Gazpacho Gringo

Foodie, well maybe

The last of my snowbird neighbors left early this morning, cheerfully honking as they flew away.

“Welcome to SUMMER!” I bellowed and cranked up the radio.

Sometimes snowbirds jettison the contents of their coffers before they migrate to cooler northern climes. Sometimes I am the lucky recipient of their unusual treats. Sometimes the treats are delicacies rare for this area; like venison sausage or wild caught salmon. And sometimes the treat turns out to be just the ticket for summer days when it is absolutely too freaking hot to even consider cooking.

Or so I thought.

The voices on the radio — our local KLPZ 1380am — commanded me to write a foodie column, so I will begin this adventure with a snowbird treat from last summer.

Temperatures soared into the upper 110s and my appetite approached apathy. I listlessly scanned cookbooks seeking something — anything — cool enough to eat. I found a recipe in a Mexican cookbook for gazpacho. Cold, delicious soup — perfect! Off to the pantry I marched.

A snowbird left me with an array of canned veggies and soups. I read the labels. Hmmm, ‘vegetarian vegetable soup’? Perfect, in the fridge you go. Cool, all I had to do was chill a can of soup, maybe toss in some ice cubes and a dash of Tabasco, instant gazpacho. Right?

Wrong. Wow, was it bad. My experiment in Gazpacho Gringo = FAIL! The soup was full of High Fructose Corn Syrup — I doubt any treatment would make it palatable. Bummer!

I hope you learn from my lesson and I promise my next foodie submission will be much tastier.

# # #

Cate Mueller is a web designer, editor, reporter and photographer in Bouse, Arizona. To visit her website, CLICK HERE.