a. to be in a hot air balloon, amoungst many other balloons, on a perfect day.

b. a dog. specially an adorable mix breed with a quirk or two. 

c. my exact apartment i live in now, in Portland.

d. for 25 days to be 2 days and for no one to feel pain about me leaving.

e. to not be afraid. of anything, ever again. 

f. to find out where small bits of chips and my half a chocolate chip cookie went.

It was a good try. 

I’m unreal happy about helping my friends. I know it come back to me, everyday. I love to cook - and they think it’s a big deal, but the guidance and love they give me is equal to any help I can give them- food, cleaning, child care… I love my family.

Here’s how to make the tomato soup I’ve been cooking for friends for the past few weeks. They say it’s pretty good and I’m quite proud of it. This recipe is from my head, so nothing is exact, just approximate amounts.

Ingredients:

1 Lg. Onion

1/2 Shallot

1 Large Carrot

6 or 7 medium Cloves of Garlic

1 or 2 Red, yellow, or orange Bell Peppers

2 Large Cans of Crushed Tomato

Rosemary, Basil, and Ginger (all fresh)

Tablespoon of honey

Olive Oil

Salt n Pepper (course is best)

Directions:

Peel the large carrot and chop into very small pieces. Imagine what the pieces will look like on the spoon, you’ll want them to be small. Chop half of the shallot into small pieces and put the rest aside for another dish some other day. There are many tricks to keeping onion from hurting your eyes, but the one I always use is to pour white vinegar on my cutting board and onto my chef knife. Chop the onion up into small pieces, along with all the garlic and toss these ingredients into a large soup pot on medium/high heat with 2 or three table spoons of olive oil. 

The carrot needs to get soft, but not squishy. This should happen naturally around the same time that the onion will turn clear. Try not to brown the onion or your soup will turn out very sweet, too sweet. 

Take about 1/4 inch of ginger, shave the skin off and try to chop it up. The threads in the ginger will make this difficult, but now worries. Toss the ginger in, and don’t over due it. Ginger is very strong flavor, a little bit goes a very long way. 

While your carrot/onion mixture is cooking, and you are stirring occasionally, chop your bell pepper into little cubes. Add plenty of pepper and salt to the pot and toss in the bell pepper. Stir, stir, stir. Add some more pepper. I like pepper. Take a few leaves of basil and mince them and toss into the mix along with a whole sprig of rosemary. Rosemary is a great flavor, but really should only be used fresh. Mince the rosemary and toss it in. 

Try a piece of carrot. It should be al dente. Add the two cans of crushed tomato. Take ONE of the cans and fill it with water, pour it in. 

Let your soup cook down with the lid on. You may need to add more rosemary, salt, and pepper at this point, but you will know upon tasting. Once the soup is super hot, take one large tablespoon of honey and very slowly drizzle it into the soup while stirring. 

Sugar is traditionally used in tomato soups to take the bitter flavor of tomatoes or their seeds away, but I use honey because it is hearty. 

Let your soup cook for about 20 minutes or so, stirring once in a while. You will notice some of the water being cooked out, when there is a ring of tomato around the top of the pot. Taste the soup, if you like it’s flavor, enjoy!