Soup Soiree

File this under “foodie fun.” Sunday evening, we got together with some friends who have started a new kind of midwinter get-together.

They explained that for several years, they had been doing a pre-Christmas cookie swap—you know the kind—where each person makes up a big bunch of one kind of cookie, brings several plates of these to the party, and everyone gets to bring home a plate of each kind. Thus you have a nice variety for the holidays. Sounds great, huh?

But let’s face it: December is a busy, hectic month, and we all really ought to cut down on the cookies—whether for the calories, the carbs, the fats and butter, or whatever. So these women got the bright idea of moving the party to January, and making it a soup swap.

So everyone makes a big pot of some kind of soup, divides it into plastic containers (ca. 25 ounce) (think “GladWare,” or whatever), enough for all the participants to get some. When the party’s over, everyone takes home a container of each kind of soup.




With about seven participants, that’s lunch for every day of the week!

If you want to try this, establish dietary and other ground rules ahead of time; in this particular group, the soups were all vegan (no meat, no dairy, no eggs). I could see other groups deciding that each member should bring photocopies of the recipe, or picking a theme ingredient for each gathering, or stuff like that.

One group member had gotten too swamped with work to make up a big pot of soup but came in the door with a bag bearing cans of Progresso for everyone! We all laughed with her good-naturedly and took pity on her. We all simply felt glad that she got to go home with some nourishing homemade soups. We’ve all had those kind of weeks!




My contribution to the soup exchange? For the first time ever, I made up a big pot of vegan posole—I’ll tell you about in my next post.

During the party we enjoyed carrot-ginger soup and beer soup (made with whole wheat pasta, tofu, and veggies), a big pot of each, contributed by one group member, along with nice warm bread, snacks, and beverages.

But of course, the best part—as with all such gatherings—was the conversation, fellowship, the telling of stories and jokes, and the connections and reconnections.

Sue and I were the newbies to this group—I hope we’ll be invited to the next soup exchange! I’ve got some ideas for a dynamite tomato soup, and another based on Indian ingredients and spices!