Roasted Tomato Soup | OXO Illuminating Digital Immersion Blender

Kids are weird. They're peculiar for lots of reasons, but in today's example, I'm talking specifically about their relationship with food.

My little munchkin has gone through his own trials and tribulations with eating in his short 14 months of life, and I'm fairly certain they are to blame for the silver strands that are sprouting from my head. Though he seemed eager to begin solids around the 6 month mark, his interest wavered a few weeks later and he refused all forms of solids for many months to follow. We tried every trick we came across to get him back into the groove, but nope. He just wasn't into it.

Once he decided that eating solids was back on his radar, he was the best little eater around... for about a month. And then we went from loving finger foods to wanting to be spoon fed. Adoring scrambled eggs to abhorring them. Being wild about black beans to deciding they're better suited for pitching practice.

My dreams of homemade purees and snacks have been shot down more than once. And while he will indulge my yearnings and take down one of my homespun concoctions every so often, he is sure to keep me guessing as to what each day will hold. {For the record, his options include only "real" food.}

Currently, we are having to dip all foods in hummus for them to make the list of things he will consider putting in his mouth. {Not counting toys, lint, crumbs under the couch and anything else that looks remotely intriguing. Go figure.}

He's often curious about the foods he sees us eating and asks for a taste, which has made me more accountable about the things I'm allowing in my own diet. {And has lead to the occasional bout of hidden Nutella-eating, I'm not gonna lie.}

This Roasted Tomato Soup is among the recent "winners" passing the toddler test.

This soup came about when I ran myself ragged around the holidays and wound up with an annoying head cold. After spending a good 8 hours straight on my couch watching Anne of Green Gables surrounded by mountains of tissues {some for my runny nose and some because of Matthew Cuthbert and Gilbert Blythe}, I needed something quick, easy and warm to eat. I roasted a big container of cherry tomatoes, added a few ingredients for flavor and then blended it all up with my newest favorite kitchen tool: my OXO Illuminating Digital Immersion Blender.

Whether I'm attempting to make food for Cole or blending sauces or soups for the grown-ups, this thing makes life so much easier. You don't have to worry about splashing and splatters because the intuitive digital controls steadily increase or decrease the blending speed, and the silicone shaft helps to protect your bowls and cookware while you use it. It even has a soft-glow LED light that lets you see what you're blending if you're working with a deep pot or don't have great lighting.

The only way this blender could get better is if it guaranteed that my kid would eat the finished product... and then cleaned up the kitchen. In this case, one out of two isn't so bad.

Either way, you'll end up with a nice batch of tangy homemade soup that's great whether you're looking for a fast bite, a cold-soothing meal or a toddler-approved food.

I'll take the victories wherever I can get them!

Roasted Tomato Soup

1 16 oz. container of grape tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
Approximately 1/4 cup basil leaves

Plus: Olive oil & salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the whole tomatoes with about a tablespoon of olive oil, then season liberally with salt.

2. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tomatoes start to burst and blister in parts. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

3. Pour the tomatoes & their juices into the blending beaker if using an immersion blender and add chicken broth. Blend to desired consistency.*

4. Pour the blended soup into a saucepan over medium heat, and add smashed garlic cloves and basil leaves. Bring up to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes.**

5. Remove smashed garlic cloves and wilted basil leaves, or blend the basil into the soup directly in the pot with your immersion blender.

Serve hot with croutons, crackers or a hot grilled cheese. Mmm....

*If you like your soup on the chunky side, don't blend it completely. For silky, smooth soup, run it through a fine mesh strainer to catch the seeds and sediment. If you don't have an immersion blender {get one!}, simply use a regular blender.

**If your soup gets too thick, just add a little more chicken broth or water.

Note: This soup is creamy without adding cream, but you can add a bit of cream or half and have for a tomato bisque-type soup. It's great either way!

Disclosure: I was sent an OXO Immersion Blender for review. As always, the opinions you see here are all my own!

Graham Cracker Latte

Well, I've gone too far. I put cookies in my coffee. Sort of.

You know those seasonal lattes from Starbucks, the ones that people go crazy over? I'm not into them. They usually taste funny to me and are too sweet {which, whoa, that's crazy for me of all people to say.} And when it comes down to it, I'd rather spend my splurge calories on the treats they have in the glass cases and keep my coffee pretty boring.

I know, party pooper.

But, even though I don't personally care for those "handcrafted beverages", it doesn't mean that I don't get the hype. They make them sound really good. So good, in fact, that I forget all about my aversion at least once a year and I get suckered into spending five bucks of my holiday cash on a drink that I swear off again until the next year.

This year's pick was the "Toasted Graham Latte", which wasn't horrible, but didn't make me swoon by any means. It did pique my interests enough to make me want to come up with my own recipe at home.

In my first round of recipe testing, I created a cinnamon-brown sugar simple syrup to flavor and sweeten the coffee, which yielded a lightly spiced version that was pleasant, sure, but wasn't "grahamy" enough for me. It was missing that toasty cracker taste that can't really be reproduced with just sugar and spices.

But how do you extract that essence into a liquid? INFUSE THE MILK WITH GRAHAM CRACKERS.

Stay with me. It's a little "out there", I know, but think about it. When you want to make tea or flavored simple syrup or even flavored liquor, what do you do? You let the ingredient you want the liquid to taste like take a little soak. 

In this case, I felt that the cinnamon-brown sugar simple syrup I created was infused with flavors that were too strong to let the "grahaminess" of the graham crackers shine through, so I did the next best thing: I made cookie milk.

Don't look at me like that. There are people making a fortune off of cereal milk treats, and that's basically the same idea. It's like, a thing.

So, instead of making my latte with plain milk, I infused my milk {well, almond milk actually, but you can use whatever type of milk you use} with the graham crackers.

The result? The "grahaminess" I was seeking and a roasty, toasty beverage that you can enjoy at home without having to wait for the 10 minute coffee order monologue of the person in front of you to end.

You're welcome!

Graham Cracker Latte
Inspired by Starbucks Toasted Graham Latte

1-2 teaspoons Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Simple Syrup (see below for recipe)
Strong brewed espresso
Equal amount of Graham Cracker Milk (see below for recipe), warmed

1. Add syrup to the bottom of your coffee mug/cup/bowl/vessel.
2. Pour freshly brewed espresso over it.
3. Pour in equal amount of milk.

Top with "froth" and graham cracker crumbs for an authentic coffeehouse experience.

For Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Simple Syrup:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together brown sugar and water. Toss in cinnamon stick.

2. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for a minute until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow cinnamon stick to steep in the syrup about 10 - 15 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract.

3. Pour into a mason jar or container with an airtight lid and store in refrigerator.

For Graham Cracker Milk:

3 cups milk of your choice {I used almond milk}, divided
4 graham cracker sheets {8 individual crackers}, crumbled

1. Warm 1 1/2 cups milk slightly in the microwave or a saucepan. Toss in graham crackers and stir until you have a soggy mess. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.

2. Pour the mixture into a fine mesh strainer, and press down on the graham cracker solids with a spatula or spoon to strain the liquid part of the mixture into a bowl {or better yet, something with a spout like a liquid measuring cup}. You should get about 1 cup of milk -- discard the solids.

Repeat if necessary {i.e. if the milk looks like it has too many little pieces floating around in it.} The milk will be slightly thickened.

3. Pour the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk into the graham cracker milk and stir to combine.

Store the graham cracker milk in a mason jar or a container with an airtight lid. Keep refrigerated.