Is it soup, yet?

While the rest of the world focuses on unexplainable horrors today, I'm going in the opposite direction.  More horror we don't need.  This morning, I looked out out our kitchen window to see my least favorite birds, Grackles, eating all the skanky pita chips I'd thrown out.... for.... my.... sparrows.  The young grackles in training were all wet and miserable looking--major droopy feathers that looked like wet clothes--- but pretty smart, as they crouched together on the gutter drains, out of the rain.  The more adult birds seemed impervious to the rain, and just kept eating.  Grackles must be pretty rough birds since I didn't see even one of my scrappy little sparrows.  Rats.
Then Sis and I came in here to blog, and got into my chair, together.  No sooner had I opened the shutters for her to look out, did we spot two squirrels, and one of them was brilliant, in my book.  While he ate his acorn sitting on a knob of our tree, some what out of the rain, he used his fluffy tail as an umbrella, with his tail draped over his head.  No wonder there are so damn many squirrels.  They never die of pneumonia.

Yesterday, I tried a new recipe from a cookbook Benji gave me for Christmas.  It was a Sherried Tomato Soup, minus the sherry, 'cause I didn't have any.  I put in a splash of cooking sherry since that's all I had, but it sure tasted good to me.  I guess so, since it has a cup and a half of heavy cream, butter, diced onions, fresh basil cut in chiffonade (little skinny strings), and lots of fresh, ground cracked pepper.  And, let's not forget good tomatoes.  Oh, man.
  When Fred gets back I'm going to see if he'll run some over to Mary for her lunch with some good sourdough bread I may doll up, depending on what I have.  A Gouda grilled cheese panini would kill with it so maybe I'll send that, just for kicks.  Homemade tomato soup and a grilled cheese panini on a wet, cold, Sunday.....dang.... that's a no brainer.