yes we are! i haven’t documented any cooking attempts in a while. mostly because i’m hungry, and don’t feel like grabbing the camera. but i snapped a few shots while making soup for the swap. i love simply recipes, and am hooked on elise’s zucchini muffins. i was excited to find a fun recipe for [...]

soup swap 2010 was a success in albany ny! we had 26 soups (listed below). i made it a point to have everyone log their soups in a spreadsheet. that is one little detail i have been forgetting about every year. learning from the past? yes! and loving it! another thing was asking a few [...]

national soup swap day is on saturday, and we are doing it up almost foodies style. this is year 4, and we are psyched! right now i am trying to figure out what sort of delicious snacks to prepare. i have had my eye on cora’s cheese wafers ever since she mentioned them on twitter [...]

by the time you read this, it will officially be national soup swap day. what a wonderful idea that has inspired so many of us to hit the kitchen to get our soup on! i have been going crazy planning, cooking, cleaning and shrinky dinking. i have no idea what to expect for our second soup swap, but i sure am ready! updates coming soon…

i revisited working with shrinky dinks last night and it didn’t go too well. i’m trying to make fun magnets to give away next week. why in the heck am i spending so much time doodling, shrinking plastic (with my head almost in the oven watching) and then photographing the results instead of calculating proportions and making a giant batch of chili? because i’m nene! (and my brain is on possible overload) i’ve got to come up with a different shape…

i’ve been gettin’ my doodle on trying to come up with a cute soup swap party favor for the big day next week. i should probably be trying to perfect my chili recipe instead.

sometimes i get lost in a sea of e. they always seem to creep into my doodles. it’s kind of like pressing the c button on a calculator. drawing out e’s helps me to clear my mind, focus and recharge for what’s next. right now i feel like i could spend an afternoon on some e’s. i’m sure my temporary employers would like that.

back to the soup. i am psyched for soup! i’m not exactly sure how many people will be showing up. i haven’t done a great job of promoting the event and fear that my cheerleading skills have faded a bit. there is still time!

i decided to put up soup swap flyers at work today. i don’t know too many people, and wonder what they will think of national soup swap day. i’ve already had to “defend” my need to take pictures of food. most of the office people are probably wondering who i am. (i usually refer to myself as the temp, but not that temp.) but it’s not about me (i swear), it’s all about the soup. i am all about bringing people together through food. if i were to finally get around to writing the “about me” section of this website, that would definitely be mentioned. (it’s starting to seem like it’s all about me here, but that is not the case.)

on a side note, i am really trying to “get things done” in 2008. even if it means putting out a flyer that i could’ve spent more time on, to look a bit more nenetastic. (to all of you newer readers, nene is my nickname, and hello!) instead, i decided to get the facts out there and move on to the next task. i’m having mixed feelings about it. (it being the decision not to spend an overwhelming amount of time on something to look a certain way, when the message can be communicated in a simpler manner.)

anyway, it will be interesting to see new co-workers mixed with a handful of almost foodies and a couple of other people i don’t know. i just hope we don’t have any secret soup poisoners in the mix. (and that could be someone rolling up with a reconstituted box of mrs. grass. oh how i used to love that stuff. i once popped the golden flavor nugget to find out what was inside. my favorite green shirt was ruined from the grease stains. it was worth it for my first rebellious act in the kitchen.)

okay, i haven’t been thinking too much about the upcoming soup swap. i can’t help but be a little jazzed after finding this letter in my mailbox the other day. so what if the guy’s staff got the facts a little wrong, and didn’t realize that our big soup swap is coming up on january 23rd. is it corny that i went out to buy a frame for this letter? we do have our winning wine selection certificate hanging up in the kitchen (please remind me to NEVER get my haircut that short again).

i think skfl and i are going to make chili. we can each bring a little something to the table – he enjoys the fake meats and i enjoy the chipotle. i need to come up with a clever flyer and post it up in the lunchroom at work. there are a bunch of people who look like they’d enjoy swapping the soup. i also need to figure out what would make great souvenirs. the spoons of last year were terrific, but we need something new for 2008. i’m thinking magnets. time to go figure that out…

national soup swap day got some big press yesterday, with an article in usa weekend. i got a call from my folks in the morning with a notification of my name in print. my dad was flipping through the insert and mentioned that i might be interested in the article. my mom took a look at it and said that i was in the article! good times. say what? oh yeah i had a brief phone interview about how almost foodies took part in the swap earlier this year. (so what if my name was misspelled, the quote was right on!)

plans are underway for us to take part in the next swap, on january 23, 2008. i have no clue what to make yet, but there is plenty of time to figure it out. we had a blast at the last soup swap and i hope the good times carry over into the next one. i think the soup swap is such an awesome idea and a great way to bring people together. mad props to knox!