soup swap

After all of the fried food goodness at the MLK Jr. Day fish fry I was ready for some close-to-home healthiness.

Kristen and Ben opened their home to twenty-five people bearing eighteen different soups. January 23 was National Soup Swap day.


The premise: bring six frozen quarts of homemade soup to swap for six other soups.

Everyone wrote about their soup and we all wandered around the table checking things out. Some people brought soup accessories- homemade croutons and fancy tags.

Everyone gathered for the "telling of the soup." You shared what motivated you to make that soup and what was in the soup. I rode Dad's coattails and brought his oxtail vegetable soup.

Dad makes the broth from home-grown tomato juice and oxtail. He add loads of vegetables, including sweet corn from this summer. I helped with the chopping and preparation when I was at the farm on MLK Day, and claimed six quarts for myself. The party was so big that another pot was heated up and served, using most of what I'd stashed in the fridge. Only two quarts were left to me to take, which meant that I had less to swap.

After the soup stories, we chose numbers for the order of picking soup. The oxtail soup went in the first round, I was wishing I had more to give. I went home with a carrot ginger soup and vegetarian chili, which was the perfect amount to fit in my freezer.

My hands were full when I left - the group also collected 40 pounds of pasta for Second Helpings. I continue to be amazed at the generously of my friends and our community.

I've been so busy lately that opening the freezer and finding a yummy dinner has been perfect.

I've added Kristen's blog, Middle West Meals to the blog list. I look forward to the next swap, whatever it might be.

You can read about the soup swap on her blog here.
You can read the review that Kristen wrote for the national site here.