Soup Swap 2019 has come and gone. I’m currently unable to find online evidence but I think I attended my first swap in 2008. Holy cow!
I haven’t managed to go every year but I’ve been to a lot of them. And I think there was a year or two where there was no swapping to be had because the host was working on a master’s degree.
This is the earliest mention on this blog that I could find:
https://awesomesauceeats.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/chinese-black-sesame-soup-dessert-soup/
But I know the first thing I ever made for Soup Swan was French onion soup. I remember crying through 5 pounds of onions and vowed “never again!”
For those not in the know, Soup Swap is a gathering to boost our spirits in the heart of the winter season. All of the attendees bring six quart-sized containers filled with a frozen homemade soup/stew of their choice. If you’re really ambitions, you can bring twelve quarts and secure yourself two picks per round. All of the soups are lumped together in a spot in the room. Attendees pick out a random number, and proceed, in their numbered order, to explain what they brought in. The dear host likes to call this the “Telling of the Soup.” You can also win bragging rights for best telling. Once the telling completed, the guests then take turns, in same numbered order, picking out a new soup container to bring home. To be fair, the dear host likes to run backwards during the last two rounds. So, you bring over six quarts of your soup, and you bring home six quarts of someone else’s soup. It gets a bit competitive and a lot of strategic after the first round because there’s usually 12-14 flavors available, only 6 quarts per flavor, and some flavors are extremely popular.
And true story, I’ve been enough times to soup swap that I printed out my own inventory sheet this year.
I am proud to announce that this was the very first year where I got ALL THE FLAVORS I WANTED! This was probably definitely only made possible by my severe dislike for cilantro. (A couple of the very popular flavors had cilantro in the ingredient list.)
This year, I made a pumpkin curry soup with black beans.
And here were my “winnings.”
I’ve had the Green Monster and the Porq-ue soups so far. Tonight, I’ll be having the Eatin’ Big Time. I can’t wait. 🙂
If you want to make the pumpkin curry soup that I did, it’s a Libby’s Pumpkin recipe. The only difference was that I added canned black beans, rinsed and drained, at the end of cooking. If you want to make six quarts of it, just multiple the recipe by 3. I will say that I think your results will heavily depend on the quality of your spices. I am personally fond of Penzey’s house curry blend.
https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/penzeys-curry/c-24/p-3037/pd-s
Awesomesauce Eats 