The Most Disgusting Sounding Soup from Texas

My mother.

Now I don't want to bust out on anyone's Soup Swap, but I got this recipe from the Whitney, Texas Soup Swap and I thought I'd share it. It sounds awful.

I know in Texas they love their Velveeta, so it would make sense that there would be a soup with it, but I am on a diet, so I have not tried it. I leave it to you, swappers of the world, to determine the nature of this soup. Easy to make, cheap enough ingredients, but Boy Howdy! it sounds um....different. But then my mother called me a "Soup Snob". She write, "We think you will like it A LOT!!!!"

You be the judge.

Texas Velveeta Veg Soup

1 package 16 oz* frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrot mix
1 large chicken broth (48 oz)
1 3/4 lb velveeta - cut up in cube

Place veggies and broth in large saucepan, cover, bring to boil on med-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 min or until veggies are tender. Mash veggies with potato masher to desired consistency. Stir in Velveeta cubes; cool 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and soup is heated.

Houston! We knew it...

A month ago, the world of soup swap was mysteriously swirling toward Houston.

These southern soup swaps always intrigue me. I don't think of them as a sweater and bowl of soup place, so naturally, I was anxious to learn more.

A blog posting, and a few of our favorite types of photos: smiling folks and the blue lidded containers filled with soup, show up on Lacie's Forever Flamingo. Check it here, if you are curious what kinds of soup they eat in warm places. It sounds amazingly just like the soup they eat in cold places!

Grin.

Texas Style: Whitney's First Soup Swap

My mother lives part-time in Whitney, Texas in an RV community. It actually does get cold there, but not often. It has been the first winter in a while where she's not been on the road, so it was a great time to finally (what's seven or eight years?) try a Soup Swap with her pals.

I'd say it was a big success! She was delighted that she'd made the same ugly but tasty black bean and apple soup from the Herbfarm Cookbook. She was also totally rubbing it in that there was Elk Chili out for the swap. My mother, she's vicious that way.

I got a note from her friend Sarah, "What a great time we had swappin' soup. Your Mom, aka Judi Gardner put together a fun afternoon and now we have 6 great soups to try on our cold nights here in Texas.(34 degrees tonight)."

You'll notice that even Sarah refers to my dear old Mom, as an alias. Alias for what? Nothing but trouble...

Sarah continues, "We had Elk Chili, Black Bean W/Apple (ugly color but bet it is good), Black Eyed Pea Soup, Bear Creek Navy Bean Soup, Sixteen Bean Soup, Hearty Vegetable Soup and Veggie Velveeta Cheese Soup."

I have this to say, "It looks like a great time, but SARAH, watch out!!!!" And if my Mother invites you over for Soup and Rummy, tell you her you have your own and keep your cards close to your chest.

Scene's from an RV Soup Swap

Austin's First Soup Swap

You can look at this in two ways: Either an anticipatory start to Austin, TX's first soup swap, or the blissful satisfied ending to a swell event.

Through Kim, the Austin host, we found out about a wonderful group we'd never heard of calledEdible Austin. Like our new friends at Indiana's Going Local, they celebrate the regional, sustainable, organic food of their region, a cause we very much support. Local food tastes better. It keeps farms close to the cities we live in and provides our local farmers with an incentive to grow a variety of crops instead of GM corn or tasteless tomatoes. It gives kids who'd rather work the land something to do instead of working in office cubes.

Kim writes of her Soup Swap, "It was a BLAST!!! We ended up with 14 takers and fun was had by all. Thanks for spreading the soup love!!" The group contained not only folks connected to Edible Austin, but AustinMama.com, a another great group way down in Texas.

You can see the whole set of Austin's Soup Swap at their Flickr site.

Shout Outs: Marion, OH and Texas

We're not above doing a shout out to meet new folks swapping soup. We are a bit fiendish about pictures with the blue containers and most folks we see are quite awesome and link folks back to the the guidelines and tips we've put together.

Hence, we welcome Valerie of Consider It Done, and the town of Marion, OH to Soup Swap. You can see the page she put together to help spread the word with her posse here. I am assuming knitters have posses.

They'll be having their first of what they hope will be an annual Soup Swap on Tuesday, January 29 and if you are up there north of Columbus, you can check with her at her blog, here.

In other mysterious data, what is going on in Houston?

RV Life: Soup Swapping in Whitney, TX

My parents are nomads of sorts. Several years ago they sold the house, bought and RV and chase the sun. They base themselves on a lake near Whitney, Texas (near Waco) in an RV port community. Evidently, it's the latest trend and is a collection of RV shelters and small cabins. I've yet to get down to look at what seems like not a bad future for Vic and I.

Word is my Mom in her exuberance has got the RV community pulling out their soup pots and cookbooks.

Soup Swap and Texas campfires. We love that.

More info if you're up on those Texas plains, by clicking 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.