Soup Swap!

[Andrew Fenton]

We hosted our first soup swap this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. It's not like those other swap parties that they used to have back in the seventies: basically, the idea is to bring homemade soup to a party, and come home with a variety of homemade soups. Or as I put it in the invitation email:

Come welcome the approach of chilly weather at our Soup Swap!

Cook up a batch of your awesome homemade soup, and in return, go home with an assortment of six different soups. Show off your bitchin' borscht, your kickin' chicken or your hot tomato, and in return, stock your freezer with the soups of others!

Any kind of soup is welcome! The only rule is that you must bring

* six quart containers of soup (six quarts is about what a decent-sized stockpot will hold), and

* six copies of your recipe.

Your soup should be something that freezes well (cream-based or potato soups aren't great). Beyond that, let your imagination be your guide!

Kids are absolutely welcome. We will also be accepting donations of canned food to the Food Cupboard of St. Peter's Church: leave your canned soup with us!

We got underway at around 3. About twenty people come to the swap, and twelve soups were represented. They were:

• French Onion
  
• Winter Mushroom
  
• Mom's Wonton Noodle
  
• Pumpkin Bisque
  
• Shiitake Mushroom Consomme
  
• Fabio's Creamless Creamy Squash
  
• Cuban Black Bean
  
• Corn & Ham Chowder
  
• Midwest Corn Chowder
  
• Chicken Tortilla
  
• Spiced Butternut Squash & Asian Pear
  
• Bean, Kale & Sausage
  

Here is the table of soups in all their glory:

After an hour or so of mingling, eating and drinking (including a truly outstanding Mother's Ruin Punch from eG's own Katie Loeb), we got down to the BIZNESS of soup swapping.

First was the Telling of the Soups. Each person told a little bit about their soup: some were family recipes or a personal favorite, others something new. Some soups represented a personal struggle, overcoming long odds to create an awesome soup. Inspirational stuff. As you can see, this soup chef is mesmerizing the crowd with a description of her winter mushroom soup:

And then it was time to swap the soup! Soup chefs picked numbers from a hat and went around, each person choosing one soup at a time. Sort of like the NFL draft, only far more competitive and cut-throat. There were prizes, for the first soup picked and the last soup picked. (Next time I'll do it for the first last soup to go.)

Eventually only a few soups were left:

And here is the creator of the first soup to be picked (the Cuban black bean), proudly brandishing her prize: the coveted Spoon of Destiny!

At the end of the afternoon, everybody went home with six quarts of different homemade soups, and the food pantry got a whole bunch of cans of soup as well. It was a good time, an easy, low-stress event, and a great way to stock your freezer with some easy weeknight dinners.

So: have you ever been to a soup swap? What did you make? Do you have any tips?

[KatieLoeb]

Andrew:

Thanks for the invite! That really was loads of fun. I'm still deciding which soup to have for dinner, since I have so many choices...

The Mother's Ruin Punch recipe is courtesy of Phil Ward (aka phlip here on eG). And damn that was easy and so delicious! I think I shall make just a glassful for myself to enjoy before bed.

This was such a very good idea. I'm thinking other swaps might be in order like preserves, homemade condiments, cookies, healthy desserts, etc. Could definitely start a trend.

So when's the next one? And what are we bringing?

ps - I see you've located the USB cord...

Edited October 18, 2009 by KatieLoeb (log)

[Corinna]

This is a great idea! We did something similar with Christmas cookies in my neighborhood growing up. It was so much fun to try everyone's favorites!

[LizD518]

That looks like a lot of fun - and maybe something I will try with some of my friends!

[snowangel]

Not to digress, as this is not a soup swap per se. But, I'm due to get together with my friend Nancy tomorrow, and as we do every time we get together, the night before we each make a point of cooking more than we need, and exchanging the leftovers.

[JAZ]

And then it was time to swap the soup! Soup chefs picked numbers from a hat and went around, each person choosing one soup at a time. Sort of like the NFL draft, only far more competitive and cut-throat. There were prizes, for the first soup picked and the last soup picked. (Next time I'll do it for the first last soup to go.)

I'm confused. Wasn't the point to make one soup and leave with six different ones, or twelve, or however many were made? Why didn't everyone just get one of each? (Or, given allergies and dislikes, do some swapping.)

[maggiethecat]

And then it was time to swap the soup! Soup chefs picked numbers from a hat and went around, each person choosing one soup at a time. Sort of like the NFL draft, only far more competitive and cut-throat. There were prizes, for the first soup picked and the last soup picked. (Next time I'll do it for the first last soup to go.)

I'm confused. Wasn't the point to make one soup and leave with six different ones, or twelve, or however many were made? Why didn't everyone just get one of each? (Or, given allergies and dislikes, do some swapping.)

Yeah, I thought about that too. Seems as if there would be some scope for hurt feelings -- I'd be devastated if my soup was chosen last!

That said, this as a food swap I could go for. Glorious soup!

[Andrew Fenton]

And then it was time to swap the soup! Soup chefs picked numbers from a hat and went around, each person choosing one soup at a time. Sort of like the NFL draft, only far more competitive and cut-throat. There were prizes, for the first soup picked and the last soup picked. (Next time I'll do it for the first last soup to go.)

I'm confused. Wasn't the point to make one soup and leave with six different ones, or twelve, or however many were made? Why didn't everyone just get one of each? (Or, given allergies and dislikes, do some swapping.)

There were twelve different soups; each person brought six quarts of one kind and went home with six different quarts. (In each round, you'd choose one quart of soup and there were six rounds.) So nobody got to go home with all of the different soups.

It's true that there was potential for hurt feelings-- I tried to salve that by awarding a lovely parting gift to the creator of the last-chosen soup. I think everybody went home happy!

Edited October 20, 2009 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[JAZ]

Ah! That makes sense. I guess 12 quarts of soup would be a lot for anyone to store, and it would solve the problem of people feeling as if they had to take a soup they knew they wouldn't or couldn't eat. It's a brilliant idea.