Summer in a Bowl! (White Soup)

As a precursor to the "summer in a crust" peach blueberry crostata, we had a very delicious meal that included one of my long time childhood favorites: "white soup" (aka Cucumber soup or white gazpacho). My Mom used to make this when it was really hot out, and we'd sit out and eat it for dinner at the patio table and it all seemed like a giant treat. While I was on vacation, she made it again, and I remembered all over again how awesome it is. So, here is her recipe...

Basically, this is what you need:
1 cucumber- peeled, seeded, chopped
1c sour cream (or, non fat plain yogurt. or, some combo of the two)
1c chicken broth (I would guess veggie broth would work)
1T white vinegar
1/3 clove garlic
salt to taste

Just take it all, throw it in the blender, blend it up, and chill for at least 6 hours (or over night).

Then when you serve it, the fun starts- toppings can be slivered almonds, diced tomatoes, green onions, bacon bits, bell pepper pieces... the sky is the limit! The soup itself has a very cool cucumbery flavor that would probably be amenable to a lot of different type of toppings.

And, here is the glamor shot:

(and, for those budget cookers out there, this would be a good example of how you can make something that looks and tastes really fancy, that you could serve to anyone, out of just a few very budget-friendly ingredients)