Soup & Bread: Back in the saddle

The past few weeks I’ve felt a bit like Soup & Bread might as well still be on hiatus. After the hustle of November and December, simply hanging around at the Hideout and having some soup seemed a bit slack. Shouldn’t we be driving 6 hours in the rain to get there? Shouldn’t we be chasing down UPS trucks? Live-tweeting?

Well. After the first two weeks of soup, and then a little break, I’m happy to report we are back in full frenzied effect, both at the Hideout this Wednesday and out in the wider world.

Yesterday I taught my first-ever cooking class, as part of the Chicago Cultural Center’s World Kitchen program. It went pretty well — especially as I had locked myself out of the house the night prior and was underslept as a result. Going in I was a little nervous, but it turned out to be a blast.  There were a few culinary newbies in the group — one woman confessed she had never used a cheese grater before — but overall the level of expertise was such that when I say I “taught” the class, what I really mean is I “stood around and yakked while 26 others made soup.”

At the end, we had a feast, Soup & Bread style. On the menu: Anastasia’s kale, kielbasa, and tortellini soup; Marah’s New England clam chowder; the Hearty Boys’ tomato-fennel bisque; Mana’s green curried butternut squash soup, Inspiration Kitchens’ sweet potato soup; and the ever-popular Peanuts O’Toole, which World Kitchen director Judith Dunbar Hines profiled in her Sun-Times column a few weeks back. To sop it all up we also threw together some buttermilk-cheddar muffins, some Parmesan-cheddar-thyme gougeres, and a few loaves of suprisingly successful vegan bread. I met some great people, sold some books, and got a filling lunch to boot. Many thanks to Judith and the rest of the World Kitchen staff for the opportunity!

Looking ahead, February offers a jam-packed slate of soup nights, plus some more extra credit activities.

On Sunday, February 5, we’ll be setting up shop at the Logan Square Farmers Market, indoors at the Congress Theater from 10 am to 2 pm. We’ll have cookbooks for sale, and other merch as well. Books are scarce right now (we’ll have more in a month) so get ’em while you can!

Then, on Thursday, February 9, I’ll give a free talk at Quimby’s. Have you ever wanted to ask a question during Soup & Bread, only to find me incoherent and covered in beer? Well this is your lucky day. I’ll talk about the evolution of Soup & Bread and the twisted path of the Soup & Bread Cookbook, and dish up some soup as well. So civilized!

The Quimby’s event serves as a warmup for a February 12 event out west, way west, at the stupendous Elliott Bay Book Company in my hometown of Seattle. I’ll discuss the book, and Soup & Bread in general, and we’ll have a soup tasting with offerings from Soup Swap guru Knox Gardner and the bookstore’s own cafe, where once upon a time, in my late teens, I toiled behind the espresso machine. Donations will be accepted to benefit Capitol Hill’s Jewish Family Service food bank. I have been talking with events coordinator Karen Allman about this for a few months now, and I am already so excited – and not just because my mother already has two dozen people lined up to attend. Elliott Bay is truly one of the last great independent bookstores, and while it’s moved from the Pioneer Square digs of my days in the cafe, I feel very much like I am headed home.

Later that same night, we’ll celebrate the return of Soup & Bread: Seattle in epic form at SoDo’s Radar Hair and Records. Radar co-owner Johnny Samra made soup for our event last year at the Funhouse (he’s up there on the left) and now he and ace Seattle soup wrangler Suzie Strait have teamed up to stage a Soup & Bread to benefit Johnny’s wife and business partner, Betsy Hansen, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. It’s all still coming together, but so far we’ve got a half-dozen soups and the promise of a reunion show by Seattle’s late, lamented Coconut Coolouts. All proceeds will benefit the Betsy Hansen Cancer Fund — and as soon as I’ve got more info it’s all yours.

Then, it’s back to Chicago in time for a February 17 gig on  the Interview Show, the (almost-) monthly “live talk show” at the Hideout hosted by the dryly hilarious Mark Bazer. I’m a little anxious about this one as well. Who will my costars be? Tavi? Charlie Trotter? I can only dream.

That’s it for now, but plans are also afoot to take Soup & Bread to Lawrence, KS, and Kansas City, MO. And possibly Austin. Maybe Pittsburgh? Keep your eye on the calendar, and if you want to see Soup & Bread in your town, let’s talk!

 

 

Posted: Sunday Jan 22,2012 08:45 PM In Event Schedule, S&B Cookbook