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Ditch the cookies, host a soup swap instead
I’ve never had a cookie swap, nor have I attended one. I thought I would finally cave this year and host a swap. And, I did. It just wasn’t a cookie swap.
To gauge interest, I posted on my Facebook page:
Me: Anyone ever done a cookie swap? Anyone want to?
E: I haven’t, but I’m sort of obsessed with the idea of doing a soup swap.
Me: Think we can organize one in the next two weeks?
E: Yes, yes, let’s do it! *runs off to look up soup recipes*
And that’s how it all started. Here’s how you can host one of your own:
The Rules
Excerpt from the invitation..
Here are the details:
- Let us know if you’re planning to come.
- If you already know your soup, let us know that, too. If not, no worries. If someone is making split pea soup already and that’s your specialty, go ahead and make it, too. That’s okay!
The way it works…
- Once you indicate you’re coming, I’ll get you a “Soup Sack.” This will have the containers that you’ll need for your soup,
labels and goodies like that. I’ll ask everyone to contribute $5 during the party to go towards the supplies. Feel free to jazz up the decor of your containers, if you want.
- You’ll be bringing six quarts of soup and you’ll go home with six quarts of soup. You are welcome to bring them frozen already since most of us will freeze them anyway.
- Display/Sample bowl: I’ll also ask everyone to bring enough soup (in a separate container) for one bowl of soup, which we will sample. Bring your own bowl and soup toppings/garnishes and any small decor for your soup place setting. I’ll provide sampling spoons and small tasting cups. We will vote for best soup display and I’ll have small prizes for the winner.
- We’ll sample soups and have a “soup story time” where everyone gets to tell the story of their soup (how it’s made, where the recipe came from, etc).
- Then, we’ll draw numbers and everyone will choose one soup. We’ll draw numbers again and choose our second soup and so forth until all the soup has been distributed.
- Email me your recipe by 12/8 and I will compile them into recipe books for everyone to take home.
- I’ll provide nibbles and beverages and we’ll make it a lively gathering!
You can do this! It may sound complicated, but it’s not!
Who’s in??
The prep:
- Soup Sacks: I made little burlap sacks (rather, my mom did) and enclosed six quart-size containers with lids that I’d ordered online, blank soup labels, directions and a black Sharpie. I delivered them Santa-style to the front porches of participants.
- Tasting cups: I ordered small bamboo cups and placed at intervals on the table.
- Plating stations: Each participant was given their own paper placemat and porcelain place card on which to write the name of their soup.
- Recipe books: I took all the recipes sent to me in advance and made them into books for each guest to take home.
- Voting Station: Set up a space with slips of paper and pen for people to vote on their favorite plating. We didn’t vote on soups because people will vote by which soups they choose first!
- Prizes: In an extra burlap sack, I wrapped up a tin of salted caramel hot chocolate and a gingerbread spice cake mix for the winner of the plating contest.
- Soup Stash: Put out a small container to collect the $5 from participants for their soup sacks.
- Selection lists/numbers: Create numbers for guests to draw. To make selections fair, we altered the selection order for each of our six selection rounds. First, we went in ascending order and then descending order. After that, we followed four lists I’d created with numbers in random order.
The soup:
- For a week before the swap, all the participants were buzzing about which soups they would make. We had such a variety of soups from turnip green stew and Hungarian red pepper to matzo ball and 30 clove roasted garlic.
- The most difficult part for many was judging how many times to make the recipe to end up with six quarts of soup. Some arrived with five containers of soup and only chose five to take home, some filled each of their six containers two-thirds full and one made soup repeatedly over three days to make enough.
- When guests arrived to set up their stations, they descended upon the kitchen in a flurry of activity, making a mad dash for the microwave. After we waited for 13 soups to be heated and plated, we agreed that they would not all be piping hot. One friend brought a crock pot to keep her soup warm, which worked well.
- After the plating was complete, we assembled to hear the “soup stories” and were quite entertained to hear the origins of each recipe. If participants had no such story, they were encouraged to invent one!
- Finally, we tasted each soup from the plated ones before making our soup selections.
Reflections
Throughout the event, we reflected on the process and the consensus was that this format worked well. In fact, we’ve talked about trying it again as a “side swap” to gather ideas for new and interesting side dishes. A bread swap was also suggested.
If, like me, you now have a craving for soup, check out the results of the best soup in Atlanta on Best of the Big A.
And if you’d like to see more photos from my soup swap, check out the Food and More Facebook page.
–by Jenny Turknett, Food and More blog.
Soup recipes with Bill & Sheila
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