Gazpacho – A Taste of Spain

When I was 16, my mom took my sister and me to Spain and what I enjoyed most about the trip was gazpacho.  Once we hit the coast, I think I ate it every day, possibly twice a day.  I remember sitting outside at a little restaurant (I think I was alone…what was I doing alone?) with my bowl of gazpacho and the three little condiment bowls that always came with them (sour cream, chopped green onions, and what?…I can’t remember) and just enjoying it soooooooo much.

 

Well, this summer we had a bumper crop of tomatoes, so I looked up the recipe in the Joy of Cooking and gave it a try.  Now, my husband finds this amusing, but I’d never peeled a tomato in my life.  I just was not the type of woman that peeled tomatoes.  You can ask my mother and she’ll tell you: there is a type of woman that makes recipes requiring the peeling of tomatoes, and “we is not them.”  Well, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks, because I peeled about three pounds of tomatoes.  I’m not saying I’m going to repeat the act (it was enormously time-consuming and I had to ignore my daughter who, with a two week old sibling, is in desperate need of not being ignored), but I’m open to it, just to be transported back to Spain, which I won’t be going to any time in the near future considering the kids’ ages.

 

Oh, and for those of you objecting – I only blog when I breastfeed; and no, I’m not about to do the gymnastics of breastfeeding while standing in front of a pot of boiling water with a paring knife in my hands. Oye Veh!