The First Illinois Swap Rules!

From way up in cold northern Illinois, we hear the weather was brutal but the Orchardists Soup Swap of Rockford was a resounding success.

Just had to let you know that the first ever Illinois Soup Swap went terrific. Despite the cold and snow I had 8 of my coworkers from the orchard gather for a dinner of soup, salad, bread and dessert before we swapped our soups. One of my coworkers was sick, but she sent her soup. [Way to proxy!] So we had 9 to choose from. Everyone seemed to have a great time and left around 11pm with their quarts of soup. What a great way to help the dreary month of January have a fun party and something to look forward to all month.

Jennifer's email ends the way we like them to: I can't wait to host it again next year.

Finally: Illinois!

In the world of Soup Swapping, there are many odd blanks on our map. Certainly, I'd not really expect frozen soup to be big in Panama or Ghana. I would expect the folks in Regina or Bismark to go for it, but there aren't to many there to start with...

However, I never thought it would take an entire year to have a group drop us a line in that busy, well-populated state of Illinois!

Welcome Illinois!

Very close to the Janesville, WI Soup Swap, there's a group of orchardists in Rockford, IL, who are moving beyond swapping cookies (always fun) to swapping soup (maybe a bit healthier!). So that you know, Rockford is 84 miles NWW from downtown Chicago!

They're planning to join us in swapping soup this month, so if you are in Rockford, drop Jennifer a note, here.