Soup Swapping in Roz...

Sometimes the Internet makes you want to be other people.

Mark and Christi both have a command of the Internet that gives you a peak into their lives that inspires and intrigues. Maybe it's the off-cropped photos or the beer swilling during croquet, but personally, I think I want to know these people.

When you read about their soup swap in Roslindale, Massachusetts, I think you'd likely agree. For a full recap, including those recipes everyone is always asking about, you can check out Mark's dedicated page to the Roz Soup Swap 2008, here.

There he writes about Soup and Not Soup, "The winner this year (meaning the first to be completely out) was due to my sister’s ‘Strawberry Soup.’ This cold soup has been brought up on allegations of not really being a soup by NPY. When I did a post-party call with him the next day he complained and said that it wasn’t really soup and that it was mearly a milkshake that had been thawed. (I don’t care what it was... it was good.)"

I vote Soup. But I'm skeptical of strawberries in January in MA, so maybe Not Soup Based on Validity of Ingredients.

Christi meanwhile spent some time with packaging. Here's something interesting that I did not know (see, her blog is that way), there is a rule to Bento, which should include a wrapping cloth or furoshiki. "I found some old notes researching bento (A bento is traditionally made in a 4:3:2:1 ratio... 4 parts of rice, 3 parts of the main dish [either meat or fish], 2 parts of vegetables, and 1 part of a serving of pickled vegetables or a dessert) and furoshiki for a post, so I maybe went a little overboard with my packaging..." I think her packaging is swell and you can look at it here. It obviously moved her soup a heck of lot faster than murph's.

In May, we're back for some East Coast work and vacation, and I hope to be sitting down in some pub drinking beer with these folks. Yep. Check their blogs, won't you?

Soup Swap 2009!

Cambridge, MA: No Injuries Reported

I had really hoped for more violence. As Master of Soupemonies, I did my best to goad Cambridge's swappers into exaggeration, deceit, logrolling, pushing, and shoving. But all in attendance were far too classy to lower themselves to my level. In the end, this year's Swap was a model of breezy charm with a mere undercurrent of highly strategic optimizing. We improved from last year to 16 swappers, 13 soups, and no injuries.

The tally:

• First selected: toutbeurre's something-or-other. I don't even remember what she made and it doesn't matter. She's a professional chef. When in doubt, grab her soup before it's gone.
  
• First sell-out: stripeyg's wonton soup kit. A multi-step affair with noodles, homemade wontons, and frozen broth cubes. I calculated nobody would pick something so labor-intensive and was shocked when it didn't even survive the first round. Thank Gods that I had two rotation slots or I would have missed it.
  
• Welcome compromise: meat on the side. youraverageninj served a red pepper bisque with removable shrimp. My ultra-pandering Beer Cheese Soup arrived with a separate Bacon Pack. Wontons were available in pork and veg varieties. This enabled everyone to find their own dietary way without feeling marginalized or oppressed.
  
• Subtle marketing ploy: During her Telling, greatdane managed to casually let slip that she attended cooking school in France. We all then realized that you don't try to outsell a management consultant, especially when she's armed with creamy pesto.
  
• Kitchen equipment infomercial: fanw convinced us simultaneously of the virtues of her butternut squash and the glories of the immersion blender.
  
• No pain, no gain: countlibras cried through five pounds of onions to bring us a french onion soup. Other chefs suffered for their art as well. Your collective sacrifice is appreciated by all.
  
• Videographer: aerynne found the movie mode on my camera, capturing several Tellings for posterity. Her apple-based soup, on the other hand, will certainly be gone very soon.
  

Thanks to all for a successful Swap. cinnebarine is lightning-quick with a jpeg download and beat me to posting by several hours. Enjoy your soups now, and remember to start thinking of next year's recipes when your breath first clouds autumn's air.

Save the Date! Roslindale, MA

Taking a page from our pals at Gracious Bowl, Kristi and Mark up in Boston are designing fab invites to cheer their friends in the bleakness that is New England winter. (Ok, to have 3 bracingly clear days would be swell about now out in Seattle...). Mark sent this on a few days ago, and we post it to encourage all the groups to the greatness that lies within you! What a swell invite.

