But enough of that nonsense. I want us all, as a nation of penguinians, to take a deep breath, and recognize two quick facts:
1 - The United States of America is not on the brink of collapse. Greece, possibly, but we're still buying iPads in record numbers, and tomorrow we'll all get up and go to our jobs and hug our friends and laugh, so, you know, keep in mind that it's not really dire. Hug your kids for me, now that I think about it. If you don't have kids of your own, hug someone else's kids. I will not post bail, so don't be weird.
2 - Yes, you are correct: you HAVEN'T had a chainsawpenguin recipe in a few days. I apologize; I'm like the George RR Martin of blogs. I'll get back to it shortly.
So, tonight, I had R and MH over for dinner. It's started to get chilly and wet here in the valley, and so we did grilled cheese and tomato soup. Delicious and comforting.
Of course... we don't screw around when it comes to food:
HOT CHEESE SAMMITCHES
Extra Sour Rye Bread
Hot Capicola, sliced thin
Red Leicester Cheese
Muenster Cheese
Heirloom Tomatoes
Basil, one or two leaves per sammitch, roughly torn
2 tbsp Melted Butter
There's not much of a recipe here. Put a frying pan over medium heat, and put a tablespoon of butter in the pan. Build a sammitch using a little of everything, and gently settle it into the hot butter. After it is brown and firmly toasted on one side, drizzle a little butter over the top and then flip it to finish.
TOMATO BASIL CREAM
2 tbsp Butter
2 Shallots, roughly diced
2 cans Tomato Basil Soup (using prepared soups as a base is a little tricky, since they're SOOOO salty, but this worked pretty well, because we cut it with...)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Basil, cut into a chiffonade
a few drops red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the butter over medium heat, melting it without browning. Drop in the shallots, and cook over medium heat until just colored, about 5 minutes. Add the canned soup, cream, and about half of the basil. Heat through. To serve, stir a few drops of red wine vinegar into a bowl of soup, and top with a few strips of basil chiffonade.
Et, Voila! Comfort food! It doesn't have to be boring!
Tomorrow, ADVENTURE!! :)