Spanish Style Gazpacho

This soup (served cold) that can only be made in late summer to fall when the tomatoes are ripe (I mean naturally) but I look forward to it all year.

you'll need:
8-12 tomatoes, fresh as you can get 'em 
whole cucumber, preferably organic so you can leave the skin on 
pepper, not too sweet, not too hot 
couple cloves of garlic, pressed 
bread, can be dry, doesn't have to be 
olive oil 
vinegar, red wine or apple cider 
water 
salt 
your choice of garnishes: onion (green, red, white...), pepper (orange, red, green...),
croutons (a must), halved cherry tomatoes, cilantro, chunks of Spanish ham...
around an hour (to allow time for the soup to sit -- 20 minutes actual work time) 
Serves 4

Cut up the tomatoes, cuke, pepper, & bread into chunks your blender can handle.
Put them in with the garlic, a generous glug of olive oil, a smaller dose of vinegar
& almost a teaspoon of salt (or as you like). I add water right away (I use around a
half cup) but usually blend in the bread last after the veggies are good & mixed up.
I don't use a lot of bread because in Spain it was such a mild ingredient we never
guessed it. I'm sure some of them didn't have any. Taste it & adjust seasonings,
thickness, etc.

Put it in the fridge & let it sit. It's best to let it sit for a whole day.

Serve with an offering of garnishes: diced onion of any color, pepper (of any color -
green for a nice accent), croutons (a must), halved cherry tomatoes or any fresh
tomatoes, whatever looks good. Bring those to the table in their own dishes, then
sprinkle them on the soup at your guests' pleasure. You can let them serve themselves,
but I think it's a nice touch if you do it for them.
Sienna Moonfire Designs