I had an Eclipse party last weekend – the girls got together to go to a hockey game and then watch Eclipse – only we never actually got around to watching Eclipse…..here’s how that happens.
Saturday, I stamped tags for party favors:

Then went to the grocery store, etc. before the party. I never really got around to eating lunch, so when Bonita showed up early and helped me finish getting ready I was deeply grateful. And that was before she fixed me the best roast beef sandwich I’ve ever had (fresh tomato, lettuce, spicey mustard, sour dough bread, deli roast beef). It only tasted that good in part because I was starving. It was really very good on its own.
Everyone else arrived and we hung out and waited for Lisa. When I decided to check my phone to see if she’d texted, we realized she wasn’t coming and left for Hockey. We went to the Stars v. Monsters hockey game. It was really nice of Lake Erie to wear their Twilight outfits (red/black) in honor of my party, but it would have been more nice if they’d let the Stars win (3-1). boo!
We went back to my casa and took the required group photo(s). This is take 3 – black dogs are hard to photograph.

The really cool sign was a Christmas present from my dad – Thanks, dad!!!! Mom, thanks for putting up with his Sat. morning garage saling so I could have this cool sign.

Then, we stood around talking about everything and nothing while Michelle made yummy grilled cheese sandwiches. I learned the valuable lesson that you should not try to make a healthy grilled cheese sandwich. If you’re going to bother, you should go all the way. butter, white bread, full fat slabs of cheddar cheese. It was divine.
We finally popped in a movie and since it was late, settled on Vampire Sucks. It was actually pretty funny if you know to manage your own expectations.

I finished assembling the tomato soup (get it – like blood) and let it simmer for the required amount of time. The group voted that you could not overBasil something, so I put a ton of basil in, but it turned out really well. Bonita’s friend Mary gave me the recipe on Yule.
Even the non-tomato soup likers (including me) liked it.
Here’s the recipe as I made it:
3 lbs. fresh tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbs sea salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tbs butter
1 qt veggie stock (I used low salt)
1 bunch of fresh basil leaves
1 tube of basil (update: I would use the 3 cups of fresh basil leaves the recipe calls for rather than the tube after I researched what was in a tube of herbs. ick!)
1 onion chopped (courtesy of Meghan whose eyes were already watering from allergies, thanks, Meghan!)
1/4 tube of garlic (update: 5 cloves of garlic chopped)
2 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 28 oz can tomatoes
rub fresh tomatoes with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper
roast at 400 (on a pizza pan) until soft (30 min.)
in a soup pot, heat the butter and remaining olive oil, throw in the onion and saute until transparentish…toss in the garlic and saute for one hot minute. add roasted tomatoes with all oil from pan, stock, basil, thyme, canned tomatoes.
Turn on low and simmer for an hour.
Serve the tomato broth to guests.
Realize much later that night that you were supposed to put it in the blender and puree. Do that the next day and then put it back in the tupperware. I actually think I liked the broth better than the whole thing mashed up.

After VS was over, Michelle and Karen took off, Meghan went to bed (she had to get up early Sunday). Bonita and I stayed up to watch Forever Knight on DVD. I really liked this show and am in the process of finishing Season 1. It was ahead of its time. Check it out.

The moral of the story is that you should always take your knitting wherever you go, because you never know when you might meet a lovely new person with a delicious soup recipe and the back of a knitting pattern is a great place for her to jot it down.


Ps. Happy B-day, mom!