Last week was brutal. Every time I walked into the kitchen, I just started melting. It was just too hot and humid to function.

Despite this, I attempted to make cookies for my friends on Friday. Worst. Idea. Ever. The first batch spread out to thin pancakes in the oven. I attempted to chill them and add a bit of flour and then they just sat like rocks in the oven. They also turned an odd brown color. Rock shape + brown color resulted in my friends affectionately nicknaming them Cat Poop cookies. Thanks, guys! =)

After this lovely attempt at turning my oven on again, I reluctantly accepted  the fact that it’s not fall yet. ARGH!

So I am reluctantly continuing with my no-bake, no-oven routine. I hate it, but I’m continuing. Here is a recipe for cold soup. It’s my compromise with the weather- I want it to be fall and cook soups and wear boots and scarves. But the weather is all, no way! I’m going to be humid and ruin your life and make you want to waste away in front of the AC. Fine, I’ll make cold soup. Be that way.

unblended

Raspberry-Nectarine Gazpacho
from New England Soup Kitchen Cookbook, found on Free Recipes
makes about 6 servings 

2 cups red raspberries
3 nectarines, peeled and diced
1/2 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced small
1/2 long English cucumber, diced small
1 ripe tomatoes, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
3 cups V-8 Splash juice (I used the Berry Blend flavor cause it had raspberry juice in it)
3 cups tomato juice
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
Juice of 1 fresh limes
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon green Tabasco sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a very large and deep bowl, combine the raspberries, nectarines, scallions, yellow pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, V-8 Splash, tomato juice, bread crumbs, lime juice, cilantro, Tabasco sauce, salt, and pepper and stir well.

Pour 3 cups of the soup into a blender. Puree until the texture is mostly smooth, but a few chunks remain. Return to the bowl and stir to incorporate.(I made sure that all the cilantro and bread crumbs got put into the blender because I didn’t want whole herbs or soggy bread in my soup but that was just personal preference) Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours before serving.

Before I made this, I pretty strongly believed that soup should not be cold. I’m desperate for something other than salads, though. So, I braved the cold soup and I’m really glad I did! It’s different, especially since I’ve never had any sort of gazpacho. But this blog was created to encourage me to try new things so I can share them with you! So, I guess it succeeded!

Now…is it too soon to start a count down to fall? *cough 40 days cough* How about to start a birthday list if my birthday is early October??