Soup Chick®

In Harmony, a public library soup cook-off brings people together

Last week, seven local soup makers toted their slow cookers to our town's Harmony Library for the first-ever Soup Cook-Off. Despite the threat of snow, a large crowd turned out to taste the soups and vote for their favorite soup. I was one of the judges for the event, and I loved tasting each of the soups. The grand prize winning soup, made by a high school student (isn't that great?), Pepere's Pea Soup was the judges' favorite. It's a traditional comfort-food soup, a recipe passed down from grandfather to granddaughter, perfect for the slow cooker. I'll share the winner of the People's Choice Award here on Soup Chick in a couple of weeks.

Soup Chick turns two, and a birthday giveaway

When I asked on our Facebook page how we should celebrate Soup Chick's second birthday, most of the ideas involved soup.

Red soup, in particular, because Soup Chick's birthday falls on Valentine's Day.

Yes, soup would be lovely, but to me, birthdays mean Chinese takeout and chocolate ice cream and presents, and because you've been here, week after week, many of you since the very beginning, I'd like to give you a present. (If you all lived closer, I'd invite you for Chinese takeout, too.)

Holiday gifts for soup makers

Soup makers top the list of easy-to-buy-for foodies. By nature, they take risks, work with what's on hand, need very little in the way of kitchen tools, and have a sense of fun and adventure. Give them a pot, a spoon, a ladle, and an immersion blender, and a whole bunch of seemingly-random ingredients, and they're off and running.