It is making me think it is time to send out invites. We'll be posting ours soon and sending out emails with tips on hosting a Soup Swap. Look for them this week!

If you are in Boston out past that orange line and like swapping soup on the weekends, you can drop Mark a note, here.

If you'd rather stay on the Cambridge side of things and want to swap on National Soup Swap day, check in here.

If you'd just like to be included on our mailing list and start receiving tips on hosting Soup Swap, drop me a note, here.

Connect in Connecticut?

I got an email from the state's largest paper looking for local Connecticut Soup Swappers. From our site stats we can see lots of traffic from the Nutmeg State, but, as of yet, we're not aware of any Soup Swaps being scheduled there.

If you are in Connecticut and doing a Soup Swap (either with us on January 23rd or on another date more to your liking), drop us a line. We'd love to connect you and your groups to the local press.

I'm terribly behind entering in all the new soup swaps so add us to your RSS feed because in the next week, you'll hear from Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Boston.

Old Friends + New Cities

With winter fully underway, we're getting mail from lot of folks with information about their Soup Swapping plans.

Here's some of what we're hearing:

Mark & Christi, formerly of Providence, have relocated to Boston and are planning on holding their second swap as a wild-times party, Saturday, January 26th.

Portland, Oregon's energized West Foodies Group & The Hens is talking about bumping theirs up to an earlier date in January due to a dancing competition in Nashville.

The UV Scene will be hosting another Soup Swap in the far northern reaches of the Upper Valley in New Hampshire (and likely glad all the politicians have left). The UV includes White River Junction, Lebanon, Hanover, Norwich, and all the hamlets there on the border between New Hampshire and Vermont.

Bad Home Cooking and all their friends will be swapping again in Long Beach, CA.

Eleanor, of amuse-bouche, will host a second swap, and is looking for a bigger place to hold it due to the interest in last February's swap in Southport, North Carolina.

A new group is getting going in Upton, MA (west of the 495) and there's another Jersey party starting in Bergen County. We've heard of some interest for groups in Milwaukee, WI and NYC, though not clear if they're hosting or looking to join other groups.

We'd be glad to add you to our list of cities holding soup swaps! Just drop a note! We can post an announcement or invites, or list your city with a contact email. We'll add you to our mailing list, and help you keep up-to-date on all the fun of Soup Swap.

Boston: Soups Swapped Successfully

We had 9 people and 8 soups at this year's Swap.

Toutbuerre lived up to her own challenge and actually created a white chocolate cauliflower soup.

Stripey introduced a new strategy of split bills, bringing 3 quarts of two different soup types. This relative scarcity only increased their popularity.

Schiefelbar's tomato soup was the first chosen.

Mine (turkey curry) was the last.

Boston Soup Swap is Live!

The first round of invitations for Boston Soup Swap 2007 (north) were sent this morning. Increasing circles will be added as the days go on, but feel free to sign up now. Space is limited and we're first-come-first-souped.

Two Soup Swaps Added!

We're adding two new soup swaps today!

Rachel, of Depth Demands Witness, will be hosting one in Boston over near Fenway, so now you folks in Boston have two to pick from!

For those of you in New York's Capital Region, that's Albany, Schenectady and Troy, Renée from Almost Foodies will be hosting.

National Soup Swap Day!

On January 23rd, we'll be holding the first ever National Soup Swap Day! With a mix of real world and Internet pals, the evening is sure to be a great time.

We've got three cities lined up: Karl in Boston, Adrienne & Margaret from Gracious Bowl open their home in Washington DC, and the regular crew of Carrie, Pam, Vic and me will be taking on Winter's second swap in Seattle.

We're hoping to find more folks to host in various cities, and would love to have a rolling event, like Dick Clark's New Year minus Ryan Seacrest, public drunks and fireworks. We're working out a bit of conference calls and way to share some of the recipes from the night.

If you are interested in participating, it's easy! Here's some easy instructions, and drop us an email to get you on the list.