You are jealous of our dinner.

This is my favorite Christmas present. Isn't it genius? It's for soup and sandwiches!! So your soup bowl doesn't slide around! And you don't have to carry multiple dishes!! Brilliant! 

So what should we put in it on this cold and grey day? Did you say tomato soup from scratch and fancy grilled cheese? You're right!

Typically, you need a blender to make this soup. Alyssanne is missing a part to her blender, so we had to get really creative. I started by peeling 5 tomatoes. Peeling tomatoes is not easy.

The recipe Sanne was inspired by (she used creative license on this recipe. We're trying to do more original recipes) called for 1 slice of onion, chopped. This seemed like a strange amount of onion, so she used a little more.

Then she stewed the tomatoes, onion, and 2 cups chicken broth for about 20 minutes.

This is where it got interesting. If you have a blender, you should definitely use it at this point. If you don't, or if you like to do things pioneer woman style, you can mash the tomatoes through a sieve, food mill or a very fine strainer. Basically, you want to get rid of all the chunky stuff (seeds, skin, pulp).

Meanwhile, I'm in charge of the sandwiches... We chose a crusty unsliced italian loaf for the first sandwich. I cut it nice and thick.

Covered it with chunks of smoked mozzarella...

... prosciutto and basil leaves. Oh man. 

Drizzle some olive oil and put it in a pan.

Once you've gotten all the stuff out of your tomatoes, put it in a pot and add some flavor. Salt, pepper, garlic salt, chili powder... Sanne says she just added whatever was handy in the cabinet. Taste as you go. 

She also added 1T of tomato paste to thicken it up, and a roux. A roux is when you whisk together 2T butter and 2 T flour over low heat until it makes a brown paste.

Sandwich #2: Gorgonzola and honey on whole wheat. I drizzled honey on the cheese...

grilled it, and drizzled some more on top of the bread.

Ta-da! We fancied it up with a dollop of cream cheese and basil. And don't they look so good in my bowls?

I'm so happy!

This is the ultimate rainy-day (or, if you are reading this in Massachusetts, snainy-day) dinner.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese is my favorite dinner when it is cold and wet outside. What is your favorite comfort food?