Ellipsis Weekend Cooking... Summer Cold Soups

 

Dionysus: Have you e'er be struck by a sudden urge for soup?

Heracles: Yes! Zeus-a-mercy, yes, ten thousand times."

~Aristophanes

The Frogs

Ahh... summer, and summer soups! Above you see the ingredients for my homemade Gazpacho soup. I got so good at making it, that I could do it in my sleep! But that was many moons ago. In fact, I believe it was 2019 give or take. The counter you see was in my old house. It was a galley kitchen, but not like the one I have now. Ugh, I can't deal with how small it is, so hubby does most of the cooking now, which is why I have no idea how I made it! That's a bad thing. Gazpacho is such an easy soup to make, and it can be made to the particular desire of whose making it! Avocado Gazpacho, Watermelon Gazpacho, Traditional Gazpacho, you name it, and there is a version that lift your spirits! But alas, cooking is not always like riding a bicycle. Sometimes you need to refer to the recipes, to remember that culinary magic you once made. So, here are a few recipes for chilled soups I found here and there, and all of them sound terrific! I also found a couple recipes for a cold dessert type soup. They would both be good with some crusty sourdough bread!

Best Gazpacho - New York Times - Recipe

Avocado & Green Apple Gazpacho Soup - Food 52 - Recipe

Cold Cherry Soup - New York Times - Recipe

Chilled Corn Soup - Food Network- Recipe

Chilled Green Apple Soup - Life Beautiful - Recipe

From My Files... So many fresh ingredients, so little time!

My Boys

 

"What greater gift than love of a cat."
~Charles Dickens

My little boys... sigh. They love to sit by the door, and watch the world go by. Simon absolutely adores his brothers, but Joey was his first friend, much to Joey's dismay. Tyler came into our home with a fierce capacity for love. Sometimes he annoys Joey with his hugs and kisses, but Joey knows that Tyler is just happy to be in our home. Lucky for me, there is no jealousy between them, just love. Tyler is Joey's caregiver, he checks on him throughout the day. Just a year ago I had lost my little apple cheeked black cat, Hendrix, and his brother Dylan just 9 months earlier, so I wasn't sure I would ever hear tiny paws running around the house again, but here we are, a little under a year later, and so much fun exists with us. I feel younger with all my boys, including my hubby, filling our home with love!

Sirens And Flashing Lights

 

"I come from a real tough neighborhood. Once a guy pulled a knife on me.

 I knew he wasn't a professional, the knife had butter on it.

~Rodney Dangerfield

Yep. It happened again! What does this make? 3 or 4 since last November? I don't want to count. I am done counting, but I am not done documenting it when it does. The lights always happen in the same place, down on the street, below my bedroom window, where the two corners meet. I kinda wish it was lighting from a passing UFO. I always wanted to see one, and hopefully one day I will. With a little luck I will. And hopefully I will be able to move out of this neighborhood one day, with a little luck I will.

Daydream Believer

 

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"A flower will always grow in the direction of the sun, because beauty recognizes beauty."

~Matshona Dhilwayo

Just short post today, and a little late too I am afraid. Shrug. I am a little tired, so I am going at a slower pace. I want to visit the bat bridge tonight. Because of the Anemia I am tired all the time, so I have to plan for my visit. But happily I have found a bug repellent against mosquitos, Gnats and No-see-ums, which I am also highly allergic to. So it's a sun shiny day, and a warm night so all is right with the world!

Ellipsis Movie Of The Week... Working Girl

 

"Sometimes I sing and dance around in my underwear,

 doesn't make me Madonna... never will."

~Cyn (Joan Cusack)

Working Girl

"Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation,

come the new Jerusalem."

The opening credits to, Working Girl, was filmed on a clear morning, in the city of Manhattan, as the sun rose above the Statue of Liberty, and the World Trade Center. Carly Simon sings it's theme, Let The River Run, and we see all those folks arriving to work in lower Manhattan. Wall Street, The World Trade Center stick in my mind, and give me chills when I think about how that must have been like on 9/11. Folks arriving at work to face another day of challenges. It's a strangely beautiful opening, but there is that bit of surreal that definitely reminds you about how life can change in the blink of an eye.

That aside, Working Girl, is a terrific movie, that reminds you that hard work, being able to adapt and take chances can pay off. Whether you are one of those folks who gets up early, heads to work at the crack of dawn, or an old lady like me, who is still finding ways to face every day, that lesson still applies. Hard work pays. Going out on that limb pays. I love Tess McGill's tenacity. I love her wit. And I love that she can stand up for herself, and that when she sets boundaries, she means it! Tess paid her dues, she endures one "sleazoid" boss after another, and being looked down on as a secretary, as she works her way up the ladder in the world of corporations and finance. 

Sigourney Weaver is delightfully nasty as, Katherine Parker, and Harrison Ford is the too good to be true, Jack Trainer. Joan Cusack is fantastic as Cyn, Tess's best friend, who gives Tess the best advice she'll ever get, and Alec Baldwin is perfect as Tess's one thought boyfriend, Mick. This is another  movie with a superior cast including, Olympia Dukakis, Oliver Platt, Nora Dunn, and Kevin Spacey as a sleazoid friend of her sleazoid boss, Lutz, and yet another potentially new sleazoid boss, which is perfect casting because, you know, doing sleazoid is what Spacey does best! If you look close, during Tess's birthday party scenes, you will spot David Duchovny in his first movie!

This film came out in 1988, so I can't believe you haven't seen it, but if you haven't I don't want to give to much of the story away. Watch it. You'll enjoy it. 

Sky Ballet

 

"The baby bat screamed out in fright, turn on the dark, I'm afraid of the light."

~Shel Silverstein

Yep, they're home! The Mexican Free-tailed bats have returned to the Franklin boulevard Bridge! It's early in their arrival, so there weren't many, yet there were enough for me to believe it's going to be an amazing bat season, fingers crossed! I was very pleased with the results of the camera on my new phone. It is every bit as good as the reviews said it was! I need a lot more practice, but these photos are the clearest I believe to date! I practiced a bit with the video feature, but haven't had a chance to edit what I got. I hope to go out again tonight, but frankly I am still rubbing Hydrocortisone on my many bites, and man is it painful, but I have been waiting a long time for the return of my friends, so bugs or no bugs, I am going to be on the Franklin Bridge a lot this summer! Jeepers, can you believe it, I was on the bridge last Thursday, and here it is, Monday, and I am still finding new bites. My doctor said bites like this can take up to 2 weeks to fully show up!

UGH!

Mexican Free-tailed bat and Red-tailed Hawk