Ina Fridays -- Sides, Soups, and Salads-- Easy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

Since I'm writing a soup cookbook, I'm always interested in soups others make.  Not only family, friends, and neighbors, but also famous cooks like Ina Garten.  If I'm home and I've been working all day, I'm in front of the tv with my feet up at 3:00 Central Time when Ina makes one of  her appearances on Food Network's Barefoot Contessa.  While doing a little background reading for this post, I discovered this on FOOD NETWORK'S "10 Things You Didn't Know about the Barefoot Contessa":

38 Power Foods, Week 30 -- Pistachios-- Tomato Soup with Yogurt Swirl and Pistachios

I've been making lots of soup lately--for good reasons.  There's a soup book on the way plus I'm watching my calories pretty carefully, so am eating lots and lots of vegetables.  The other day, I made a pretty special tomato soup, which I blogged on Dinner Place.... Next day, I had to have something different; yogurt and pistachios did the trick.  I mixed in a little yogurt to one small portion of my soup, spooned it into the middle of the bowl, and topped it all with chopped pistachios.  I had a partial "cream" of tomato soup and some perfect crunch for texture.

Homemade Tomato Soup and Fried Cheese on a Snowy Night or How's the Second Week of Advent Goin' for Ya?

The story goes that tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches....  Actually, I don't know that story.  If you do, tell me.  I just can't remember when I didn't eat that comforting, homey classic Saturday noon meal.   My kids grew up eating it, but mama's got a brand new bag.

This time around, I made the tomato soup myself.  No sugar, sweetheart.  Just a drop of honey to counteract the acid in the tomatoes.  And...no grilled cheese sandwich.  Not for me.  Dave had one.  Instead, I fried my cheese and gently topped my soup with it.

It was creamy, crunchy and fulfilled all those grilled cheesey longings while I skipped the bread on a cold, cold night with the snow flying across the piano window: