It seems like just yesterday my mom and I were unpacking my suitcases and getting me settled into my apartment here in New York. That was three and a half months ago. She arrived back in New York last Friday. She, Steve, my Grandma, Susie, Lynnie, Uncle Chuck, and a handful of family friends are in town to attend my "Friday Night Dinner". Although I was beyond thrilled to have everyone fly in for the event, it was nice to have my mom to myself for a couple of days.

On Saturday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked down to The Chelsea Market. One thing I love about my mom is her ability to walk anywhere, even when she has on uncomfortable shoes. By the time we got down to the market we were ready for lunch. One of her favorite East Coast treat is a lobster roll. Luckily for her there is a fantastic seafood mart in the Chelsea Market. After polishing off lunch we continued browsing the cute little shops and bakeries. We were planning on taking a picnic aboard The Intrepid ship for the Summer Movie Series that evening for dinner, so we bought cheese, bread, olives, veggies, and fruit to fill our basket.

The summer movies series event takes place every Saturday night aboard the Intrepid ship. The chosen movie is played on a big screen after sunset. Laying on the flight deck while surrounded with vintage airplanes and a beautiful sunset makes for an amazing back drop to an outdoor movie. So perfect that I managed to stay awake for the entire movie, a major accomplishment for me.

In addition to the cheese, bread, salad, and fruit we also brought some chilled tomato soup I had made in school. It was the perfect addition to our picnic.

CHILLED TOMATO SOUP
INGREDIENTS
-2 yellow tomatoes (4 to 5 oz each)
- 2 red tomatoes (4 to 5 oz each)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons chile-pepper water
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic

PROCEDURE
-Preheat oven to 300°F.
-Bake tomatoes in a shallow baking pan in middle of oven 10 minutes.
-Coarsely chop yellow and red tomatoes separately.
-Blend yellow tomatoes, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon chile-pepper water, and 1 teaspoon garlic in a blender until smooth.
-Force soup through a fine sieve into a large liquid-measuring cup, pressing hard on solids, and season with salt.
-Make red-tomato soup in same manner with remaining soup ingredients, straining into a separate liquid-measuring cup.
-Chill soups, covered, until cold.

Pour soups simultaneously from opposite sides into a bowl (colors will remain separate), using about one fourth of each soup.