Refreshing Gaspacho

Winter cold has been motivating me to try a bunch of soup recipes, so I've been rediscovering the copy of Soup of the day that waited these six+ years in my grandmother's attic for someone to come around and use it again.

One of my favorite recipes is a variant of the hot tomato soup, which is so much better served cold as a tangy Gaspacho:

Ingredients:

- 2 lb preserved tomatoes

- 1 onion

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1 bay leave

- 3 ts chopped fresh ginger

- 1 cup water

- 1 Tbs creme fraiche

Preparation:

- Saute minced onion and garlic in olive oil in a saucepan for about 5 minutes

- add ginger and tomatoes

- add salt, pepper and bay leave

- bring to a boil, reduce heat and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes

- take bay leave out

- add creme fraiche and mix well 

- serve chilled with a slice of lime or chopped chives