Remember your beloved little Thermos that fit so neatly inside your Barbie lunchbox? The Thermos was white with a mustrad yellow top because mustard yellow and avocado green were the colors back when you were in elementary school. And in that Thermos, your Mom packed you steaming hot soup, which, by the time lunch rolled around, had barely cooled enough to make it just perfectly slurpable.

Ah. Those were the days. Hot soup to-go in a Thermos.

Well forget about hot soup because it's summer time. Do you have any idea what the temperature is outside?!?! Right, so to stay cool and refreshed, stick with a cold soup. We've already listed a few that we've peeked at around the food blogosphere, and here's one more that I adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Entertaining cookbook - Summer Vegetable Gazpacho. And luckily, you don't need to use a Thermos to transport it. Any container with a tight seal will do.

Gazpacho to go

Remove crusts from a slice of day-old white bread, tear into pieces, and let soak in about 1/2 c. water for about 10 minutes. The original recipe uses 3 slices, and tomato juice.

Peel, seed (if applicable), and chop 2 lb ripe tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 1 medium red onion, 1 red or yellow bell pepper (or both if you're crazy like that). Add them to the bread and water along with 3 cloves of garlic minced, 3 c. vegetable broth, 2 c. tomato juice, and 2 Tbsp each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp each of paprika and cumin. Salt and pepper to taste, then cover and let sit for an hour.

After an hour, blend everything in a blender (or a food processor) until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Take it to go in a container with a tight seal, and since it's a picnic, serve in paper/plastic cups. No spoons needed.