Soup Party!

For the past five years, my husband and I have been hosting a soup party.  The concept is not original with us, but I think it's become our "signature" event and we look forward to it every year!

We hold the event outdoors in the early fall.  Each guest/family brings a pot of their favorite soup.  We provide the rest of the food - breads, cheeses, "condiments," drinks and desserts - as well as small styrofoam cups for sampling each of the soups.  Everyone brings a muffin tin to hold their soup samples.  We assign each soup a number and at the end of the night, everyone votes on their favorite soup. 

We always have a great evening of food, fun and fellowship.  In the past, we've also carved pumpkins, played games and watched a short movie.  This year, my creative husband came up with a murder mystery that we played throughout the night.  The soups were the murder weapons and several of our guests were celebrity chef suspects (i.e. "Chef Bobby Fillet" and "Chef Julia Chives").  It was a lot of fun!

The soup party is an "event" in, and of, itself, requiring months of planning, its own budget and corner of the basement to store supplies throughout the year.  But we love being able to catch up with old friends, make new ones and enjoy the beauty of the fall season together.