Second Annual Soup Party

January 26, 2013

Hosted by Kevin & Lynne

Reviewed by Gail

This was our second gathering, on its way to a truly annual event! I managed to sample all 9 soups :-) Again! After the unofficial, and totally unbiased ;-), judging, this year’s winners are:

2^nd Runner Up

Carlie’s Ground Beef and Vegetable Soup. Carlie presented a colorful array of small diced tomatoes and veggies, cooked just tender and not mushy, in a flavorful beef broth.

Runner Up

Gail’s Hotel Roanoke Peanut Soup. This soup was a creamy, smooth, full flavored peanut butter soup. It was a little sweet, a little tart, a little savory and a touch of salty. If you like boiled peanuts, it had that almost addictive flavor.

And the Grand Prize this year goes to:

Judi’s Tortellini Soup. This very flavorful combination had delicious tender tortellinis in a beef broth with little sliced (breakfast?) sausages, diced tomatoes and veggies, with a touch of hot pepper. There was not enough of this entry. Everyone wanted to take some of this one home!

The Rest of the Tasty Offerings:

Lynne’s Butternut Squash Soup

Linda’s Turkey with Lentils & Barley Soup

Dawn’s Split Pea with Carrots and Ham Soup

Karen’s Spicy Beans and Rice Soup

Cynthia’s Potato Soup

Deta’s Zippy Corn Chowder

The go withs were great too!

Judi’s Bruschetta Appetizers with Chicken and Cheese – The Best!

Karen’s Cornbread and Butter – Great accompaniment to Carlie’s soup

Judi’s Date Walnut Bread with Cream Cheese – sweet and rich

Lynne’s Olive Rolls – nice and hard and crusty

Tammy’s Real Mincemeat Pie – an old fashioned venison favorite

Judi’s Brownies with Marshmallows – a yummy treat

Richard’s Home Canned Hot Pepper Mix – crunchy and not too hot

Gail’s Strawberry Banana Jello Fluff – what can I say? It’s Jello.

That Judi sure likes to bake! Thank you Judi.

Attendees were: Kevin & Lynne, Paul & Judi, Raymond, Ed & Linda, Dawn & Emily, Karen, Carlie & Tammy, Bill, Cindy & Juliana, Deta & Dave, Richard, Gail & Thomas.

First Annual Soup Party

January 28, 2012

Hosted by Kevin & Lynne

Reviewed by Gail

Lynne started this community event to get together during the mid-winter blahs. And what could be better than hot soup, good friends, a toasty wood stove and a few beers? My secret is to pace myself, so I manage to get a good taste of each entry.;-)

2^nd Runner Up

Gail’s Smoked Chicken and Leek Soup. Here was a decadently savory broth with tender, tiny strips of leeks, shredded carrot and bits of smoked chicken. This soup was not as salty as the others and came off light in comparison. It could have benefitted from the addition of some fine egg noodles.

Runner Up

Judi’s Cabbage Soup. This soup was a pleasant surprise. It was the first soup I tasted and was so delicious, it was hard for the other entries to measure up. It had an attractive presentation with 1 inch pieces of pale green cabbage floating in a light clear broth with chunks of diced red tomatoes, carrots and Kielbasa. The vegetables were tender and perfect – not crunchy and not mushy. There were a few too many vegetables to broth ratio, but not so much to even come close to thinking it a stew. The flavor of the broth impressed me the most. It was savory and rich tasting, but not too salty. Recipe follows.

Grand Prize

Carlie’s 17 Bean and Bacon Soup. This was the only male entry and was absolutely delicious in its simplicity. When asked, Carlie said he “should have used more bacon”. There were tender, meaty, half inch pieces of bacon floating over an interesting variety of beans. The beans were a very pleasant surprise as they melted smoothly over my tongue. This soup was rich and flavorful, with a nice dark color, a good balance of savory and salty and a good proportion of beans to broth. I only wished there was more. Thank you, Carlie!

The Rest of the Tasty Offerings

Linda’s Italian Wedding Soup

Cynthia’s Vegetable Beef Soup

Deta’s Potato Soup

Karen’s Broccoli Cheese Soup

Lynne’s French Onion Soup

Janice’s Chili

And lots of go withs – breads, desserts, pickles.

Attendees: Kevin & Lynne, Judi & Paul, Ed & Linda, Bill & Cynthia, Carlie & Tammy, Karen, Gail, Richard & Thomas, Kerry & Janice.

Judi’s Cabbage Soup

Dice cabbage in one inch pieces and par-boil until just tender in a large box of Swanson’s Chicken Stock. Add diced onion, a large sliced carrot, a can of diced tomatoes, some sliced kielbasa, parsley, oregano, thyme, and 1 can beef broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until done.