I love soup.  buttttt...

...I hate making soup.

I cannot give you a particular reason why – I never been good at it.  And my mother has totally spoiled me when it comes to soups.

Why?

Well, because, my mother is an excellent soup maker.  She can take anything (and I mean ANYTHING) and make it into an out-of-this-world soup.

Me, I know how to open a can (yes, you can cringe now – go ahead, I give you permission) and modify the soup and make it better, but from scratch? No-can-do.  And if I wanted something homemade, all I had to do was call my mom up and she would whip something up in a day.  How is that for one-stop take out?

To top all of this soup insecurity is the fact that I’m also very fussy about the soups that I eat.  Show me a leek and potato soup, lentil soup, lobster bisque, butternut squash bisque, broccoli- cheddar and I will choose that over a fancy entre, hands down.

But, the one that has my heart, the one that I seek is the tomato soup.  I have searched high and low for the ultimate tomato soup.  I have a few very good contenders thru the years.  And so far the tomato soup sold by Whole Food is good choice.  It has the qualities that I love about a tomato soup, chucky pieces of tomatoes with the creamy texture of everything else, and with a bit of a tart and sweet flavor filled with fresh herbs.  You can usually find me buying the large take out of this and eat it throughout the week.   Then there is the tomato soup from a local restaurant called The Red Elephant Pizza and Grill – this is so far one of my favorites, its filled with bits and pieces of roasted tomatoes and onions and the smoky flavor compliments the richness of the soup.  This IS a TOMATO SOUP.