Like a Snowflake, She's One of a Kind

I was starting to think Allie had no fashion sense. I'll pick out her shoes to match her outfit, but she insists on wearing a different color that totally doesn't go. However, tonight she matched her yogurt mustache perfectly to her shirt!


We have snow forecast for tonight and early tomorrow! The kids' schools let out an hour early today, and Coleman's school canceled classes for tomorrow. We are so unable to handle any kind of freezing precipitation in these parts!

My favorite thing about cold weather is the food and drink you get to have! Creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese isn't an every day food around here. But it's a must when snow is in the forecast!

The recipe I use came from a restaurant in Montana that Gale and Rita would go to when driving through Missoula. She said that they would eat there, then she would come home and try to figure out the recipe. Finally, she decided to ask the lady at the restaurant. She handed Rita a card printed with the recipe! It's so easy and delicious:

4 B's Old Fashioned Cream of Tomato Soup
2 cans diced tomatoes
9 oz chicken broth
1 oz butter
2 T sugar
1 T chopped onion (I use more like 1/4 cup)
pinch of baking soda
2 c cream (I use heavy whipping so I don't add this much - it just depends how rich and creamy you like it)
1.Mix all ingredients except cream in a pot and simmer for an hour.
2.Heat cream in a double boiler (I just leave it sitting out for a few hours so it's room temperature).
3.Add cream to hot tomato mixture.
4.Ready to serve!

We always have grilled cheese - fancy grilled cheese - with this soup! These aren't just slap some butter on white bread and unwrap a Kraft single kind of grilled cheese. We use sourdough bread spread with real butter, then topped with colby jack cheese that I bought in a block and sliced myself. Then they're cooked on my griddle over medium low heat until they are perfectly browned. So worth it! And then later I serve apple cider that has been simmering on the stove with some cloves and cinnamon sticks. Yes, I love this weather and the food it brings!