A Meeting of the Passions

You know when two things you really love come together in one heavenly moment? I had one of those moments this morning. The sheer brilliance of Handel's Messiah and a Sonic banana milkshake. At the same time. There are no words. I almost had an out-of-body experience right there in my car.

It helped make up for the unfortunately eventful morning I had. About which I will say nothing else.

I made the yummiest soup the other night. Not healthy, but yummy. And easy. It's the kind of dish that impresses people because they think you worked hard on it when you really didn't. On the next really cold day, try this:

Tomato-Tortellini Soup

2 14-oz. cans reduced-sodium chicken broth, or if you're veggie like me, vegetable broth

1 9-oz. package refrigerated tortellini (again, since I'm veggie, I used the cheese kind. You might prefer the chicken kind.)

1/2 an 8-oz. tub cream cheese spread with chive and onion

1 10 3/4- or 11-oz. condensed tomato or tomato bisque soup (you have a choice here, but use the bisque! It increases this recipe's yumminess like you wouldn't believe)

Snipped fresh chives (optional) (I didn't have these on hand, so I didn't use them. But they add color to the soup and would get you points on plating, if you were on Iron Chef America.)

In a medium saucepan, bring broth to boiling. Add tortellini, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for five minutes. In a bowl whisk 1/3 cup of the hot broth into the cream cheese spread until smooth. Return all to saucepan along with tomato soup; heat through. Sprinkle with chives before serving. Makes 4 servings.