It's been so hot lately that I don't want to eat anything. I mean, that hasn't actually stopped me; I eat fruit or a sammich for lunch and some of whatever we cook for dinner, but I don't want most of our dinners, even when something I quite like is on the menu. It's so darned hot the last thing I feel like doing is forking steaming hot food into my body and consequently, nothing appeals to me. Except for the last few days, I've been thinking about gazpacho. Lovely, cold, spicy, tomato-y goodness - that sounds like something I'd actually enjoy. So tonight at the grocery store, we bought gazpacho supplies: tomatoes on the vine, red and green bell peppers, a red onion, an English cucumber - and tonight I made gazpacho.

We ate other things for dinner (deli chicken, potato wedges) because the grocery expedition put us home later than usual, but after shopping, putting groceries away, dinner and Jeopardy!, I made the gazpacho. I used Ina Garten's recipe; I use more of her recipes than anyone else on Food Network. I do recipes from Rachael Ray and Giada di Laurentiis as well, but I tend to like Ina's most of all - she has more of a classical touch, her methods are very French which appeals to me, and generally she uses more foods that I like. Ina almost never does something weird at the end like put mango-radish chutney over her beef bourguignon. Not that I've seen Rachael or Giada commit that particular atrocity, either, but many of the chefs have me hooked until the last step, when something unspeakably awful happens. Like punkins, Rachael - punkins; I just don't think they belong in soup. On the doorstep in late October, yes - soup, no. And grated chocolate on the beef shortribs, G.

So I made gazpacho and if you live in the greater Atlanta area, do you like gazpacho? Because it turned out quite delish, but the thing is - Ina's recipe said it served 4 to 6. Well, I don't know what kind of gazpacho pigs Ina be hangin' out with up in the Hamptons, but I have managed to produce a smallish vat of it.

Beer bottle is included in picture for perspective. The container is quite large and deep.






<--- 5 inches or so of gazpacho














<-- in a large container







My husband Alan, a former professional chef with a hoopty degree in Culinary Arts, pronounced my gazpacho, "Quite tasty. Bursting with freshness. Zesty and full of flavor." Take THAT, you down-home Neelys. And take a pint or two of gazpacho with you, while you're at it.