Green. It’s the New Black

The lady on the news who seems to know so much was giving out tips on how to stay healthy this cold and flu season. Well, naturally my ears perked up because I am quite the sickly girl. In fact, I get sick so often that instead of getting sympathetic noises and offers of soup and OTCs when my head suddenly fills with mucus, I get a rolling of eyes and an are-you-serious leer.

So, smart lady on TV says to eat lots of yogurt. I smile. I already eat lots of yogurt, no problem there. Smart lady also says to drink green tea. Ooh, green tea, it sounds so healthy, like something that they would drink somewhere really exotic like California.

I go to the store for my green tea to ward off the winter ills and see that it is loaded with antioxidants. My initial response was, Yes! Antioxidants! That's fab! I have some oxidants that I've been wanting to fight!

But then, immediately, my skepticism reared its head. Hmm, you know this is one of those words that smart people on TV throw out there and tell us that we need, but they don't tell us why. What exactly is an antioxidant? Maybe I like my oxidants. Maybe I need my oxidants.

So I get my oxidant fighting, cold-battling green tea and bring it home, promising myself that I would drink a cup every night. So the first night, I'm all reved up and start the pot of water for my tea and Husband asks if I'll make him a cup of regular tea while I'm at it. Well, the water takes . . . like . . . forever to boil and then the daggone tea has to steep forever and by the time it's ready, I forgot why I wanted it in the first place! They must be very patient in England.

Well, Husband's tea looks all dark and luscious and decadent and mine looks . . . green, barely. It looks like I steeped some lawn clippings in hot water. And it tastes . . . green.

So are these oxidants really that bad? Does anyone know? 'Cause I might just deal with them another way.

No Soup for You!

I have discovered a culinary delight unlike any other.

Don't know if anyone reading this has ever had the pleasure of La Madeline's restaurant, but it can only be described as extraordinary. I stumbled upon this particular pleasure after a very interesting night in Dallas in which Husband and I were escorted to Gilley's for a lesson in the Texas two-step where I constantly berated him—

Me: You're not pushing me!

Husband: Sorry.

Me: You're still not pushing me!

Husband: You want me to push you?

Me: It's called leading, Husband.

Husband: So . . . pushing . . . good?

Me: Tell. Me. What. You. Want. Me. To. Do. Using. The. Pressure. Of. Your. Hand. On. The. Small. Of. My. Back!!!

Husband: So . . . I don't get it.

Anywho, after that fun experience and a ride on the bull from someone in our party, rest assured that it was not I, we went in search of ice cream for a pregnant girl in our group, rest assured that it was not I, and stumbled upon La Madeline's (which does not, in fact, serve ice cream). To make a short story long, they had the best tomato basil soup that I thought I would ever eat in my entire life.

I think that no longer.

If you're a fan of tomato basil soup, you must try this recipe!!!! Like . . . right now!!!!

In a large pot, simmer 1 large can of peeled roma tomatoes (or whatever kind of tomatoes you can find, fresh peeled and seeded is the best, but who has time for that?) with about 3-4 cups of tomato juice over medium heat for 30 minutes. Puree tomatoes with 14 fresh basil leaves and return to pot. Add ½ cup of heavy cream and ¼ cup of butter and salt and pepper to taste. Heat through.

The original recipe calls for 1 cup of heavy cream and ½ cup of butter and strict instructions not to deviate or substitute from this in any way!!!!! My butt grew, like, three inches just reading that, so I halved it and it was still divine. I also tried it with half and half instead of heavy cream and it was ehhh, not terrible but not as great. If you're going to eat it every once and a while I say go with the heavy cream, if you want to eat it every single day like me then you might want to do the half and half.

Get some fresh bread to accompany the Nazi good soup and sit back and smile. It will make you wish it was winter all year long.