Are you as dog-dead tired as I am?

We’ve been wassailing and making merry for two weeks and seven parties so far, and I’m ready to park my jingle bells on the couch. I’m ready to watch a marathon of “House” or “Law and Order.” I’m ready to go to bed without having to pick the glitter off my face.

And I’m so ready for another bowl of Ina Garten’s Pappa Al Pomidoro, one of this month’s Barefoot Bloggers picks. Warm, thick and full of flavor, this Tuscan bread-and-tomato soup is just the thing to sneak a few vitamins and minerals into a body that’s grown strangely accustomed to copious amounts of cheese straws and coconut cake. Read More…

I’ll bet you were expecting something with cranberries, sweet potatoes or pumpkin. But you don’t need my input on Thanksgiving. If your family is like mine, then no matter what twists and reinterpretations you read about in magazines or see on TV, everyone wants what they ate last year and the year before. Marshmallows on the sweet potatoes. A jar of Cheez Whiz in the broccoli-cheese casserole. The pumpkin pie recipe straight off the can of Libby’s® 100% Pure Pumpkin. We crave the familiar, even if it involves something with the word “whiz” in it.

So, instead, I’m bringing you Ina Garten’s Mexican Chicken Soup, another Barefoot Bloggers pick. It’s a basic chicken soup – chicken stock with shredded chicken, onions, celery, carrots, garlic and tomatoes – livened up with jalapenos, cumin, coriander, cilantro and corn tortillas. The tortillas are added before the soup boils, so they break down and thicken the soup as it simmers.

Even with the tortillas, the soup stays fairly thin. It’s definitely not a chicken chili. But there are times when you really need something light but really flavorful, like after a day of broiled marshmallows and Cheez Whiz, and this could be your huckleberry.

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Jeff has brought a lot of good things into my life (like, say, sanity), but one of the ones I appreciate most is chicken chili. All the flavor of chili in 15 to 20 minutes? Sign me up. Plus, it’s light enough to eat year-round.

We started making chicken chili by following the directions on a seasoning mix packet. Then we added fire-roasted tomatoes and frozen corn. Then Frank’s Hot Sauce. And we kept tinkering until we finally came up with a seasoning mix of our own.

So, here’s our Fired-Up Chicken Chili. It’s thick and spicy, perfect for a cold night or cheering on your favorite undefeated football team. My father is a chicken-hater, and even he loves it, so this variation might work for the chili-lovers in your family, too.

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Can a bowl of soup compare with history in the making? No. But at some point in the very near future, the election coverage will end, and you might be hungry.

Lately, I’ve been making this Thai Chicken Noodle Soup. Imagine a bowl piled high with noodles, chicken and a broth flavored with ginger, chilies, garlic, lemongrass, lime and soy sauce. Topped with cilantro and sliced chilies. Something that will fill your stomach, wake your tastebuds and clear your sinuses faster than Dr. Oz wielding a neti pot.

And, you know, this is a democracy, so feel free to play around with the recipe. Add some mushrooms or a can of unsweetened coconut milk. Use angel hair or udon. Trade the Thai chilies for serrano, jalapeno or habanero peppers. Leave them in instead of straining them out.

Just promise me you’ll do one thing: slurp. Read More…

A few months ago, Jeff ordered a new wireless controller for the PlayStation. Then the old one started working. For me, this meant we should return the new controller or sell one on eBay. For Jeff, this meant that we had a backup.

Did we really need a backup?

Friends, did America really need to declare its independence?

So, we kept both.

During the course of our first move together, I realized we had backups for many, many things. Music. Movies. Ponchos. Silverware. Part of me feels very loved and secure when I see my computer-geek husband backing up the hard drives and making sure I don’t lose my entire iTunes collection. Again. But the other part of me – the part with a Shaker-like hatred of clutter – sees duplicates and wants to exterminate them. Thank God, twins don’t run in the family.

Before we move, I ask Jeff one more time if he’s going to sell the extra controller.

No, it’s still good to have a backup.

Why? Is one going to be raptured? Get trapped under a tree? Run off with a poncho?

Sunday night, the dog started trying to play with the cat by barking in his face and pouncing at him. So, the cat responded by baring his claws and lunging at the dog … who ran into the table and knocked over a stack of magazines … which slid into a glass of water … which spilled onto the new PlayStation controller.

And Jeff looks at me, like, NOW, aren’t you glad we have a backup?

Somewhere, he’s got a petri dish full of my stem cells. I just know it.

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, chosen by Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. I’m allergic to blueberries, but fortunately TWD offered a backup plan: doing a recipe from the archives. So, I finally completed the Almost-Fudge Gateau chosen by Nikki of Crazy Delicious Food. (You’ll find the recipe here.)

When the cake comes out of the oven, it isn’t much to look at. Plain. A little dumpy. Schlumpadinka. But the flavor … It’s almost flourless, so the chocolate flavor is intense, and the cake stays moist for days. Glam it up with Dorie Greenspan’s optional chocolate glaze, or top it with a scoop of ice cream.

In fact, do both. It’s nice to have backup.

It’s too hot for skin today. So, why am I posting about soup?

A few weeks ago, my friend Karen Beth asked for a good gazpacho recipe, and it got me thinking and craving and obsessing about one of my favorite summer lunches: Jamie Oliver’s Fresh Tomato and Sweet Chili Pepper Soup with Smashed Basil and Olive Oil.

The fresh tomatoes, roasted red peppers, chili pepper, and basil form a unique mix that you can swing Italian or Tex-Mex. It tastes just as good with a toasted mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich as it does with a nice hunk of The Barefoot Contessa’s jalapeno cheddar cornbread. My research has been intense.

If you’re looking for a slow-cook, feel free to lovingly blanch, peel, seed, and chop the tomatoes … and grill, peel, and chop the red bell peppers. For a quick cook, pick up a can or two of plum tomatoes and a jar of roasted red peppers, which I’m sure God created on the Eighth Day, because I love them so.

So, Karen Beth, this isn’t gazpacho, but it IS just as amazing cold as it is straight off the stove. Again, intense research. Hope you like it!

Fresh Tomato and Sweet Chili Pepper Soup with Smashed Basil and Olive Oil
Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef

• 15 ripe plum tomatoes
• 3 medium red bell peppers
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh seeded red chili
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves

Score the tops of the tomatoes, blanch in boiling water for about 20 seconds, or until you can remove the skins and seed. Grill the peppers whole (to achieve a really sweet pepper taste they should be grilled until black), rest in a covered bowl, then peel and finely chop them.

Put the chopped peppers in a warmed, thick-bottomed pan with 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and the chopped red chili. Add a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the roughly chopped tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes with another pinch of salt and red wine vinegar so that they sort of melt and infuse themselves together. Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

In a food processor, chop the basil to a pulp. Add a pinch of salt. Stir in the remaining olive oil and a drop more red wine vinegar. Drizzle the mixture generously over your soup.