Tomato Corn Soup

Jared's tomatoes in our yard, Aug. 2011.

My oldest daughter always enjoys a visit to see our neighbors Amy and Jared, so when she found out that I was taking a quick trip to their house to pick up some tomatoes, she begged me to let her come with me. I knew that Jared had things to do that evening, but he'd called the previous day to say he was overrun with tomatoes and "couldn't take it anymore".  This was music to my ears.

Our tomato crop has been terrible this year.  I suspect it was the month of neglect just as they were getting started that did them in.  Whatever it was, it seems too late for them now and I was very excited to be the recipient of Jared's crop overage.  That evening I made a delicious tomato-fresh mozzarella-basil salad, but I saved the real treat for the following night-- Fresh Tomato Corn Soup.

I made this soup the first time I ever cooked for my husband.  What I didn't know at the time was that he hated soup.  Luckily, this state of affairs has changed over the years, due in no small part to this recipe, which comes from the book Recipes from a Kitchen Garden.  Sadly, the recipe isn't posted online, but it's worth buying the book for this recipe alone.  It's a simple soup-- tomato, corn, basil, thyme, dill, chicken stock.  You get the idea.

Tomato Corn Soup with Olive Bread, August 4, 2011.