Tomato Basil Soup

I love this soup! My mother invented this recipe and I have yet to find a way to improve upon it.  Well, besides using freeze dried basil of which I am very fond.  Hope you enjoy it!

• 32 oz canned diced tomatoes
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1/2 onion diced finely
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 C milk
• 4 T butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh basil if available-rough chopped
• Freeze dried basil
• sugar if needed

In a large pot saute garlic and onions in butter until onions are opaque and tender.  Add canned tomatoes and sauce, stir well.  Add milk, salt, pepper, and 2 T dried basil. Bring to simmer and taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary. This is where you may need to add sugar if the tomatoes are too tart.. Use cuisinart magic stick to puree in pot. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

Notes:
 If you do not have a magic stick, you can puree the mixture in a regular cuisinart or blender.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

This is my favorite version of pumpkin pie. It is light, creamy and delicious. The best part is it's super easy to make! My grandmother would fix this every Thanksgiving when I was growing up. Don't be fooled, this is not just a holiday pie, it's delightful enough to be served year round.

Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• 2 wrappers graham crackers
• at least 1/4 C melted butter

  In cuisinart pulse crackers until well crumbled and resemble cornmeal. Slowly stream in enough melted butter that the mixture starts to "comes together". Press mixture firmly and evenly into pie dish. Bake for 15 minutes then let cool on pie rack.

Filling:
Layer #1:

• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 T cream
• 1 T sugar
• 1 ½ C cool whip

Mix cream cheese, cream and sugar in a large bowl or mixer until smooth (may need to whisk). Gently stir in cool whip. Spread on bottom of crust.

Layer #2:

• ½ C milk
• ½ C cream
• 2 packages vanilla instant pudding mix (small)
• 1 can pumpkin 16 oz
• 1 t. cinnamon
• ½ t. ginger
• ¼-1/2 t. ground cloves

  Pour milk and cream into bowl, add pudding mix and whisk until well blended (1-2 minutes). Whisk in pumpkin and spices until well blended. Spread over cream cheese layer.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours then top with whipped cream and chopped pecans.

 Note:

Fresh whipped cream tops cool whip any day!

•      1 Pint whipping cream
•       2 T sugar

  Chill mixer bowl and whisk attachment for 30 minutes in freezer. On high, whip cream until it starts to thicken, then add sugar to taste. Keep on high until it forms stiff peaks.