The One Where I Pretend to be Sandra Lee And go Semi-Homemade

I’m not in the habit of posting recipes, but I have to share this one with you because it’s so easy and so great. It’s a little something I whipped up the other day, and I call it Holiday Tomato Bisque because that sounds way better than Some S**t I Threw Together At The Last Minute. This is one of those things that tastes homemade but is really just a mixture of store bought stuff sitting on the shelf. In my mind, that qualifies for a blog post and inclusion in the band boosters’ next fundraising cookbook.

This creation came about over the Labor Day weekend when we suddenly found ourselves with an invitation to an impromptu cookout. That in itself was exciting, since we rarely do anything holiday-ish on a summer holiday. We don’t spend the weekend in the Hamptons, dahling, and we don’t take the sailboat out for one last tour of the bay. We usually end up grilling a few burgers, taking a nap and watching six hours of the John Wayne movie marathon on TMC. Prepare to die, you sons of b*****es! That’s Hubby’s favorite John Wayne line. He likes to shout it at the TV if there are no children around. And I suddenly realized I’ve already used two profanities in this post. Hmm. What's up with that?

As we quickly got ready to go to the cookout, I remembered that I had two senior citizens to feed. As I didn’t have time to make much, and I didn’t figure they were game for tuna salad a second time that week, I decided to fall back on a good old favorite, soup and grilled cheese. However, I had only one can of soup, which is rare because I ALWAYS have canned soup. I started thinking about how I could stretch that can and tossed together the ingredients I’m about to share with you. When it was finished, I tasted it, hoping it would be edible. It was so darn tasty, I couldn’t believe it. The little bits of tomato and the texture make it taste like homemade bisque you chopped up and cooked for a couple of hours. It literally took about ten minutes, and that’s counting the 2.5 minutes I spent searching for my good saucepan. This recipe made enough for Mama J. and Papa T. with a smidge left over. You can double it and easily feed four or five people if you serve sandwiches with it. Try it the next time the weather’s cool, you’re stuck in the house watching True Grit and you can’t be bothered with feeding your peeps a real meal.

Ingredients: 1 small can condensed tomato soup, 1 regular can of Italian style diced tomatoes, tomato juice from concentrate and cream.

I’m not kidding, that’s it. And please ignore the fact that the cans in my picture look kind of squattie. I was in a hurry when I took the picture. I had PLANS for goodness sake!

Directions: Mix the soup and tomatoes (do not drain tomatoes) in a saucepan and add tomato juice until the mixture is the consistency you like. It should be a little on the thick side. Stir and heat this until it simmers. Add enough cream to take the edge off the acidity of the mixture and to give it a smooth taste. The soup will be an orange color. I added about a fourth of a cup, but who am I to dictate how much cream you should use. If you want to get jiggy with it, you can add more. Heat the soup a little longer until the mixture is good and hot, but not boiling and serve. If you have some croutons, you might toss those on top. I like it with Clubhouse Crackers, but then again, I'll eat anything with Clubhouse Crackers.