Oh, no! This is Sunday and I had an article due last week! This is what I would call cooking on a wing and a prayer. I need to go to the grocery, so I am out of a lot of things. I will need to have lunch ready soon, too. How can I tie these problems together?

I will do as I imagine many cooks have done for centuries. I will make do with what I have on hand.

Well there are plenty of tomatoes from the garden right now, so tomato soup it is. Many tomato soups are smooth, but I want this one to have some chunks of veggies to give it texture as well as flavor. I have never had much luck making a tomato soup with dairy, like cream or milk. The dairy just curdles. Besides I don't have any cream. So that's out. Didn't I hear about a 'Tuscan Bread Soup' that used bread to thicken it and make it 'creamy' without the dairy? Stale bread I've got. Here goes nothing!

Peel the tomatoes and chop coarsely. Measure 7 cups and pour into a soup kettle. Stir in the salt and garlic powder. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Cook till the tomatoes are broken down and mostly liquid, about 15 minutes.

While the tomatoes are simmering, place the oil into a skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, just as it starts to smoke, stir in the onions, celery and carrots. Sauté until soft, and the onions are translucent. Remove from heat and set aside. When the tomatoes are cooked, pour through a sieve to remove the seeds and any stray bits of skin. Press the solids well to extract as much pulp as you can. You should have about 3 cups of juice. Put the juice back into the soup kettle.

Using a food processor or blender, process the bread slices, half the sautéed vegetables and about ½ to 1 cup of tomato juice, enough to make everything nice and smooth. Stir the other half of the vegetables and the pureed mixture into the tomato juice and mix well. Heat soup to a simmer and cook stirring often for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with a garnish of fresh snipped chives.

Well how did I do? This is a rather good recipe if I do say so myself. Next time, I will cook the veggies longer, till nice and soft. They were a bit too crunchy. Other than that and a finishing sprinkle of pepper it was great. And I have my article, too.