I've moved....

....and decided to tell people where.

The quick back story. In April 2012, I officially quit my career of 15+ years in banking to be a full time stay work at home mom. Sometimes that sentence is still hard to say. It was absolutely my choice, had mountains of support from Mr. sixtyone45 and friends and family, but still...sometimes that sentence is hard to say.

So while chasing a little guy consumed most of my day, I needed something to call my own. Explored everything from running a java shop to small business consulting to teaching at a local college. Nothing seemed to fit not only the hole that was left behind with the removal of an outside career, but our new lifestyle.

So I started writing here.

And cooking .

And baking.

And taking pictures.

I didn't tell anyone, even Mr. for the first few weeks.  Then I told him. A while later I shared it with mom & dad. Uber supportive of course. A few more weeks passed, and I told one or two girlfriends.

Then after attending an awe-inspiring food blogging conference in Seattle, I knew this was a space I wanted to explore further. And I had a bit of external success.

I was shocked too.

But I won a little contest for photography & recipe development and ended up getting some pics published and some writing offers.

Bottom line...while I still feel uncomfortable sharing something so personal with those outside of sixtyone45, I know if I want to  improve the quality of the story telling, the picture taking, the focus, the recipes, I need to open the door and let folks peek around.

At the end of the day, I love playing here. Its feeding a side of my brain that didn't get much use for a LONG time.  And I think it makes me a better mom, wife, daughter, sister and friend.

So if you are STILL reading this, THANK YOU. I have about 50 posts, feel free (please) to poke around.  I love to cook with seasonal ingredients, keeping it unprocessed and clean. I love like tolerate baking.  I hope to get better at it.  I've made cheese. I've made sausage. I've made treats for two and four legged friends.   The photographs are just because I like my words interrupted with pictures.

Let me know what you think - the good, the bad (no ugly please). If you have any recipes or foodie things you think would be fun to try, let me know. I am always looking for new ideas.

I pin. I tweet. I facebook. None very well or too often. You can follow me over there on the right by email (and if you already did, you will have to again with the new site launch). I'm just grateful you've gotten this far. This is my first post on a new blogging platform. The old stuff is still at sixtyone45.blogspot.ca. Some visuals may have got lost in translation but I hope the quality continues to rise as I explore this new domain.

Let's talk soup for a second. This soup is good.  Slow roasted Roma tomatoes and onion gave it an earthy, toasted taste.  Roasting is the new boiling. I roast everything now....I used to boil, then I steamed. Now I roast.  All these years I was scraping off the black bits when I "burnt" stuff in the oven, and turns out, that is the best part. We just started calling it caramelized.

So this is where I moved to. I timed this post with my switch from one blogging platform to another. There is a definite learning curve (soooo not a techy) so it could be a slow transition, but if you are interested in following along...

...I will make you lots of soup.

Slow Roasted Tomato Basil Soup (inspired by the Barefoot Contessa)

Ingredients • 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise • 4 T extra virgin olive oil • 1 T Himalayan Pink Salt (or sea salt) • 1 T ground black pepper • 2 cups chopped yellow onions (approx. 2 onions) • 6 garlic cloves, minced • 28 oz. canned plum tomatoes with their juices • 4 cups of fresh basil leaves, packed • 1 tsp thyme leaves • 4 Cups of chicken or veggie stock

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degree F.

Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil and lay on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with the salt and pepper (more or less to taste, but tomatos need salt) and roast them for about for 45 minutes or until you see lots of carmelization.

Meanwhile, add 2 T of olive oil to a large stockpot on medium heat. Add the chopped onions and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes or until the onions begin to brown. Then add the canned tomatoes. I find squishing the whole ones into the pot both effective and gratifying. Then add the fresh basil, thyme, and chicken stock.

Let this simmer for another ten minutes, then add the oven roasted tomatoes making sure to include any liquid on the baking pan and scrape off any of the “burnt” bits right into the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 60 minutes. Then using either an immersion blender or processor, puree the soup to your desired consistency.

Enjoy!