Rain, chicks and tomato soup!

Hello,  things have been a little slow in Clara, PA.  With  the rain I have been working on a post listing all of the recipes that have been posted.  Remember you can message me or call if you have a question.  All of the recipes are made and tested right here at Cook'n by the Creek.  It will be much easier to find a recipe than searching back through previous posts.

We have had so much rain and the ground is full.  The run off from the hill has caused rushing little streams through our fields that has never happened in 15 years of living here.  2014 has certainly been a year of firsts for weather losses.   The wind took off the porch ceiling in February, the severe below freezing temperatures killed our holly bush and now the water has routed into one corner of our garden.  All part of Mother Nature doing her thing, she is still the boss around here, even though the dogs do a good job of telling us what to do!

The eggs we have  in the incubator should be hatching in 2-4 days.  Wouldn't you know we made it so close and last night the electric went off.  I looked at the alarm clock this morning and just groaned when I saw it flashing.  The temp had dropped a few degrees in the incubator, hoping it didn't ruin the chicks.  We do have a back-up.  Our beautiful little "Miss Speckles"  was acting broody and has been laying in a corner of the barn ;)  As of Saturday she started setting.  21 days and counting for her eggs to hatch.  Another wait and see, patience please.  Her peeps will be tiny since her and hubby are very small.  Sad to say Big Mr. Roo passed which means we are looking for another like him.  He was one handsome big dude and great entertainment around the barnyard.

There is Miss Speckles and her husband in the front guarding
his girls.  He struts his stuff and crows when we get near!

Messaging to a friend all the way across our beautiful USA in the state of Washington gave me this delicious tomato soup recipe.  Actually her father would make it for his kids.  She told me about how he did it and of course being curious on one of the ingredients I googled it.  Well, we had homemade tomato soup for lunch today and never will I buy canned tomato soup again. This is delicious plus you can change it up with many different ingredients although basic was the choice here.  Ok, so many of you either knew this guy, had him for a teacher or one of your family members did.  I had the joy of working with Mr.Smith at the high school. My kinda guy, he told it like it was and not afraid to say it.  I have many funny stories about him and cherish each one.  Here is Mr. Smith's tomato soup recipe ( or very close to what Robin described), thanks Robin Smith Henderson for "Passing it On".

In a saucepan add 1 qt tomatoes (bought or home canned) with 1/2 tsp of baking soda and bring to a boil.  Add 1 qt. of milk and 4 TBSP of butter, salt and pepper. Heat but do not boil....ready to eat.  Remember you can add seasonings of your choice.  This really is great and fast to make.  Next time grilled cheese sandwiches too.

Dick decided fresh chives would be tasty and they were!

The baking soda threw me but makes sense when I found out why.  It cuts the acidic in the tomatoes so the milk doesn't curdle.  Clever, makes me wonder what old timer was so into the science to know this.  I sure wouldn't.  I do know that my buttermilk recipes all call for baking soda, another google to find out if for the same reason!