkling water and am going to give it a try. I think it might be good.

She has since franchised her business and there are three other stores in Michigan. Ours is the flagship store. I love it and there’s kind of a neat story behind her success.

We have a great farmer’s market and for years the owner had a stall where she sold her cheese out of the back of a truck. She was nicknamed, “The Cheese Lady” by her customers. She sold her cheese that way for many, many years and then about five years ago she opened a store and it was an immediate success. Anyway, the cheese you see on the French bread above is a blue /goat cheese  mixture that is to die for. It was a great combo.