Roasted Tomato Soup

Recipe: Roasted Tomato Soup // Serious Eats

Rating:

This is my ideal tomato soup. It's by far the best tomato soup I've ever made at home. The first time I made it, I accidentally used only one can of tomatoes. I have made it again since then, and it's even better with both cans. I think you could easily use milk instead of half and half.

We made the croutons from some bread machine bread. I think it was millet bread--a little extra crunch was welcome!

Sweet 'N Sour Meatballs

Recipe: Sweet 'N Sour Meatballs // Grandma Beverly

Rating:

I liked this recipe very much. There are two things I would change next time I make it: Use less sugar in the sauce (it was a tad too sweet for me), and brown the meatballs before adding them to the sauce (I like the texture of a browned meatball). Overall a tasty winner!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes // Serious Eats

Rating:

Seth made these for our mothers' birthdays. Really tasty! The icing was sweet, but was balanced by the cream cheese. We liked trying a Georgetown Cupcake recipe, because their cupcakes are pretty spectacular.

Mushroom Risotto

Recipe: Mushroom Risotto // How to Cook Everything

Rating:

This dish didn't particularly thrill me. I probably won't make it again.

Valentine Salmon & Matzoh Ball Soup

Recipe: Valentine Salmon // How to Cook Everything
Side Recipe: Blue Ribbon's Excellent Matzoh Ball Soup // Serious Eats

Rating:

Me: "Who has time to make this soup?!"
Seth: "Jewish housewives."

I was craving matzoh ball soup last week, so I bought a chicken, stewed it up just like the recipe says. This soup ended up being a multi-day recipe, but the result was excellent. We think it was the schmaltz. I froze the extra so we'd have it on hand for future matzoh balls. Best made over the weekend when you've got some extra time.

It was finally ready to eat on Valentine's Day, and Seth surprised me with my favorite Valentine Salmon recipe! So we just ate the soup alongside the salmon.

Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Pesto

Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Pesto / Annie's Eats

Rating:

This was a quick, tasty meal. It has too much raw garlic in it, though. I'd reduce that next time. Or roast/cook the garlic before adding it to the pesto. We'll make it again, I'm sure.

Macaroni & Cheese & Hot Dog

Recipe: Seth made it up

Rating:

This is an old favorite. We didn't have any box mac and cheese on hand, so Seth made a roux and added cheese. It separated a little, and would have benefitted from some velveeta or cheeze whiz, but it hit the spot anyway.