Soup and pie

Last night was a Very Special Edition of Soup and Bread, thanks to the vision and initiative of Sheila Sachs, pie maven.

Chocolate-peanut butter pie. Cherry pie. Ginger-apple pie. Apple pie with an all-butter crust. Lemon custard. Pecan. Angel-cream pecan. Maple-pecan tart. Chocolate cake and banana bread, to mix it up a bit. And, to cut all that sugar, a savory tomato-cheddar pie. It was truly overwhelming — and I hope very much to have some recipes to share soon. In the meantime, thanks so much to Sheila and her squad of bakers: Jane Roberts, Irma Nunez, John Roeser, Renate Durnbaugh, Anastasia Davies Hinschliff, Deanna Varagona, Liz Tamny, and Derek Erdman!

And then, of course, there was soup. Chunky, aromatic Khao tom (Thai chicken) with wontons, from Allison Stout and her catering partner Andrea (last name??); light spring vegetable flecked with watercress from Vegetarian Librarian Kelly Reiss; rich poblano-potato-corn chowder from Christine Garcia; smoky beef chili from Josh Hudson; thick and hearty lentil from Sarah Best; and a complex, dubiously Bulgarian (her words!) tomato with couscous dumplings from Susannah Strang.

We had a terrific turnout: so much so that all the soup was gone, gone, gone by 6:20. Which is both great and a bit regrettable. Or, at least, I regret it. I only got to taste two of the six, darnit. Thankfully, the recipes are already pouring in.

We raised $228 for the Food Depository, which brings puts us $89 past our end-of-season goal of $2,000. And that is … it’s amazing.  And makes me so happy. Like this:

Meanwhile, there’s still one Soup and Bread to go, and it’s going to be a doozy. Don’t touch that dial — we’ll be back soon with details.