Tomato Soup with Dumplings and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

In asking my husband about foods or meals from his childhood, the only one that he could remember (in the few moments that I gave him to respond) was this recipe. As he says, “it reminds me of simpler times…” (and then he laughs). But it really does remind him of his childhood summers with his family being together. He likes to do Miracle Whip and pickles because his mom did it and he thought that he’d give it a try.


Soup
1-46 oz can of tomato juice (you could also probably do V8 juice, but my husband isn’t too keen on the taste)
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp salt
¼ ISH c water

Sandwich
4 slices of bread
Soft butter, spreading
6 - ¼ “ slices of Velveeta cheese
Miracle Whip, spreading (optional)
dill pickles


Combine the tomato juice and sugar in large pot and turn on to medium heat. Combine the flour, salt, and water. It’s “¼ ISH” because you just need enough water to form a relatively sticky dough. Using your fingers (this is messy), drop small portions of dough into the warm soup, making sure to stir occasionally so soup or dumplings don’t stick to the bottom. When it starts to lightly boil, then the dumplings are done (if they aren’t huge). For the sandwiches, preheat a skillet on medium heat, spread butter onto one side of two of the pieces of bread and lay the butter side down in the skillet. Then add three slices of cheese to each piece of bread that have been placed so they are as flat as possible (makes the melting go faster). Butter one side of each slice of bread and place on top of the cheese with the butter facing up. When the bottom is as crispy as you like it, flip it over carefully or it might fly apart. When the second side is done, you can spread miracle whip on the outside of the sandwich and then place dill pickle slices on top of the Miracle Whip. (You would eat it like an open faced sandwich or tostada.)