Home Made Tomato Soup

Tomato Soup
1 Package of sweet grape tomatoes cut in half
5-6 fresh medium sized tomatoes rough chopped
3 T of olive oil
salt and pepper
1 and 1/2  cans of chicken broth
2 T of butter
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1tsp of chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 tsp of thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup of 1/2 and 1/2
1/4 tsp of baking soda

cut up tomatoes and place in a roasting pan with rim. coat in olive oil salt and pepper and place in a 375 oven for about 45 min and then for 10 min keep them under the broiler...watch them so they don't burn. Pull from oven and let sit. In a heavy duty soup pot place butter and melt. Throw in your onion and garlic. cook till soft and just starting to brown add 1 and 1/2 cans of chicken broth and scrape up brown bits on bottom. add your thyme, rosemary and  and tomatoes and stir. Use and immersion blender and blend all the ingredients till smooth. Throw in your bay leaf and let simmer about 15 min. add the little bit of baking soda and stir till it stops fizzing. This is an old trick that cuts down on the acidity of the tomatoes and gives it a much smoother taste! Add in your 1/2 and 1/2 while stirring. Then do a little taste test to see if you need to add some additional salt. If you find it to your tastes..... then serve!! The green garnish you see in the pic on top of mine is a little fresh Basil. I can't resist the combination of a little basil in my tomato soup! And of course you can't forget the grilled cheese with this....that is a perfect combination!